Sony Reviews

I've been wanting to get a new camcorder for about two years now. I've put it off until recently when I saw the TRV27. It had pretty much what I wanted in a camcorder. Digital, large LCD, usb and firewire connections and i'm partial to Sony anyway.
After about two weeks of messing around with it I can certainly recommend this camera to anyone willing to spend the money for it. There are comparable cameras out there so it comes down to personal taste and affordability.

I can only give this 4 stars though because of a few things.
1. The included PixelView DV editing software sucks. I downloaded a trial version of Ulead Videowave and it had more features and was easier to use. Sony should've included better software to compliment their equipment.

2. Filming in low light is almost useless. The film comes out near total black. I would recommend a video light.

and lastly,
3. The still shots at standard settings aren't the greatest. The still shots are at 1.0 megapixels so to get the best output you need to have those settings at the highest resolution and hightest quality. That takes up space on the included 8 meg memory stick. If you are planning to use it as a digital camera for still shots, I would recommend the 128meg mem. stick.

Other than those concerns I'm completely happy with my purchase and having a good time learning video editing.

I've used the DCR-TRV27 for almost a year and a half now. Excellent image quality, light weight, great battery life, data flows through FireWire to computer very well.

Down sides: Sony's web site doesn't even acknowledge they ever made this camera; searching on its model number will not produce any results. So if you lost the manual, the best source to get it in .pdf form is Amazon! Also, the zoom is a little over-sensitive.

These are minor quibbles though. For the money, this camera is a bargain.

Excellent camcorder!

Was looking for TRV30 which went out of production and came across this one.

Pros: 1) clear and vibrant video picture (video 690K pixels and still 1 mega pixels CCD)
2) Fast focusing when using zoom in auto mode
3) simple to use knobs and buttons
4) Value for price
5) still photo fairly good with 1 megapixel rating
6) video looks great on TV (at least in Sony Wega TV) than the LCD screen (May be I have reduce the brightness of screen)

Cons:
1) 10x optical and 120x digital zoom slightly less than the competion JVC, Panasonic, Canon
2) Battery life is short with LCD usage
3) No memory stick holder/case supplied
4) No flashlight/ video light (have to buy separately)

Will recommend for anyone who wants good decent video with high resolution and money to spend.

Beware! It doenst have a remote control. Otherwise it is same as the TRV250 model. Still, it costs much more than TRV250. Better go and buy TRV250, it is amazing.
I also planned on buying TRV260, but just realized in time that 235 was certainly the better of the two, lesser price and you get remote control too! Now, thats a deal!

Someone stole my DCR-TRV240 camcorder, so I thought I'd purchase a DCR-TRV260 so that I could play my old Digital 8 tapes and continue converting my VHS tapes to digital. Big mistake! On the plus side, the TRV260 is somewhat smaller front-to-back than the TRV240. On the minus side: (1) The TRV 260 lacks the ability to make digital copies of VHS videotapes that the TRV 240 had. That is, the A/V jack is only "out," not "in/out." (2) There is no audio input jack or headphone jack, so you can't connect an external microphone or listen to the audio that you're recording. (3) There's no "Intelligent Accessory Shoe" so you can't connect an extra video light or a shotgun mike.

Since the DCRTRV250 mentioned in the February-March 2004 Amazon reviews is apparently no longer manufactured, if you're in the market for a new Digital8 camcorder, get the TRV 460 instead for $50 more. It has "Analog-to-Digital Conversion with Pass Through" (i.e., "Convert and/or record any analog NTSC video source to digital video via the analog inputs," even in real-time - which was not found on the TRV-250). In addition (and less important to me), the TRV-460 has the ability to record still pictures on a Memory Stick (instead of on the D8 tape), a remote control, and a "Touch Panel" LCD screen. The TRV460 still doesn't have #2 or #3 in the paragraph above, but at least it's closer to what I came to expect from the 240. When I receive my 460, I'm going to take all my analog and D8 videos and digitize them to a format readable by computers into the foreseeable future since VHS and D8 are both moribund. Buy the DCRTRV460 Digital8 Handycam Camcorder from Amazon.com!

i love my new sony handycam it has nite vision and it has the usb cabel hookups and the a/v hookups even though they dont make a remote for it i dont care bout that i love this camera and i use it for skateboarding ....they also showed on the news that this and another model was the top two to own.. i love to make dvds outta of it

I bought this Camera 2 weeks ago from Sears for $200. What a purchase, previously I had a Samsung SCD27, that camera was great but I didnt like its low light recording so I got the TRV250.

