Sony Reviews

On the other hand, the unit does have some nice'though limited-- advanced features such as preset exposures, special effects, and Sony's unique NightShot feature. My daughter especially likes the special effects package. I particularly appreciate the Night Shot feature. I video a lot of youth sporting events that can involve a lot of transitional lighting issues, especially on those evenings around the time change seasons, an this unit handles all those issues very well. It does a commendable job in moonlight as well.

The unit is well designed and rugged. It is not a choice for die-hard vidoephiles'the range of advanced features is too limited, but they should be adequate for normal family outing type use.

Battery life using the LCD is rather short. The viewfinder picture is black & white. Using it rather than the LCD expands battery life significantly but the quality of he picture in the viewfinder is not good.

The audio quality is average. Functionality of interface with other devices (TV, PC, etc.) is good.

On the whole, a great unit to start out with or for more adventurous outings where camera safety might be an issue. (I took this one white water rafting'not my state-of-the-art unit.). It has enough features to give a feel for an advanced unit without overwhelming the user, provides better than average output and cost wise is a relative bargain.

I had been kicking around the idea of buying a camcorder for a couple of weeks and bought this model just two days before going on vacation. I didn't do a whole lot of research, I just liked the look and the price. It is small and sleek and super easy to use. It can use regular 8MM tapes, Hi8 or Digital8. I used it for recording live music performances in Nashville and was happy with the quality of the video and audio on playback. There are 8 effects for shooting (sepia, stretch, etc.), along with three fade-ins/outs. So I have more options than I really know what to do with at this point but I'm sure I'll get into them as I use it more. The display is sweet and can rotate around.

My one complaint is the battery area. The battery clips on the back, but there is no cover - my Sony digital camera has a locking compartment the battery slides in. I'll probably also be picking up a spare, even though it seems to hold a charge well. I really like the size because I have small hands and short fingers, but I can still use the strap and reach all the buttons.

However, after just 4 months of use, the camera started not keeping a charge. I discovered the problem to be that the camera would go into play mode on it's own from the off position and drain the battery. (Switch remains locked in the off position, but camera is on and able to play tapes)I was also unable to charge the battery for the same reason.(Battery will not charge while in play mode even though plugged in)

The Sony warranty had expired (They have a very short warranty period) but I had purchased an extended warranty so my camera was relpaced.

Now, my replacement camera is exibiting the same problem. I would greatly discourage buying this camera... this problem renders the camera virtually useless.

I have discovered this is a known problem on other Sony Handycams...

I found the Sony CCD-TR517 to be nice to my checking account and nice to me. I found it easy to set up and use.

The instructions manual is very user friendly.

My first video camera was cutting edge technology at the time. I paid over $1200 for Sony Super 8mm with b/w viewfinder which started to eat and destroy tapes while on vacation. Fixing it did not make good financial sense. Today, $400 buys a camera rich in features with separate color LCD viewfinder.

Bottom line, this camera is a great family video camera. Easy to use right out of the box. Save your money and avoid more expensive, cutting edge cameras. Just figure that these things only have a life of 4-5 years and when it is time to trade in you can easily afford cutting edge technology that will be 4-years old. It is just not worth spending more for technology that will be dirt cheap in a matter of time and possibly, broken.