...It had to cost less than £400
So with these points in mind I set off and searched the internet and came up with the Sony DCR TRV245. Next I went into Dixons to get a hands on look at the camera and was very impressed with what I saw. OK there were some smaller cameras at the time, but they ... Read review
Advantages: USB streaming, somewhat lighter than my last camcorder. Disadvantages: Bit outdated, much smaller and lighter camera's now available.
...and came up with the Sony DCR TRV245. Next I went into Dixons to get a hands on look at the camera and was very impressed with what I saw. OK there were some smaller cameras at the time, but they were twice the price and didn't meet all my criteria. So I went ahead and ordered on-line (I'm not silly I knew I could get it cheaper than dixons, I just wanted to see it in the flesh, so to speak).
* * * * * * * * *
In the box .../>
The camcorder came packed in the box along with:
The battery
Power cable
USB cable
A/V cables
S-Video cable
Scart adapter
Remote Control with batteries
CD ROM – containing the drivers and a utility for getting your video onto the computer.
Instruction Book – Pretty large with instructions in English and French
So basically the only thing the camcorder ... more
About a year ago I decided that my clunky old C-VHS camcorder had to be replaced by something smaller, lighter and much more up to date. So I set myself some criteria and started to search the internet.
So what did I want from my new camcorder????
1.An LCD screen 2.It had to be digital in one form or another 3.There had to be computer connectivity, preferably USB as I didn't have firewire at the time. 4.It had to be reasonably light and compact 5.It had to cost less than £400
So with these points in mind I set off and searched the internet and came up with the Sony DCR TRV245. Next I went into Dixons to get a hands on look at the camera and was very impressed with what I saw. OK there were some smaller cameras at the time, but they were twice the price and didn't meet all my criteria. So I went ahead and ordered on-line (I'm not silly I knew I could get it cheaper than dixons, I just wanted to see it in the flesh, so to speak).
* * * * * * * * In the box
* * * * * * * *
The camcorder came packed in the box along with:
The battery Power cable USB cable A/V cables S-Video cable Scart adapter Remote Control with batteries CD ROM – containing the drivers and a utility for getting your video onto the computer. Instruction Book – Pretty large with instructions in English and French
So basically the only thing the camcorder didn't come with was a tape, which was disappointing as that was what was needed to record anything.
* * * * * * * Dimensions
* * * * * * *
89mm x 101mm x 199mm Weight : 800g (taken from pixmania website)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Camcorder's features
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
2.5” LCD The screen is very clear, and can be tilted so that you can see what you're recording even if you're holding the camera above you're line of sight.
The battery has a built in function that tells you how much recording/playing time you have left. Very useful if you ask me, there's nothing worse than guessing wrongly and your battery dying as you're recording a school play. The supplied battery gives approximately one hours recording time, but I bought a larger battery that gives up to 3 hours recording.
Optical zoom is 20x and digital is 700x. The picture quality with the optical zoom was fantastic, but when using digital zoom it degrades quite quickly. The actual zoom control takes a while to get used to, but I can now do pretty smooth zooms.
I found this a great disappointment. The picture quality transferred to my computer was quite frankly appalling and completely unusable. However, it did make a pretty reasonable, if bulky web cam.
The remote control is satisfactory, and I suppose would be useful if you wanted to be included in the video or if you wanted to keep pausing as you were transferring video over. But for me it was another useless feature, I simply transfer everything to my DVD recorders hard drive and edit there.
The camera has a spot light on the front, which makes taking pictures in the dark easier. However, this gets very hot, and eats at the battery power.
* * * * * * * Ease of use
* * * * * * *
The camcorder is remarkably easy to use. Simply charge the battery, insert a tape,remove the lens cap (important one that as it won't record until you do), push a simple button down to camera, point at what you want to record and press the red record button. There you go, your first recording started without even breaking a sweat.
There are other functions on the camera that take a while to get used to, but I never use any of the fades, wipes etc.
You then have plenty of connection options for transferring your recording to either VHS or DVD. I personally connect the camcorder to my DVD recorder via S-VHS and the picture quality is fantastic. However, you could also connect via the A/V cables (either on their own or with the scart adapter) or by firewire if your recorder allows it and of course you can connect to your computer via USB, if you can stand the picture quality.
* * * Price
* * *
The lowest price I could find for this camcorder today was £384 including a free battery
* * * * * * * * * Value for Money
* * * * * * * * *
When I bought this camcorder, it was excellent value for money. However, I would now say it's not such good value. You can get a better specification and smaller and lighter camcorder, for a lower price.
* * * * * * * Final Words
* * * * * * *
This was a nice little camcorder in it's day, and still looks quite stylish and works very well. I would really recommend it to beginners that don't need fancy functions, or the computer connectivity.
Although I was disappointed with some of the functions, the actual picture quality is excellent and I recorded a school play lasting an hour today and my arm only ached a little bit.
Advantages: Digital, Easy to use, and can take pics, Disadvantages: None that I can think of,
I've been using this camera for nearly a year now, and I don't regret buying it for a second, but I believe my daughter will as her hole life is now documented min by min on little labled tapes.