The Camera is great, however the motor is noisey but it doesnt show up on the video which is of a high quality. Particularly in the low light/dark the Sony really shines, whereas the Samsung had a slight (annoying) grain to its shots, the Sony does not.

I use Windows Movie Maker to Capture the Video (AVI format) then use the free program Tmpgenc from Tmpgenc.net to convert the AVI file to Mpeg1 VCD format. Great Results.

I was also missing a lens cap on my camcorder, so I phoned Sony and they sent me a free replacement because I was within the 90 day warranty period. Great service. However the 90 day warranty period could be longer, the Samsung gave you 180 days so long as you registered your product!

This camera is great. It does the job and fits into my budget. I was debating between this and the Canon ZR65 but found that this Sony has better quality. I checked at Best Buy to see the image quality and it helped a lot. The only benefit I saw in getting the canon was to take still pictures and it has a slot for memory card. But the still pictures are poor quality and meant for a digi-cam which I recently purchased too. =) This Sony trv250 camcorder gave me everything I wanted: best picture quality for lowest price, digital and capability to transfer to pc. When you watch the videos, the picture looks perfect. But once you record it onto vhs, you lose picture quality but that's due to the VHS technology. One of the main reasons I got this is to transfer the videos to my pc. The software it came with sucks. It saves it as .mpg which is great, but I couldn't even save a 20 mins video. It crashed several times. So I ended up using windows movie maker and it made my video fine but as an .avi format. I need to find a program that converts the .avi to .mpg so I can burn into vcd. One big flaw though is when you transfer the video using usb (it's 1.0, not 2.0), it becomes choppy, unbelievably choppy. I was scared I couldn't transfer videos anymore as it can get very annoying watching my home videos choppy. So I went out and got a firewire card and tried again and it worked smoothly. I was getting nervous about my purchase but it worked out. The night version is awesome. In a pitch dark room, I can see everything, in green. Its infrared vision makes me feel like a G.I. Joe. I took this camcorder out to the dessert and videotaped my trip and it came out well. My friends thought the quality was pretty good too. The accessories that I bought were a stand, NPFM70 battery that lasts 4+ hrs, camera protective lens for the dusty times (avoid scratches on the actual lens), digital8 tapes (it should've at least came with one, cheap-a*s Sony), and a camcorder backpack to keep everything. All in all, for the price of the camera, I think it was a great purchase.

I basically have been torturing my kitty learning this. But it's easy to use. I have sworn I cannot get good pictures of kitty because she does not slow down. Now I came have a kitty cam!! hehehe. Seriously, the pictures were sharp. I had now trouble loading there. It's small, compact and basically great fun for a cheap price. Hard to believe Sony that reasonable.

I only give it four stars because it I am still learning, so don't know enough about to give it really high rating as compared to others.

