Sony Handycam DCR TRV270E

The Sony Handycam DCR TRV270, a Digital8 model (a combination of the Hi8 analogue tape and the digital codec), achieves a perfect balance between high quality and affordability. Not only is this superb video-camera highly functional, boasting an impressive array of different features, its sleek and sexy look makes it a unique and attractive choice. While it is by no means a suitable option for the seasoned professional, it is ideal for the amateur ...
...you would expect from a Sony - polished, compact, and attractive. The various buttons are well situated, with the record and power buttons conveniently placed, and the buttons providing access to the more adventurous features either on the back or neatly positioned behind the LCD display where they cannot get in the way.

Quality

Those who are looking for the highest possible video quality available are best advised to ... more

The Sony Handycam DCR TRV270, a Digital8 model (a combination of the Hi8 analogue tape and the digital codec), achieves a perfect balance between high quality and affordability. Not only is this superb video-camera highly functional, boasting an impressive array of different features, its sleek and sexy look makes it a unique and attractive choice. While it is by no means a suitable option for the seasoned professional, it is ideal for the amateur filmmaker like myself, and brilliant for home movies and holidays. In this capacity, it is, selling for around £250, almost unrivalled in its price range

The camera has superb features in abundance, including a powerful and impressive 990x zoom, night-vision mode, and excellent special effects, including sepia, slow motion, black and white, negative art, and solarisation. In addition to this, it can also be used as a fairly high quality digital camera, with the ability to take stills, and can be setup as a webcam and microphone, making it an adaptable option, suitable for a range of different tasks, but not so complicated as to frighten off the first time user.

Aesthetics

This is a beautiful looking video-camera, with a look that cannot be described as anything other than sexy. The silver and black exterior keeps things simple but sleek, and the LCD display, battery, and viewfinder are nicely tucked away, creating a compact design that will come as a blessing to those used to more bulky models.

Aesthetically, I felt the camera cannot really be faulted; it is everything you would expect from a Sony - polished, compact, and attractive. The various buttons are well situated, with the record and power buttons conveniently placed, and the buttons providing access to the more adventurous features either on the back or neatly positioned behind the LCD display where they cannot get in the way.

Quality

Those who are looking for the highest possible video quality available are best advised to focus on pricier models suitable for more professional work. However, in its own price range, the DCR TRV270 does remarkably well here, making significant improvements on its predecessors and providing a level of quality that certainly impressed me upon playback. The Digital8 format is, contrary to popular belief, in no way inferior to the MiniDV, and this is clear from watching recordings. The first thing I noticed, aside from the high resolution, was the camera's ability to deal with difficult lighting effectively. We have all seen the monstrosities placed on youtube, filmed with such poor quality models that faces are hidden in a darkened shroud, but this camera adapts to and copes well with the lighting available to it, making such embarrassments very rare indeed, even for those with little experience of adjusting exposure. The viewfinder and 2.5" LCD display also provide fantastic visual quality, allowing the user to find what works best with considerable precision before going on to record.

In much the same way, audio quality is also of a very high standard. Using a fairly standard built-in microphone, the camera picks up voices and sounds very well, although, as always with this sort of model, one must be careful to aim it in the appropriate direction to ensure that everything is picked up. On the whole, the DCR TRV270, considering its price, offers a very high quality audio and visual performance.

Functions

This model is, as you would expect from a Sony, highly functional, with a range of uses beyond the obvious. In addition to filming your own movies, holidays, ridiculous stunts, or whatever it is you fancy, the camera can also be used to take fairly high quality stills. While these cannot rival those of a purpose-built digital camera, this is certainly a worthy addition, useful for taking spontaneous snaps.

Furthermore, the DCR TRV270 can be used as a webcam, and, although it is rather bulky for this task, if it is feasible, the camera provides an extremely high resolution that can outmatch most ordinary webcams with ease. The microphone also allows one to use it for audio recordings, making it ideal for recording voiceovers, or for speech recognition on the computer. With a variety of different functions, therefore, this model boasts an impressive adaptability to different tasks, making it far more than just a standard video recording device.

Features

The DCR TRV270, as aforementioned, boasts a vast array of different features, the most impressive of which is probably its enormously powerful zoom. With a 20x optical zoom, and a mind-blowing 990x digital zoom, this is a stalker's and an amateur filmmaker's dream. At the very highest zoom, the quality of recording is significantly reduced, but one can still zoom in great distances before noticing this, meaning it is not merely, as some may allege, a worthless gimmick, but indeed a very useful tool.

In addition to this are the various special effects, including sepia, slow motion, black and white, negative art, and solarisation. Night-vision is also available, which is a particularly exciting and useful feature, whether you enjoy investigating nocturnal wildlife or simply want to see and record the world in a new light. Furthermore, a small light is available above the lens to aid shooting videos at night, a remote control is provided to make recording easier, and a fairly effective backlight compensator is included to prevent lighting disasters. The average user may never even use these, but the more adventurous filmmaker will find them a huge bonus, and a great way of spicing up a video with very little real effort.

Uploading, Playback, and Editing

Uploading, playback and editing on the computer for this model is not, thankfully, an arduous or difficult process, and can actually be the most fun part of making a video, depending upon your persuasion. Video, as well as images, can be uploaded either by a USB or FireWire connection, and, once on the computer, can be edited using Microsoft Movie Maker, which, on the whole, is probably the best software option due to its simplicity and well tested interface. Editing is a fairly painless process, and newcomers will get used to it and start to enjoy it very quickly. Of course, editing with the Digital8 format can also be carried out more traditionally using a video player and the AV cables that Sony provide with the video-camera, making it possible not just to store video on the computer, but also to make tapes. Video can be played back on the computer, on a video player, or indeed on the camera itself, giving the user plenty of options for viewing their own work.

Battery-life

On the whole, the DCR TRV270 has a good battery life. Using an included Lithium-ion rechargeable battery, the video-camera boasts an effective life of roughly two hours, although this depends enormously upon the extent to which various features are used, since special effects are a major source of battery drain. Like most batteries of this type, it will self-discharge over time, probably by about 5% per month if charged sensibly, and will probably last for about 30 months.

Overall

Overall, this is a great camera for the newcomer and amateur filmmaker alike. Ideal for home movies and similar uses, the DCR TRV270 is both affordable and of a high quality, with a superb variety of different features, excellent zoom, and great audio and visual quality. The battery life is perfectly reasonable, and uploading, playback, and editing is made as simple as possible. For its price, this video-camera is highly recommended, and has certainly given me many hours of creative enjoyment.

Key Facts:

Price: £250.71 (Amazon, February 07)

Width: 8.5 cm
Depth: 15.1 cm
Height: 9.8 cm
Weight: 0.8 kg

Display: Colour LCD, TFT active matrix, 2.5"

Media Type: Digital8

Optical Zoom: 20x
Digital Zoom: 990x

Battery Type: Lithium-ion rechargeable battery - 700 mAh (included)

Connections:

1 x composite video/audio output
1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire/i.LINK)
1 x USB
1 x DC power input

Software: Drivers & Utilities, Sony Picture Package

Included Accessories: Camcorder shoulder strap, lens cap, instruction manual

Cables Included:

A/V cable
USB cable
 

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