I think this is a good camera as a first one, it has a lot of good features such as:
Colour LCD Display
infoLITHIUM Battery
USB Streaming + Software
Steady shot
Night shot
Optical zoom x20
Digital zoon x700
Built in light
Photo option
Remote control
... ...it all does,
Colour LCD display: The LCD screen opens 90 degrees and it rotates 180 degrees, it's very good in the way that you can record and not be restricted by seeing everything in black and white, and it's easier for people who wear glasses as menu on the LCD has the option to make the menu look bigger, plus using the LCD uses more battery,
infoLITHIUM Battery:
I think this is very handy as it displays the amount of life left in the battery ...
Matt2et 16.09.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sony Handycam DCR TRV245E
Advantages: Steadyshot, nightshot, 20x optical zoom, 700x digital zoom Disadvantages: software is complicated, no microphone socket. ound quality isnt too good
This is one of the better Digital Camcorders on the market. It's light, durable and quite small.It has many great features such as:
Night shot
Night shot can enable you to see and record in the dark with great detail for up to 20 metres in pitch black areas. It is very good for recording nature documentries. A lot like having night vision goggles!
Steadyshot
This is a very cool feature which reduces the amount of wobblyness of your recordings. ... ...20x optical zoom
This enables you to zoom in 20 times without losing the quality of the image you are recording It is good for detailed close-ups like watching an ant.
700x digital zoom
This is very impressive. You can zoom into far distances and be able to see low resolution images up to 700 times.
1.5" colour screen
This is really handy for seeing what you are recording and even handier for watching what you have just recorded
Very bright ...
patrickg1987 11.05.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sony Handycam DCR TRV245E
Advantages: Looks modern, good for it's age, many features, good battery life Disadvantages: Can now get much better for much less! A bit big in todays world
I brought this about 4 or 5 years ago, so it is getting fairly old now. I brought it from Agros, at £300, which, at the time, was a good deal, however, you now see camcorders 10 times better, smaller, and lighter, for a much lower price. Damn, if only they were that cheap back then... But oh well.
The camcorder's looks is pretty nice, looks modern (even though now fairly old), and quite stylish. In it's time, it was fairly small and light, but obviously ... ...to take around anyway, and in the package I brought it with, I got a case I can take it around in.
Overall picture quality is fairly good, better than VHS, not quite DVD though! You can use you computer to put the video onto DVD, or use a DVD recorder, and you'll get a fair image quality. The picture you'll get on the LCD screen (2.5" Colour LCD (123,200 pixels)) built onto the camera has a pretty decent image. The view finder has a fair image quality, ...
joefireline 27.02.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Sony Handycam DCR TRV245E
Advantages: easy to use, steady shot, nightcam, 700x digi zoom Disadvantages: ..none that can thin of
I have been using this cam since christmas and have had no problems with it. Found very easy to use and think that the video quality is very good. Also found the sound quailty excellent. The battery seems to last for good while and changes up quite fast ( closing LCD screen also gives you more battery time but found bit harder to film anything from the viewfinder because of size and being in black n white) anyway.. LCD though is great, thought it ... ...film or take pics from any angle and still be able to see what recoreding clearly.
can add date, time etc.. there are number of different effects including night cam you can add which are great. The steady shot good if not as good filming or just tired : ).. overall its v good cam. ...
star-343 17.07.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Sony Handycam DCR TRV245E
Advantages: SteadyShot , Ligth , lots of options , easy use Disadvantages: none I Think
The sony Handycam DCR TRV245 is a great camara for me between the functions of the camara is one that I really Like Called STEADYSHOT what it does if you are like me that ,cant film so well, it will make the image steady also it has a potential zoom and it resists shocks one time about 6 months ago it falled from the table (1.2 meters) and nothing happened to it also it includes NigthShot ( infrared displayed in green like in Blair Witch´s Project ... ...by Sony) and it has a lot of customizations from choosing if when you record a beep indicates or a melody also you can put the title and it has X460 of zoom it has a good sound recording quality , remote control and a Tripod included. The remote control distance is 12 meters. and fot the quality of it is very cheap ...
murraz 19.04.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Sony Handycam DCR TRV245E
Product Information for "Sony Handycam DCR TRV245E" »
Connections
Connector Type
1 x composite video/audio output
1 x S-Video output
1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire/i.LINK)
1 x USB
1 x DC power input
Manufacturer's product description
Digital 8 is a revolutionary innovation that delivers the best of both worlds. Digital 8 Handycams combine pure digital video recording quality with the benefit of analog Hi8 and 8mm playback capability. As such, Digital 8 Handycams are ideal for upgraders who are already have an extensive library of Hi8 or 8mm, and new users who want high digital quality without that big price tag. The DCR-TRV245E is a compact D8 Handycam with built-in light, SteadyShot and USB streaming. PRODUCT FEATURES: 540.000 Pixel CCD; SteadyShot; 20x optical zoom; 700x digital zoom; Built-in video light; 2.5" color LCD, 123.000 pixels; Advanced USB-streaming (VideoCD-burning); Longplay (also on video8-tapes); NightShot; 8 picture effects; 6 program AE; Battery INFO (LCD-screen); i.LINK (DV) out); Stamina 11h; IR-commander.