I'm not a Sony fan but I'm impressed by this great camera. Before buying this camcorder it was so important for me to find reviews about it on the Internet. After I got it I was thinking several times to write my own review but as usual you always don't have time for that. Then I said that's not fair. I know how important was for me to find the reviews (thanks to everybody who wrote a review and helped me reach the final decision). And I know also that right now many guys are searching the Internet looking for new reviews. So it's my turn to pay back ...
I did my research on the Internet for about one year until I decided to buy this camcorder. Actually I wanted the TRV27 and I changed my mind in the last moment because the difference in price between these two models in too big [price] - for this money I can get a lot of accessories). I don't regret my decision. The 2.5" LCD is just enough for us.
TRV25 is not very good in low light but also it's not bad too. It's just good. After reading some reviews on the Internet I was expecting actually the camcorder to be even worst in low light. It's OK but I'm considering to buy a external light.
In good light the camcorder is amazing! Very good resolution (I have a digital HDTV which lets me know immediately if the signal is not good), very nice life-like colors, extremely clear and clean sound!
I had no problem at all to hook up TRV25 on the USB port (I have Windows 2000 professional). Then I got a Zoltrix FireWire card and I couldn't see the camcorder with it. I called Sony and Microsoft and I sent an email to Zoltrix in Hong Kong (no answer back yet). They couldn't help me too much. Sony said that you don't need any special Sony drivers for TRV25. It's true but the general DV driver I had in my Win2K was bad. If you have problems with your FireWire connection you may try the following links: [URL's]. Now I'm fine. The Zoltrix card is working fine and smooth and the cable (comes with the card) is long so you don't have to stay with your camera underneath you desk. Price paid (for card, cable and software): [price].
My problem now is that I couldn't find yet the best solution to store the footage. Hopefully I'll be able to find the right settings in KVCD ([URL]). To store the footage on VHS tapes is out of question! From my camcorder I'm getting a nice 520 lines and if I store this on VHS I'll have at the end just 240 horizontal lines! Where is the point of spending so much money for a digital camcorder then? So far using the KVCD the colors are good, sound is good, the resolution is good (704 x 480) - much better than VCD (352 x 240) or SVCD (480 x 480) (check [URL]). The only problem is that the image is not smooth. It looks like I'm loosing frames. That happens only when the camera is moving fast to the left or to the right. If someone wants to help me here I appreciate that (damian_cristian@hotmail.com). Thanks.
Price paid [price].
People are complaining about how poor is the Sony support in US. I called Sony Canada, in less than 3 minutes I had on the line a technical person who was nice and I was satisfied with his answers. So Sony Canada seems to do a better job.
I got already these accessories: 4 Sony tapes, UV filter, Polarizing filter, Sony case, NP-QM71 battery, Zoltrix FireWire card (with cable and soft).
I'm looking forward to get the following accessories: a tripod, a bigger Memory Stick (I think 64Mb will be fine because you can get very nice pictures from the tape during play back - even they are just 640 x 480 they are good enough for email and, maybe I am wrong but for me a 640 x 480 capture from tape looks better than the same still image on Memory Stick at the same 640 x 480 resolution), and light (I will try first the 3Watts lamp and if is not enough I'll get the 10/20W lamp).
I love my camcorder and of course I recommended to anybody. If you are shopping for a camcorder go digital first and second give a chance to Sony TRV25/27 and you'll fall in love.
Good luck!
Cristian

After researching for 1 month on camcorders, I finally chose the Sony DCR-TRV25 for several reasons.
1) It records in 690,000 pixels (520 lines of horizontal resolution)
2) Megapixel on still photo shots (1152 X 864 instead of 640 x 480)
3) Its size (very small but not too small so you don't jitter the camera)
4) Its ability to record streaming video (to put on my website)
5) 7 lux rating / 0 lux with night shot
6) Color viewfinder
7) optional manual control on brightness, backlight and focus

Others that I looked at had 1 or more of the feautres missing (like still photo of 640x480 or CCD pixels of 480,000).. so in the end, I found this to be the best priced camcorder for the money ...(Only difference I see in TRV27 is that TRV27 comes with some editing tools... (which I won't use anyways). I also looked at the TRV17 which had everything I wanted expect it's photo resolution was at 640X480.

Video Editing with P-III, 450mhz, 256 mem, Windows XP with firewire port was a breeze. Just install the firewire card and load the drivers.

You transfer still shots via the usb port. Its very easy to do. Just plug in the USB cable (it comes with one) and you will see "Sony Digital Camera" on "My computer" Just drag and drop your photos into a folder.

Although the color and sharpness of this camera is amazing, my only gripe is that the video and stills gets grainy with low light. So I'd suggest you buy a light for the camera if you plan on doing a lot of indoor shots (or at least make sure you have a good light source.)

I also recommend you buy 1) UV filter lens (mostly to protect the camcorder's lens) 2) 32MB or 64MB memory stick (instead of the 8mb it comes with) 3) Wide angle lens 4) carrying case 5) Extra battery (the one it comes with lasts about an hour)

Even if you don't buy this camcorder, after all my research, I would stick with Sony or Panasonic camcorders (they seem to get the best reviews)

Great camcorder. Excelent outdoor pictures and sound! Easy to use. Still indoor pictures somewhat grainy though.

From first impressions....this is a great camera.It is rich in features and well priced for the consumer market, particularly for those folks with a lot of old 8mm tapes that you haven't yet converted to VHS or digital.

