Sony TRV240 Digital8 Camcorder -- Hi-Value Digital Video

Author's Rating:

Pros: Digital, Hi8 playback, analog-to-digital conversion.

Cons: Light on still features, bottom-loading tape compartment, no manual white balance.

The Bottom Line: 
"For a small increase over the cheapest model, the TRV140, you get a big increase in useful features."

Author's Review


You won't find a better deal for the money in a digital camcorder than Sony's Digital8-format DCR-TRV240.

If you don't need a digital camcorder, you can get a fine analog camcorder for less, such as Sony's Hi8 CCD-TRV108 which sells for about $300.

But with a street price as low as $540, the TRV240 offers the best value in a digital camcorder.



B&W Viewfinder, Color LCD Screen

You monitor video on the TRV240, both while shooting and during playback, with either its half-inch black & white viewfinder or its 2.5-inch fold-out color LCD screen. More expensive camcorders usually feature color viewfinders and larger LCD screens, but if you don't mind the black & white viewfinder and the somewhat smaller LCD (the largest are usually 4.0 inches), this model saves quite a bit when compared to other models with larger viewing devices.



Modest Still Features

One of the other main things that differentiates the TRV240 from more expensive camcorders, both from the Sony line and from other manufacturers, is that the TRV240 has fewer digital still features. For example, the TRV240 has no MemoryStick capability. Digital stills must be recorded to the tape, with a seven-second delay between shots.

Camcorders, however many digital-still features they have, almost always do a far worse job than even entry-level digital-still cameras in capturing stills. As a general rule, while you can find plenty of camcorders with still capability and many mid-level and above digital still cameras with some kind of motion capture capability, you're better off buying separate devices to carry out these two functions.



Digital8 Format

The TRV240 uses the Digital8 format, which means it records digitally, in a format quite similar to that of MiniDV, but stores the data on Hi8 video tapes rather than the smaller tapes used for MiniDV. There's no inherent advantage to the MiniDV tapes versus Hi8 tapes except, of course, their small size makes it possible to design much more compact camcorders around them.

You can actually find MiniDV camcorders that sell for $100 less than the TRV240, but they're not designed as well and they have feature sets which are not as extensive. The TRV240 is an updated version of last-year's TRV230 (which in turn evolved from similar models released in 2000, 1999, and 1998). Sony renames their Digital8 models every year, even though the differences from one year's model to the next are generally cosmetic only.



No Manual White Balance

The TRV240, like every D8 camcorder Sony has ever made, only has automatic white balance control. This is a drawback, as manual white balance setting allows you to ensure your camcorder records colors accurately.

With white balance set automatically, sky blue may end up closer to mint green. Is this a big deal? Only to perfectionists like myself. Most viewers will quickly adjust to the slight color inaccuracy which auto-white balance setting can introduce. The average home videographer, and average home videographers are the intended target market of this product, will be perfectly happy with the auto-white balance setting.

If you're worried about the impact of the auto-white balance, or any other aspect of the camcorder, on the final quality of the footage you tape, you should buy the camcorder from a retailer offering no-hassle money-back return.

With some video processing and editing software, you can adjust the white balance of the video after you have shot it.



Bottom-Loading Tape Compartment

While we're on the annoying qualities of the TRV240, let's note that tapes are inserted into the underside of the case rather than the top. Normally, this won't make a difference. However, if the camcorder is on a tripod plate and/or you have an XLR microphone adaptor mounted to its underside, you'll have to remove all accessories from underneath the camcorder in order to insert a new tape.



Tape Details

The tape in Digital8 record or playback mode runs at twice the speed of the tape in analog Hi8 mode, giving you only half the rated amount of recording time, or one hour in the case of a 120-minute Hi8 tape (the largest common size).

There's a slower mode that gives you more recording time which, for reasons of recording quality, I'd suggest you avoid. Ditto for trying to save a buck by recording onto 8mm instead of Hi8 tapes.

As with a Hi8 camcorder, you can't play back the D8 tapes in your standard home VCR. But it's no problem to play back your video from the TRV240 on your TV. Just connect the special plug from Sony (it uses a non-standard jack on the camcorder end that combines composite-video and R/L audio on a single plug) into the camcorder and, on the other end of the cable, plug into the A/V (video, R/L audio) jacks on your TV and you're ready to watch. Make sure to change the channel on your TV to "input," which you usually either find by tuning one below channel 2 or by selecting that from the input choices on the remote or on the input button on the front of the TV.

The camcorder also has an S-Video output which you might use for the video connection to your TV (you'd still use the special Sony cable for the R/L audio connection). Theoretically this provides a better video signal, though in practice there's not much difference between the picture with the S-Video connection and the standard A/V (composite) connection.

You can find Hi8 120 tapes for about $4.00, while one-hour MiniDV tapes start at $5.50, there's some saving on tape stock with a D8 camcorder versus MiniDV. However, as most people shoot video in segments of just a few minutes each, that price difference won't have a giant impact on the average home videographer.



Dimensions

Since the Digital8 camcorders are built around the same tapes, they are about the same size as typical Hi8 camcorders (the TRV240 is about 8.25 inches long, by 3.75 inches wide, by 4.0 inches high). This is a good size, giving you a camcorder that you can grip in a fairly natural way for handheld shooting.

