A brilliant basic camcorder

The CCDTRV118 is a pretty good entry level camcorder with very good movie quality. The low light mode is wonderful. Does not have any major bells and whistles but nevertheless has all the basics just right. Hi8 is good on battery life and for the price its a steal!!

Good buyMore detail ...

Great Camcorder - Better than my First.

I bought this camcorder 4 months after the sound on my other one stopped working and I was impressed. The optical zoom is good at 20x and the digital zoom (which is completely pointless) is 990x. The second thing I noticed is that the LCD screen moved to more places and that there was 2 record buttons. One was on the LCD screen the other was next to the off button. The viewfinder can also move to different places but is still in Black and white. Another feature that this camcorder has is Nightshot Plus. This feature allows you to record at night with a brighter picture than with a flashlight or lamp. There are also many DSEs or Digital Special Effects that you can play with in recording or editing. They are:



Sepia: adds a brown old tone to the screen

Black and White: the way films used to be

Negative Art: reverses the colors in the picture

Pastel: makes the picture look colored in with a pastel crayon

Solarize: makes the picture out of basic colors

Mosaic: the picture - made out of squares

Slim: stretches the picture vertically

Stretch: a lot like widescreen



When filming out or indoors there are different Program AEs you can use when the light in the picture changes. If you dont like switching them you can set them to AUTO. The PAEs are:



Sports

Spotlight

Portrait

Beach/Ski

SunsetMoon

Landscape



If you want to buy this camcorder because it has great battery life don't. It doesn't have a great battery life but it is still a great camcorder.



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AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME

You will not be disappointed with this purchase. I compared the price with many other camcorders that had the same features and I couldnt believe what a savings this was. When I recieved it it took apprx 1 hour to charge the battery and I was recording.. I must add the durablilty is Great! (I dropped it on our cement garage floor and not one thing was broken with amazement! ) Great buy-& lots of fun with a professional touch! :)More detail ...

High-quality camcorder

I purchased this camcorder a few weeks ago. I wanted a high-quality up-to-date camcorder but was not interested in paying over five hundred dollars for digital. It is extremely easy to use and is high quality. I have never used a camcorder before and this took me just a few minutes to learn. I have had no problems with it to date. The sound quality is wonderful when you play it back on the TV. If you are looking for the Sony brand and don't care about not having all the extras then this camcorder is for you.

Pros: durable small light and easy to use.

Cons: no LCD screen no image stabilizerMore detail ...

A Great Camcorder at an Affordable Cost

I am an aspiring filmmaker so I wanted a good-quality camcorder at a low price. I got it with this. It's only $499 (which is great considering all the stuff it has) and can do some cool effects. It has 8 filming effects 4 fading effects a 2.5" color LCD screen a black and white viewfinder and much more. You can even create your own titles! This is a great camcorder for beginners to use to get a feel for it. I think it's great!More detail ...

Picture Qua;ity

I read the other review which said that the picture was grainy. More so than a Sony camera of comparable qualty. I took pictures in good light and found that the video quality was excellent in normal and telephoto shooting. I used Hi8 video tape. The picture was grainy only in low light situations. In a low light situation I don't plan to take videos although the lens is light sensitive enough to take such pictures. I have several other camcorders of different models and types and this camera stands up with the best of them. It is also small and very easy to carry and take pictures... I plan to keep it. It is an excellent camcorder.More detail ...

Compact convenient and great battery life.

The camera really is easy to use and is loaded with features. The remaining battery life indicator is a GREAT feature. The special effects are fun to use. The night shot is cute but my use would be minimal. Overall it is a very good camcorder. I would buy it again.More detail ...

So far so good

Ok I have owned this camcorder for about 3 weeks and it has performed very well so far. The quality of the picture is very good. The high quality of the night shot picture in total darkness was a big surprise. For 50 bucks the infared hookup to the tv or vcr was a good choice. I wish the LCD screen could be a bit bigger 2.5 is a little small. 3 inch would have been better. A word of advice If you get the camera from somewhere other than a Ciurcut City or Best Buy type store you can get a very good three year extended warranty for ALOT less than a big chain store. Don't kid yourself these cameras will break and a one year standard warranty is not enuogh to cover your approx. $1000 investment.More detail ...

Cool Cam

This camera is so fun not to mention affordable! It is light durable (Ive even dropped it a few times) and totally easy to use. I take it everywhere. Be sure to get extra batteries though because they wear out before you know it.More detail ...