PROS:
- Digital 8 with backwards compatibility (reads all analog 8 tapes) and can still record in digital.
- Electronic Image stabilization (Called Super-Steady Shot)
- Excellent 25x optical and 700x digital zoom (very nice).
- Camera controls and data connectors are laid out quite nicely.
- Solid audio capability (records nice 16-bit stereo sound).
- Intelligent hot shoe: for adding accessories like a brighter light or bigger microphone (few other cameras in this price range have this expandability).
- Nice remote control and video playback features.
- Both an auto and manual focus capability
- Comes with an "infoLITHIUM" battery, good for about 60 minutes and which indicates the precise time left on the battery.
- Both USB and 1394 (fire wire) data transfer.
- Video/Audio in jacks: very nice for converting non-digital formats to digital (i.e. VHS).
- Streaming web-cam capability

*Note: Up to this point, this is a 5 star product...but read on, for my biggest complaints with this camera.

CONS:
- Tapes feed from the bottom, which is not a big deal UNLESS you use a tripod. When using a tripod, to change a tape you must remove it from the tripod AND unscrew the tripod mount to get the tape bay open. A call to Sony and every camera/tripod place in town resulted in the same answer...you are out of luck, there is no adaptor made that will address this problem :(MAJOR bummer to me).
- The camera records poorly in lowlight. Even though it is considered 0 flux (able to record in color one foot away), it desperately needs light or the quality takes a dramatic dive. The advertised super night shot turns everything green; which is good if you are a sniper, bad if you are a video enthusiast.

*Note: You can add a bright light accessory using the aforementioned hot shoe, to help address the lighting issue.

- The battery ratings from Sony are very misleading. For example: you can buy the "ultra battery" (NP-FM91) which is rated at 10 hours-which seems quite impressive... The problem is most folks will never use the battery the way they achieved those 10 hours.

Here's the "real" breakdown of estimated battery time with actual use:
* 10 hours - in standby mode (no LCD and no Super-Steady Shot)
* 6 hours - recording/ playback (no LCD and no Super-Steady Shot)
*3-4 hours - recording/playback (with LCD & Super-Steady Shot on)

So what LOOKS like a clear Sony advantage re: battery life is really not, when you consider other brands can also achieve 3-4 hours of battery life with their "ultra battery" and the same manner of usage.

Summary: In my estimation, this camera could be a good or bad buy depending on what your needs are.

* This camera might be a good buy IF you use 8mm, record in adequate light, need a strong zoom function and don't use a tripod for more than 1-2 hours at a time or would like to convert older video formats to digital.

* It is not such a good buy IF you don't need 8mm backwards capability, use a tripod for an extended period of time (2+ hours), need a memory stick function, are choosing Sony based upon it's "clear advantage" in battery life or consistently do recording in lowlight

For me however, the tripod fiasco and the poor lowlight recording was enough of an issue for me to knock it down a bit and return it to the place of purchase.

*Note: in all fairness to Sony, every bottom feed camera available will have a similar tripod/tape issue, and many low-end digital camcorders perform poorly in lowlight.

This is an extremely versatile bit of technology, with a lot of very clever features. It's backward compatible with Hi-8, and has a useful digital pass-through capability that makes it invaluable in editing other video sources.

I simply don't understand the complaints regarding battery life, tape loading, or low light performance. At this price point, and considering the competition, Sony is way ahead of the game.

Two suggestion for all users:

1) Spring [$$$] for a UV or skylight filter to spare the lens.

2) Spend [$$$] for a Firewire card to take advantage of the i-Link port. You can edit video like a pro, record it back onto Digital 8, or even push it back out to any VCR.

If you want to be a professional, get a professional camera, for about [$$$]. If you want to have fun, get this camera and spend the rest on a vacation to try it out!

I bought this camcorder about a year ago & have been very pleased with it. It's a good size, easy to use, & has lots of cool components, especially for the price. I wouldn't buy anything other than a Sony!

After owning a Sony 8mm camcorder for 10 years without any problem, I thought I would get this model. BIG mistake.

These other reviewers are right. The indoor quality is terrible. Much too grainy. Do yourself a favor and look around a little more. Don't buy this.

