Camcorder Reviews

This camera does everything it says it does. The photo quality is a little low, but seeing as though its a camcorder that's acceptable. The video quality and the zoom are awesome. Even playing back on the flip-out screen the video is crisp and the sound is very sharp. My only complaint is the manual. It reads as though it were written in Japanese and then translated by an automated service. The camera, however, is fairly self-explanatory to anyone with a little experience with a computer. I have been extremely pleased with its performance.

this camcorder is very good. the Lcd screen is great to watch instead of having to look through something.

This item is an ideal accessory for those of you who have a sony digital camera or camcorder. It frees up the camera, so that you can take pictures while your second battery is charging.

I am way impressed by the PC101E as this is my first handycam. Having upgraded from a Sony Mavica FD-7, this gadget packs more gimmicks than I am usually accustomed to. Below are the top ten features that I personally find interesting :

1. Got to be the USB streaming/webcam mode (do remove the cassette first, else it'll auto-shut off in 5 mins).
2. 10x Optical (420mm. With my 2x lens, goes up to 20x! 840mm)
3. Nite-shot mode (comes with built in IR booster light).
4. Bundled 8Mb memory stick (Good for 25 shots at a decent 1152x864 fine mode).
5. LP-long play mode on the MiniDV cassettes. 1.5 times longer recording time.
6. Time delayed recording mode. Good for those clouds moving/ flowers blooming footage.
7. Touch panel controls.
8. Backlight feature, brightens your subjects even more. Is not limited only to sunsets, use it anytime u need a bit more gamma in your images.
9. Remote control!
10. Comparatively cheap (RM3,600 is about US$950).

Followed by my top 5 complaints :
1. New 30mm filter ring. Sony just attempted to kill the filter market by introducing a new filter size. Luckily there is a thing called the step-up ring. Get a 30-37mm ring, and all your old 37mm filters are usable once again.
2. No still picture shots while using Color slow shutter/Super nite-shot mode. Deliberate design ?
3. No shoulder strap. Not even the holes for a shoulder strap. Plus the hand strap is not removable (unless forcibly cut off).
4. 5 hour(QM-71) and 9 hour(QM-91) LiON batteries looks and weighs like bricks! Effectively making your compact camera bags obsolete.
5. Digital zooms are not that useful. The results are so pixelated that I wonder whether the "120x" is just used to fool the consumer.

Overall I am still very satisfied with this Handycam. Ease of use, even for rookies, just plain point-and-shoot. Highly recommended.

Most DV Camcorders don;t record well in low lights. Here is the solution, you can record indoors with no grains. Very light weight, battery-powered light. Uses small latest li-ion batteries.

A bit expensive but good quality light. I tried several other cheap lights. no where as good as this.

If you own sony camcorder, NP-FM70 or 90 battery would do. If you don't, get a Lenmar equivalent & Lenmar omnisource charger (which is another 80$ in total).

But you will be pleased overall with Night quality shooting esp if you have a panasonic camcorder, becos panasonic is not very good for indoors. but Panasonic 3ccd is the best for daytime shooting.......so, this light makes it the best for both conditions.

Have Fun !

I ordered this case for my TRV22. It fits perfectly in the case, and is easy to take in and out. I tried other cases but like this one the best. The only reason for 4 stars is because of the price...it is a little high for a camcorder case, but I figure I'll have this camcorder for years and a good (and good looking!)case is important.

This tape is great! Don't let the price fool you. If you think that this looks cheap compared to some and won't work well, that's not correct. It cleans the video heads in a dry cleaning format very well. The reason i took 1 stars off is because you can only use the tape twice, which probably explains the cheap price, and because the tape is overpriced compared to other retailers selling it on the market on line.

The major draw back (other than the price) is the clip on the remote. It would have been nice if the remote itself was not on the clip. Other than that it is easy to use. This item coupled with a tri-pod, produce clear crisp pictures. The remote also allows the user to zoom in and out.

I have been very happy with the picture quality of my DSC F717. This remote helps to improve picture quality and allows me to utilize longer shutter speeds without distortion due to camera movement. I like the fact that even with the remote plugged in I can still use the controls on the camera.

I did a comparison of the Kenko SGT-20Hi with the Sony VCL-R2037, and the Kenko had the superior optics. Flare and coma were much smaller in the Kenko SGT-20Hi. Looking at Jupiter at night, the Kenko was able to resolve one of Jupiter's moons to a pixel, while with the Sony the moon appeared only sporadically. Chromatic aberration was a bit less in the Kenko. The vignetting that all the telephoto lenses have when the camcorder is in its wide angle zoom was slightly greater on the Kenko.

With a Sony CCD-TR500 camcorder, some telephoto lenses have a problem of being "near sighted"---unable to focus beyond about 50 feet when the camera is zoomed. This problem occurs with the Sunpak CAL-1160 and Kenko SGT-20 lenses, but is not a problem with Kenko SGT-20Hi or the Sony VCL-R2037 lenses, which have enough leeway in the focus to even accommodate far-spectrum red lights.

We keep all our SONY's on one of these. We use them in our Digital Filmmaking workshops and our students love them. We paid $150 a couple of years ago. For the pro-sumer, this is a great buy.