Nice Product

I really enjoy this camcorder. Lots of features reasonably priced. My biggest complaint is that it comes with only a 2 hour battery and upgraded batteries are expensive but that is not a specific problem with this camcorder but a general issue. I really like the infrared capabilities and steady shot features. You may want to upgrade to the TRV88 I believe which provides a Video Link capability which can transmit the 8mm taped image directly to your TV with the optional ...tv receiver. It would keep one from having to connect the camcorder to the TV via cables to view the images on the TV screen. The LCD playback screen on this camera works well and is pretty easy to view.More detail ...

Great little camcorder except...

I have used many video cameras in my life but I have never owned one until now. I worked at audio/video stores for several years and saw lots of different formats and brands come and go. Never a fan of the VHS format or its junky little brother Compact VHS I knew 8mm was the way to go at least back then. Nowadays though Mini DV seems to be taking over with even smaller cassettes and better picture quality. However I don't have that kind of money to afford a DV or Digital 8mm camcorder. Yet.

Enter the TRV-108 a nifty little video camera that uses the HiBand 8mm format superior to 8mm but certainly not in the ballpark of Digital8 or DV. Still its compact size and light weight make it easy to carry around almost anywhere and given the first 8mm camcorder I ever used was big enough that part of it sat on my shoulder this is a great improvement. It comes with a 160 minute `InfoLithium' battery and little else except a lens cap and strap. It takes great pictures and has a nifty menu system navigated by a little wheel at the back that works like like a volume control and when you have selected what you want from the on-screen display you just press the wheel to make it happen. This makes titling a snap. I do miss the title image-grabbing function from older 8mm cameras though.

The 2.5" color back lit LCD screen is clear and easy to read in all but the brightest sunlight and failing that it also has a small .5" black and white display through the view finder. The 40x zoom is fantastic but you better have steady hands in order to use it. And using the 460x digital zoom is impossible with anything but a tripod. The camera is equipped with a nightshot mode that actually does work amplifying light in dark areas making the image more visible if green. The TRV-108 also comes with some neat digital effects like sepia tone which gives video a nice old movie look a pastel effect which gives everything a cartoony look black and white 16:9 aspect shots plus other effects. It can also do snazzy digital fade-ins and fade-outs.

This camera only really has two failings. For the most part built in camera lights are useless but the TRV-108 doesn't even have an accessory shoe for mounting an external light source. Something I found kind of maddening to the point where I even toyed with the idea of finding a camera at a garage sale ripping it apart and super glue the shoe to the top. Second while the built-in microphone is very sensitive at picking up voices and ambient sounds it does not have a foam wind sock. In moderate winds the roar of the air as it passed over the mike caused a lot of noise. And if it's too loud like when I shot at the base of a waterfall the noise caused image distortion lines! These two missing features cost the camera a full five-star review.

All in all though this is a pretty decent little toy. It's not a serious camcorder and a far from a Canon GL-1s or Xl-1s but for what I use it for it's still pretty darn good. It's also low cost enough that purchasing it and using it as a good way to find out if you want to go for a bigger and better camera with more features whether it be a Digital8 or Mini DV camera. It has taught me a lot about framing shots and what a pain the noon day sun can be. The long life of the battery means that with a little mental effort you can shoot a full 2 hour tape on one battery. Not bad for a trip to the zoo to send a tape to your folks.More detail ...

Great Value for a Great Camera

I recently purchased this camera and have been very pleased with its performance. When weighing out the decisions of which camera to buy it can be very confusing. Which format should I choose? Hi-8 Digital MiniDV? All of these can seem confusing. For the novice cameraman this camera provides a perfect blend of form and function. The LCD screen is large and vibrant and provides for an easy way to see what you're filming without haveing to peer into a viewfinder.

The only drawback of this camera is that the battery life tends to be pretty short-lived. However you can purchase an extended life battery which comes in handy if you want to record for extended periods of times. One extremly useful feature of this camera is the light which really works well at night. Also a really cool feature of this camera is the ability to shoot in complete darkness (via an infared filming capability).

In a nutshell if you want great quality and extreme affordability this camera is for you.More detail ...

Great Hi8 Camcorder

I bought this camcorder to replace a Canon 8mm that was over 8 years old. My Canon camcorder stopped recording sound and finally stopped working. Canon would not repair it because it was an old model. My family has several Sony electronics products and none of them have had any problems. That says enough for me about Sony quality. About the camcorder...I like the video quality produced by the Sony Hi8 TRV98. It is a little better than the standard 8mm picture produced by my old Canon camcorder. I know Hi8 is not as good as the 500+ line resolution of Digital 8. However the Hi8 400+ line picture quality is great. The pictures are sharp with excellent color. This is a great camera for the price if you do not plan on "going digital" to load videos to your computer. I like the large 3.5 inch LCD screen Lithium Ion battery and the S-video out. ....More detail ...