This is not a bad camera but I am having trouble with it not wanting to record or playback tapes. I have tried different tapes thinking maybe it was the tape but no matter what I do, it won't work. Took it to the place I got it, they had to send it away, which took forever, and all they done was use a headcleaner on it. They said they could not find out any problem with it. I brought it home and it started doing the same thing again and I bought a Maxell head cleaner and used it several times on it and it worked okay for awhile. Now it is back to doing the same thing again on not recording or playing back a tape. Do not know what the problem is. It just could be that I got a "lemon." I have contacted Sony but have never heard anything back.

Several of the previous reviewers complained about the poor picture quality especially indoors. I thought the same until I
turned off the elctronic stabilization. Aside from the tape ejecting on the bottom I find this camcorder to be a good value.

the trv22 is the in the middle of the trv19/22/33 family. it has a nice camcorder feature set but it's sitting on the fence as far as still capability is concerned.

pros:
- compact design, light weight.
- larger size CCD should provides better low-light performance.
- miniDV media is widely supported.
- ability to take vga resolution pics to memory stick.
- ability to record mpeg videos to memory stick (choppy).
- analog-to-digital conversion with pass-through.
- great connectivity options: firewire, USB, S-video, headphone, mic input, etc.
- carl zeiss lens.
- color viewfinder.
- intelligent accessory shoe.
- steady shot and night shot.
- progressive shutter system.
- supports exif 2.2.

cons:
- it would have been nice to get a bigger 3.5" LCD.
- you could do better on the still photo department. unless all you want to do with your digital pics is to send over email or post to a website, you will be disappointed with the maximum 640x480 resolution this camcorder supports.
- no pop-up flash for taking stills and no built in video light but you can get a flash/video combo light for less than a hundred bucks.
- as with most sony products, you pay a premium, pushing up the price.

this is a nice camcorder but in my opinion, it is in no-camcorder's land with regard to still capability. the supported maximum resolution is really only good for posting on the web or email. if you don't care about still capability, save a few bucks and go for the trv19. if you want better still resolution, go for the trv33 or pc-105 or panasonic's gs-70. good luck.

I must say that I am quite impressed with this little camera, and though its stature is quite compact, it skims not on features. From what I've captured thus far, the quality seems to be far superior when compared to other camcorders in the same class. The majority of the work that I've done with this camera revolves around DV-editing using the IEEE1394 interface, and the imported AVI is as clear as current technologies would allow it. The sound, too, is audibly vibrant and crisp. Moving on to physical features, then, I must comment on the touchscreen using one word: ingenious. No longer will one have to push awkward triggers and/or buttons in order to rewind and et cetera; the function keys you require are right there below what is being viewed/recorded. Next, this little powerhouse offers a plethora of connectivity options, ranging from the standard analog composite cables to the sharper S-Video port, and then to the digital USB and Firewire ports. Finally, the TRV22 offers the user a MS slot (included is an 8MB MS), which can be used to capture MPEG-1 A/V and still images (although it is still possible to save images onto the MiniDV per se). My, my... the TRV22 is another triumph among Sony's consumer legacy.

One thing to note, though, is that when transferring DV to and from the camera, one must pay attention to the type of IEEE1394 card that is being employed. I HIGHLY recommend the usage of a card that is based on the TI OHCI chipset, as cheaper cards will most likely garble the image and sound when printing to tape.

Factors important to us in selecting this product, in roughly this order, were:
* it uses MiniDV tapes, which I preferred to DVDs and CDs and other media because of resolution, cost, and ease of use
* it uses the same memory sticks as our still camera
* it includes an A>D coverter - that is, it has an input so I can connect our VCR and transfer old VHS tapes (like our honeymoon) to DVD; to do that otherwise would have meant a 100-200 dollar device added to the camera or our PC
* it includes 3 forms of digital output (S, USB, and firewire) so that I can transfer the memory stick and miniDV to a PC, for storage and backup and uploading and DVDs
* it had a good lens (Carl Zeiss) and 8x optical zoom (digital zoom isn't the same; it just stretches the pixels)* it got great reviews, including from Marco
* it has decent still resolution, but we didn't expect to rely on it for stills; paying for still resolution is expensive (about 100 bucks per megapixel in a still camera, more in a video camera)
* it was on sale at Circuit City, with a free extra battery, camera bag, and light lens (although that was last fall)

Things not to be fooled by, if you look at other products:
* digital zoom
* some models with a higher resolution (e.g. the TRV33) actually do poorer in low light *and* dont handle motion as well
* an included light (built-in lights are apparently a heat problem, and a better attachment is under 20 bucks)
* a bigger viewfinder (ours is 2.5"; smaller would have been okay; bigger would have been silly)
* paying too much for still resolution (1 to 2 megapixels is more than enough for email, websites, and small prints; 5 megapixels is a waste unless you're printing portraits)

I have owned this camera for over two years and have produced about 10 video productions with it, ranging from 3 minutes to 30.

