More than I expected.

Author's Rating:

Pros: Low cost. Lots of features. 8mm/Hi8 playback Very good quality. Doesn't feel cheap.

Cons: No memory stick. Digital zoom useless.

The Bottom Line: 
Excellent for normal, consumer use.

Author's Review
I bought this digital camcorder as an replacement for an older 8mm camcorder. So what I needed was something that can use/playback those old 8mm tapes, while having the new features that are found in the camcorders today. The TRV120 fills my needs plus more for the price around middle-class Hi8 camcorders.

Upon first turning it on, I discovered that the zoom abilities of this camcorder to be amazing. I was able to zoom from one side of a room to the poster on the other side, while being able to pick out the small print. But sadly, this feature is somewhat limited by the optical zoom. Once past the abilities of the optical zoom of 25X, the camera then relies on digital zoom (software). The digital zoom basically just takes what the optical zoom sees and blows it up. The down side to this is that the display is often very blurry and unclear as the digital zoom is increased. Now, lets assume that the digital zoom is perfect, will it be useful then? The answer is not really. This is because at such high zooms it is very hard to keep the camcorder steady (even with the steady shot) enough for normal use.

One of the best designs that was made for this machine is the light up buttons for playback. These buttons (play, stop, fastforward, etc) are located on the top of the machine (above the tape insert) and are off for most of the time. When the camcorder is in playback mode, these buttons light up. Although it does not provide anything special, it is very nice of Sony to add in such a feature. It should be noted that the newer TRV130, which acts as a replacement for the TRV120 does not support 8mm/Hi8 playback.

A very neat feature of this camcorder is the nightshot. The nightshot allows the camcorder to record video in perfect darkness using infared light. The infared light comes a light below the camera lens. This feature is very useful when it comes to shooting video either in very low light or no light.

The biggest downfall of this machine is the lack of memory stick for still digital pictures. But then again, this machine isn't that high end, so this is somewhat expected. The lack of the memory stick is made up by the ability to record 5 second stills onto the tape with the ability to add a voice over for it. Not a big problem, but it would've been nice to have such a feature. The higher end models from Sony have such memory stick features, but cost much more. Such higher models basically have the same features, but have a bigger screen, memory stick, and possibly record at a slightly higher resolution.

I found the overall sound and picture quality to be more than acceptable for normal use. But anything more than that, it is recommended to go for the higher models which has more CCD sensors (more CCD sensors=higher resolution; the TRV120 has only 1). There is also a slot for the use of an better quality external mic, but I have yet to test it out.

Basically as if now, I haven't had any problems with the machine and found it to perform excellent. The TRV120 is possibly the best model available for the price.