Excellent picture quality and easy to use

This camcorder is packed with features including the stabilizer and a color LCD screen and it is amazingly easy to use. I learned how to use all of its features in under an hour. What I am most impressed with about this camcorder is the picture quality. Compared with other Hi-8 8mm & VHS-C camcorders in the store this model has the best picture quality comparable to a digital camcorder. At home I have filmed under the worst lighting conditions and all of my home videos always turn out beautifully. I highly recommend this model and all other Sony models.More detail ...

camera should sell for (more)!

Wow. What a buy for the price. This camera has most all the options of a way more expensive camera but it for only (this price). People complain about it not having an LCD I do not like those they result in shaky photography (not with this puppy though and its Image Stabilization which is great.) and it drains the battery. So I didn't care about that. If you really want an LCD you can move up to the next level which is 50 dollars more. But in the process you lose the Image Stabilization so really this camera is the better buy. It come with great features. First off the battery lasts for a long time you can get 90 minutes of footage which it even with auto-focus and zooming in and out. Its great. And its easy to recharge in fact the camera tells you how many minutes left until a full charge. Also it tells you the minutes of camera battery you have left instead of one of those battery meters which can be misleading. It comes with cool features one where it outlines the subjects in the picture and makes it turn into a cartoon. You can make black and white movies and even record in 16:9 mode. It comes with a titler so you can label you movies. You can chooose the location size and color of the title and it has capibility to write in 22 lanuages...which was handy on my trip to Mexico. The NightShot OLux was too cool even when it is pitch black the thing can record and see everything. It has 20x optical zoom and 460x digital. I don't like digital it just enlarges the pixels to zoom so the 20x optical is all you need. It inlcudes 5 types of faders which are all neat. The camera can record any play my old 8mm tapes. For the price this is a wonder. If you are looking for any eaasy camera to use chucked with all the options get the Sony CCD-TR818. Make sure before you use it to turn of "auto-date" which automatically puts the date on the first 10 seconds of a shot. It can be easily turned off in the user-friendly menu system.More detail ...

Good Start for the new comers

Hi.

I got this camcorder few days before and now using it daily almost 5 hours in day. I have listed out some of the Advantasges and problems i face with this new avtar of sony lineup.

1. The quailty of the recorded is very good and i feel happy when i shoot videos inside the house in low light the lense did a good job.

2 Nightshot feature is also impressive and i have shoot some videos in total darkness and quailty is really good.

3. The battery that comes with the Kit is seems to be OK if you are not planning to use the LCD while recording. You can also choose the battery with the higher life time.

4. The most welcome feature is the USB straeming of your data by connecting to ur PC. i have brodcast my movie using the yahoo messanger webcam feature and its done very well.

Well now i m sorry to say but this machine has some inbuilt problmes like.

1. If you are planning to capture the recorded video on your computer using the USB and the supplied software named PIXELA u will be disappointed with the quailty as it was very very bad.

2. The built in light does not seem to have an great extent while working on the low lights.

3. The external Microphone Input is not provided and u have depend on the inbuilt mic.

In last if you are a new comer and ur requirments are not like gorge lucas u can easily go for this low budget handycam and enjoy the pleasure of movie making.More detail ...

Best available for your average user

Buying a camcorder can be difficult. Do you want VHC? 8mm? Hi-8? Digital 8? Mini-DV? Then there's whether or not you want to be able to take stills have firewire output to a computer image stabilization etc.
One can easily find themselves saying "All I wan't is a basic camcorder to record random things." If that's you this is your camcorder.
Though the picture is not digital Hi-8 offers a nice clean picture that gets the job done. And since you can plug right into your TV or VCR transfer to video is simple without having to store all your old tapes like you did in the VHC and VHS days. Being a Sony you can expect a great zoom that let's you get nice detail from a good distance away. Add Steadyshot probably the best image stabilizer out there the ability to manually adjust your lighting nightshot and you have the ability to record in any situation.
Having sold Sony's for over a year I can tell you the number returned due to dissatisfaction was minimal. Same for broken or damaged camcorders.
Bottom line is this. In the TRV-318 Sony makes a great camcorder that's not only easy to use but able to take a nice clean video. And as long as you don't care about capturing the light flicker off a snowflake you'll love it too.More detail ...

Very happy with it

When our 8mm stopped working that we had used for nine years I found it overwhelming to research and find a new camera.
I knew I didn't want digital because I don't even use my digital still camera very often other than to e-mail pictures.
I knew that I wanted another 8mm so that we could play our tapes we have now. I didn't want to spend too much money. We received this camera a couple of weeks ago and I couldn't be happier. It even has more options than I really need. We charged the battery when we got the camera and for 2 weeks we have been filming the kids occasionally and the battery is still full. I never thought I would use the night vision but have found it is fun to film the kids when they are asleep and I don't have to turn a light on to film. The zoom works well and the color looks good. For the price I don't see how you could get a better camera. I don't think you could find a better analog camera even if you did spend more money. I obviously can't comment on how well it will hold up in the future but as far as its performance now I love it.More detail ...