Overall, the camera works great. I got it on an open-box special at Circuit City, and I think it must have been dropped or something, because there are definitely loose connections somewhere. The viewfinder flickers and the firewire port is very sensitive to how far the cable is plugged into it. I sent it away to Sony for repair and after 6 weeks it came back in the same condition. Since I can't be without the thing for long stretches like that, I've never re-sent it.

Other than this nuisance issue, it has performed flawlessly, even though it's been through some tough situations. It has happily accepted different brands of tape, which many will tell you is a no-no. The pictures are clear and crisp, and my 40+ year old eyes love the 3 1/2" viewfinder.

I would give the camera a 5 star, were it not for the sound quality. In anything other than a hand-held, home video shoot, you should always use an external microphone. I don't know what's wrong, but the audio quality from such a setup is very poor. OK, I'm being picky and comparing the unit to others costing 2 or 3 times as much. But because the video quality compares so well, it makes the lackluster audio a real disappointment. With the on-camera microphone, however, you'll never notice the difference.

For someone who wants really good looking video and doesn't want to have the camera in the repair shop every year, this is a great cam.

Excellent camcorder with the latest features. Exceptional picture capturing capabilties with its world class lens. Very good handling features, auto stabilizer and controls are at the right location, very ergonomically designed. The wieght of the camera is also pretty decent to be handled by a single hand. One needs to be a little careful while using it during dim lights or less illumination. Another problem is of loosing the battery even in the OFF mode, my advise is to remove the battery once you are done with the usage.

I bought this to take on my honeymoon in Jordan. It weighs about the same as a SLR, but you can take single shots as well. The night vision feature is great. By attaching the camera to my computer via a firewire system, I can also capture still shots from the video mode and print them out. I love it. The TRV20 is small enough to slip in a coat pocket with comfort. Around the neck or over the shoulder, it doesn't cut into you because of the wide strap. I wish the lens cap had a cord attached to keep up with it. The reversable viewing screen is wonderful for showing your movies when a TV hookup is not convenient. Over all, once you learn all the buttons and features, this is a dandy little unit for amateur or semi-professional alike.

Factors important to us in selecting the TRV22 product, rather than the TRV19, in roughly this order, were:
* it uses MiniDV tapes, which I preferred to DVDs and CDs and other media because of resolution, cost, and ease of use
* it uses the same memory sticks as our still camera
* it includes an A>D coverter - that is, it has an input so I can connect our VCR and transfer old VHS tapes (like our honeymoon) to DVD; to do that otherwise would have meant a 100-200 dollar device added to the camera or our PC
* it includes 3 forms of digital output (S, USB, and firewire) so that I can transfer the memory stick and miniDV to a PC, for storage and backup and uploading and DVDs
* it had a good lens (Carl Zeiss) and 8x optical zoom (digital zoom isn't the same; it just stretches the pixels)
* it got great reviews, including from Marco
* it has decent still resolution, but we didn't expect to rely on it for stills; paying for still resolution is expensive (about 100 bucks per megapixel in a still camera, more in a video camera)
* it was on sale at Circuit City, with a free extra battery, camera bag, and light lens (although that was last fall)
Things not to be fooled by, if you look at other products:
* digital zoom
* some models with a higher resolution (e.g. the TRV33) actually do poorer in low light AND dont handle motion as well
* an included light (built-in lights are apparently a heat problem, and a better attachment is under 20 bucks)
* a bigger viewfinder (ours is 2.5"; smaller would have been okay; bigger would have been silly)
* paying too much for still resolution (1 to 2 megapixels is more than enough for email, websites, and small prints; 5 megapixels is a waste unless you're printing portraits)

the sony camcorder has got it all! well not really but as far as video quality its awesome! lots of camcorders out there struggle with low light performance but sony is really good when it comes to this. Although sonys are expensive they are worth your money! I would suggest trying to upgrade to the sony trv22 which is only 100 bucks more.....with the upgrade you get memory stick slot, color viewfinder, and analog to digital convertor! Anyway, focusing on this camcorder---haha. its really compact. You can hold it with one definitely. the LCD is pretty good. I like that you can use it as a Webcam using your USB (a port on most pcs) and you can also use it to edit movies using firewire (another port). It also has a place for putting video lights and microphone which is neat.

