Rating: Summary: great video, plus 2MP stills pics! Review: this is a power packed camcorder! pros: - other than the sony trv80, this is the only sony miniDV camcorder that has a 2 megapixel still camera built in. - miniDV media is widely supported. - great connectivity options: firewire, USB, S-video, headphone, bluetooth, mic input, etc. - has a built in pop-up flash for taking stills. - carl zeiss lens. - steady shot and night shot. - ability to record mpeg videos directly to memory stick. - progressive shutter system. cons: - this camcorder is bigger than i would like. you can get smaller camcorders like the trv33 or the pc105. granted, those have less features, mainly still camera capability (2.0 megapixel vs 1.0 megapixel). - bright 2.5" LCD screen: but i definitely prefer the 3.5" in the trv80. - as with most sony products, you pay a premium, pushing up the price. - the included 8MB memory stick (for a 2 megapixel still camera!) is unacceptable. you'll need at least a 64MB memory stick with if you want to take full advantage of the higher resolution pics you'll be taking. - although bundling the camcorder and still camera together means you only have to carry one piece of equipment, it also means that if one breaks, you have to replace both. - as an alternate to this bundling strategy, you can get a trv33 or pc105 and get a 3 megapixel still camera for about the same price. - no built in video light but you can get one less than a hundred bucks. all in all, a very nice camcorder. nice work sony.
Rating: Summary: Great video in all outdoor lighting conditions Review: This is my fourth camcorder, and first digital camcorder. I bought it to record my child's soccer games to make a DVD to send to college coaches. It recorded steady sharp video in all lighting conditions, including heavy overcast, light fog, and night games under stadium lights. I also bought the remote controll tripod, which makes it much easier to start/stop recording and adjust the zoom (the remote control zoom buttons have the correct sensitivity, as opposed to the camera zoom control as noted in a review below). The only problem I had that caused the loss of a few minutes of video was that the camcorder started displaying "Cleaning Tape". I packed the tape (fast forward to the end and rewound) and recorded over the bad section. I now pack the tape again whenever I insert a new one in the camcorder
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