Price+Features=Great Camcorder

I'll be honest and admit that if you want to spend a thousand dollars on a camcorder than you will definitely find something better. However if you are somebody like me who had limited funds to spend but wanted all the everyday features a ... person would want then this is the camera to buy! All the basics are included (still photo shots fantastic zoom abilities picture stabilization ability to film in complete darkness and amateur picture manipulation capabilities).

It also hooks up to a PC using a fire wire cable (IEEE1394) and a video capture board which I recommend buying the StudioDV from Pinnacle Systems that includes both for ... then getting sucked for ... by purchasing Sony's brand. Also I found the Laser Link feature to be the best features allowing me to play back my tapes on the TV without having to hook up the camera to it every time.

Overall the DCR-TRV130 is a great camera for what you're going to spend on it.More detail ...

Grab Hold Of This One

I just used this camcorder after my son came home with it and I am impressed. Ease of use picture qualitysound and lightweight.All 5 stars in my book. Priced right for the working stiff also. Nightshot feature is great. I'm on my way out to "grab hold of one" now.More detail ...

The BEST top bang-per-buck value in digital camcorders!

This is easily the best value DIGITAL camcorder out there today hands down. 'Digital8' is just as good as 'MiniDV' in terms of resolution and picture/audio quality. Why pay more for MiniDV? For under three 'Benjamins' you get reliable digital video and audio quality with over 500 lines of resolution and a proven medium (Digital8) whose videotapes cost half as much or less than MiniDV tapes. The video quality in low light is also excellent with a low light switch and feature that works great. And size-wise the camcorder is not much larger than a MiniDV unit. It is feature-rich and comes with all the accessories you would need including a charger battery lens cap A/V cable for connection to your TV a USB cable and software for connection to your PC or Mac. The owner's manual is one of the best i've ever seen with very intuitive diagrams and easy to operate instructions. And the battery level meter and 'time left' indicator on the LCD view panel is very useful and amazing in it's detail and usefulness. Folks this is one serious digital camcorder that is available 'for a song'! Great job Sony!!!



UPDATE 1/2006: 'Consumer Reports' listed this camcorder as a 'Best Buy' and mentioned that Sony has the best 'repair free' history out of all camcorders! Proof that this is a GREAT bargain! I wrote my original review of this here last year. More detail ...

The BEST top bang-per-buck value in digital camcorders!

This is easily the best value DIGITAL camcorder out there today hands down. 'Digital8' is just as good as 'MiniDV' in terms of resolution and picture/audio quality. Why pay more for MiniDV? For under three 'Benjamins' you get reliable digital video and audio quality with over 500 lines of resolution and a proven medium (Digital8) whose videotapes cost half as much or less than MiniDV tapes. The video quality in low light is also excellent with a low light switch and feature that works great. And size-wise the camcorder is not much larger than a MiniDV unit. It is feature-rich and comes with all the accessories you would need including a charger battery lens cap A/V cable for connection to your TV a USB cable and software for connection to your PC or Mac. The owner's manual is one of the best i've ever seen with very intuitive diagrams and easy to operate instructions. And the battery level meter and 'time left' indicator on the LCD view panel is very useful and amazing in it's detail and usefulness. Folks this is one serious digital camcorder that is available 'for a song'! Great job Sony!!!



UPDATE 1/2006: 'Consumer Reports' listed this camcorder as a 'Best Buy' and mentioned that Sony has the best 'repair free' history out of all camcorders! Proof that this is a GREAT bargain! I wrote my original review of this here last year. More detail ...

Box includes: AC-L15 Power Adapter/In-Camera Charger NP-FM30 InfoLithium(R) Rechargeable Battery AV Cable Lens Cap Shoulder Strap Sony's CCD-TRV138 Hi8(TM) Handycam(R) Camcorder delivers outstanding video quality with Hi-Fi sound in a compact affordable and easy-to-use package. The high-quality Hi8(TM) Recording can be enhanced with new features to customize your personal video. Use Fader Effects Picture Effects and Titling to get creative - enhance your home movies with creative fades pictorial exposures and titles. The Digital Zoom Interpolation and CCD imager with 320K gross pixels provide clear sharp detail during zooming or playback. Dial exposure (24 steps) Dimensions(WxHxD) - 3 3/8 x 3 7/8 x 6 (85 x 98 x 151 mm) Weight - 1 lb. 11 oz (780g) without Tape and BatteryMore detail ...