we decided to buy this product instead of the more expensive trv22 or trv33 as we weren't particularly impressed with any of their digital camera capabilities. Initially, my wife and I were looking for the ideal digital camera-camcorder combo and came to the realization that such a product is impractical, expensive and technically limiting (still capability in camcorders is limited to 2 megapixels). So, we decided to spend our money wisely and opted for a camcorder that has great camcorder features (light, compact, records in near darkness, great lens, good battery life, miniDV format etc.)

By saving $100-$150 on this model (vs. the trv 33), we were left with extra cash to buy a decent digital camera.

The one complaint I have with this camera is that the LCD screen is a bit small. However, I've seen the 3.5'' LCD screens and they aren't all that better either. In the end, this wasn't a big factor for us and the features for the price was compelling enough for us to choose this model over the other Sony/JVC models.

Before you buy, think about the cost of the DV tapes. They are about $6 each, retail, and EXTREMELY fragile. One broke in my camera, and damaged something when being taken out. This was a $70 repair, while it was still under warranty. I don't know how much it would have cost after warranty period was over. If I had it to do over again, I'd buy a camera with a sturdier, cheaper media, and from a manufacturer that respects its warranty.

I had this camera for a few months already so far i have no complains about it. Is very easy to used and it has a lot of features. But there are a few problems with this camera which may affect ur decision on buying it:

Firstable Sony doesn't include the firewire card which allow u to transfer the DV video to ur computer. The good thing about it is the u can use ur USB to transfer the video but the quality is not the same since firewire the bandwidth is 400 mbps compare to 12 Mbps on USB.

Another thing u may find annoying with this camera it only includes a .67 pixel camera. This mean ur still image picture would not come out as clear and sharp as a 4.0 Mega pixel.

Also the program they include for transfering the Video isn't the great. I recommend u getting adobe premiere 6.5, Pinnacle 8, MGI 5.0. Which make ur life easier and do a better job then the one sony include. If u don't believe me check Cnet.com for ratings.

Besides those point this camera is great, records very clear, and it has a very good zoom, a 10x digital although that may sound like not that much zoom, the advantage is that is digital which allow u to capture a more clear picture when u zoom at a far object.

OK I've only had this camcorder for a couple of days, but I spent the better part of the last month conducting extensive online research on what camcorder I needed to buy. Here were my constraints:

1) Did not want to spend more than $...
2) Did not need great still picture quality or capability as I already have a Sony F-707 (an outstanding product by the way).
3) I wanted a camcorder that used the same type of battery as my still camera.
4) I wanted a camera that was good in low light.

5) I wanted a camera that was compatible with today's computers.

I looked at hundreds of different websites for a camera that met my needs. I already liked Sony (even though their customer service isn't the greatest) so after looking at other brands for a short time I decided to stick with Sony brands. I debated waiting until next month when Sony releases their new line of camcorders, but I ultimately decided to go ahead and purchase one now (mainly because I have a new born on the way and she's not going to wait until April). If you do the research you'll find that Sony's new models, TRV-19, 22, 33, etc. have better still picture quality, they all have touchscreen LCDs, and thier low light quality is better than previous lines, but I think that's about it.

The bottom line is the TRV18 is a very competitively priced product (for Sony). It has most of the features as the TRV25 and 27 as well as the new line. It operates well in low-light. I like the fact you can slow down the recording shutter speed to capture more light in low light conditions. The video becomes slightly choppy, but it's OK if you're filming slow moving or stationary objects. Night shot is another great feature if you don't mind your video looking like a special ops movie. I tested the transition features and they are OK. I haven't tested the still quality, but I can't imagine it's very good. If you're wanting to buy a camera that takes high resolution stills, look elsewhere. There are many things I still want to try and do with the camera, but I don't regret buying this model. It meets my needs perfectly.