Great Bargan on a Digital 8 Camcorder

Author's Rating:

Pros: Inexpensive, Great quality video and pics

Cons: somewhat short battery life

The Bottom Line: 
I'd recommend this camcorder to anyone wanting a solid, well built cam, with a lot of useful features

Author's Review
My purchase of this Camcorder was not exactly planned.. ya see, In an atempt to reestablish credit (medical bills when I was a kid.. long story ) I decided to try getting a Sears Credit card.. I was shocked when I got it.. and was just gonna get something small... and pay it off quick... (like a Minidisc player..) well, while looking around the local Sears.. I came upon a Sony Hi8 camcorder (the TRV58 I believe) anyway, I was looking around a bit more, and saw this camcorder (TRV120, I liked it more, but was trying to keep my first purchase low (the TRV58 was only $244.00, the TRV120 was $498.00) anyway, I bought the TRV58, and played with it a while (2 days and nights) before I decided to return it and get the 120. I am glad I did! yeah, it's missing some things I would have liked having.. like a built-in light, and better battery life, but I'm still happier with the 120, it has a LOT more going for it, better video quality (IMHO) it takes still pics (with 7 seconds of audio too!) granted, they are in 640x480 resolution, but that's oki for most pics I take, it's nicer not having to switch cameras..

I went with the Digital 8 format for a few reasons, one was price.. like I said.. this cam cost me $498.00.. and I couldn't find anything as nice feature wise in the Mini-DV cams.. another reason was I have an older 8MM camcorder (another Sony, a CCD-V110Pro) about 16 (give or take) years old, and just now starting to show wear.. the batteries won't hold a charge for long.. and the video hook up is flaky.. but it still will take great videos.. (just needed a way to play em back *smiles*) but since that was one of the first Sony 8 mm cams.. it ws the Shoulder-mount type (you had the cam resting on your shoulder) it wasn't comfortable to use for long periods.. (this is also why I decided on Sony.. that cam lasted 16 years! (of use that is) if this one lasts 1/2 as long I'll be happy.
So far, I haven't found much I don't like about this camcorder, except the short battery life (like 1 1/2 hours with he standard battery) it plays back all my old tapes, takes nice clear pics, and I love the zoom functions.. yes it get's blocky at the upper end of the digital zoom, but, who cares.. I'm not taking professional pics here, just having fun).. I love being able to zoom in and see things that others around me miss *smiles* then I get to take a pic, or video of it (had a good time at the Jersey shore with this this past weekend *smiles*) Then there's all the neat things it can do, the faders, the digital effects and all.. there's a lot I haven't figured out yet with it.. (still reading the manual) I do wish I had the option of shooting and recording in Hi8 mode, so I could get 2 hours out of the tapes in SP mode, but it's a small price to pay for the better video quality... it still uses Hi8 tapes, so it's cheaper to feed than a Mini-DV (at the moment anyway)
it also has numerous ways to hook the cam to your video equipment, standard A/V ports, svideo, and ilink (firewire)

I also love the Nightshot (and Super Nightshot) modes, they work a LOT better than on the TRV58 I had.. it really lights up the night! and better than 10 feet like they advertise.. Yeah, the pics and videos are green, but it's still VERy cool