In the MiniDV models, you can find smaller, lighter camcorders, but the TRV240's weight, about two pounds, is negligible. Going to a lower weight does allow operating handheld for hours at a stretch with no fatigue on your arm, but it also makes the camera more difficult to hold steadily. Likewise, while more compact camcorders are easier to pack for a trip, a smaller case than the TRV240's doesn't give you as good a handgrip and operating ergonomics.



Inputs/Outputs

The TRV240 has both analog I/O jacks (S-Video, component-video, and R/L audio), an IEEE-1394 digital jack (also called a Firewire or, in the case of Sony gear, an iLink jack), and a USB jack.



Analog/Digital Conversion (ADC)

The camcorder offers a number of features for converting your older analog tapes to the digital format, allowing you to record the video onto the storage medium in another IEEE-1394-equipped digital device (VTR, camcorder, or DVD-R deck) or to the hard drive in a computer equipped with an IEEE-1394 jack. Please note that the IEEE-1394 jack, in the TRV240, is a two-way device, meaning it both inputs and outputs digital data, including edit control signals, audio, video, and time code.

As you input analog video, the camcorder converts it to the digital form. You could convert any NTSC-standard video input, such as the output from a VHS, VHS-C, S-VHS, S-VHS-C, 8mm, or Hi8 camcorder, or a VHS or S-VHS VCR (or VTR) to digital form, and either record the video to the Hi8 tape in the TRV240 or output the video in digital form via the IEEE-1394 jack. Another option, with pre-recorded 8mm or Hi8 tapes, is that you can play the tape itself in the TRV240 and it will convert the analog signal to digital and send it out via the IEEE-1394 jack, allowing you the options mentioned above.

Because of these playback capabilities with 8mm and Hi8 tape, Sony describes the TRV240 as being "backwards compatible" with the 8mm/Hi8 formats.



Operating Convenience

The ergonomics of the TRV240 are pretty much identical to most other camcorders. For handheld shooting, you put your three forward fingers through the hand-strap so they grip the right-hand side of the camera (no accommodation for lefties from Sony) while your index finger controls the zoom slide-switch and your thumb accesses the record start/stop button. The TRV240 places the photo button, for shooting digital stills, right behind the zoom slide-switch and close enough for your index finger to easily go from the zoom switch to the photo switch.

Ostensibly, the zoom has two speeds, but it's tricky to get the feel for only pushing it far enough for slow. I kept pushing it past the slow position to fast.

Manual focus is controlled by a knurled rubber ring around the lens. This is a big improvement from the entry-level D8 camcorder, the TRV140, where manual focus is controlled by the same tiny selector roller at the back left of the case used to go through the menu items.

Several of the control buttons are located under the fold-out LCD screen. This means you can't access, for example, the "menu" button (one you're likely to want fairly frequently) while shooting with just the viewfinder and with the LCD screen in the locked-shut position.

The other buttons located in the space on the left under the LCD screen are: display, volume plus, volume minus, end search, playback zoom, and title. There's also a grill for the tiny monitor speaker. To monitor live audio you are recording, it's better to plug a pair of phones into the camcorder's headphone jack (just to the right of the lens).

Next to the headphone jack, you'll find the jacks for an external mic and for a LANC plug (LANC is a proprietary two-way edit control format used by Sony; you're not too likely to employ it with the TRV240 unless you use the camcorder in an analog editing setup).

On the lower right hand side of the case, just above the bottom of the camcorders, there's a row of jacks. Normally, a small plastic cover snaps in place to protect these jacks which include, from left to right: S-Video, A/V, Firewire, and USB. The A/V jack is a custom Sony jack which, as mentioned above, combines composite-video and R/L audio in a single jack. You need a cable from Sony, with a custom plug on the camcorder end, in order to use this jack. This five-foot cable is included with the camcorder. At the other end it splits into standard video, R audio and L audio plugs for connection to your monitor or VTR. Sony does not include an S-Video cable.

Continuing along the bottom edge on the left (as viewed from shooting position) side of the camcorder, from left to right after the jack area you'll find a row of buttons controlling: focus, back light, fader, edit-search plus, edit-search minus, and exposure.

On top of the case, there are the video-tape recorder (VTR) transport controls. These are actually little dots that stick up through a plastic membrane. You press down on the little dot labeled for whichever VTR function you want: stop, pause, record, rewind, play, fast forward. Note that the camcorder has two basic modes controlled from the switch which surrounds the record stop/start button.

In the camera position, the camcorder records video and in the so-labeled "VCR" position. It should rightly be called VTR -- for video-tape recorder -- because a VCR generally refers to a consumer unit with both record/playback functions, timed-recording functions, and an integral cable/broadcast tuner while a unit with only record and playback functions, such as the TRV240 in its "VCR" mode is called a VTR. Just thought you would like to know that.

Just below the lens, there's the camcorder's built-in stereo mic. Below this, there's the red plastic cover for the infrared light used with the NightShot feature. On the forward-top of the case, just above the hinge for the LCD screen, there's a switch to set the NightShot mode. In one position, you have monochrome NightShot recording and in the other slow-shutter (but not the same as the slow-shutter feature from the menu) color NightShot recording.

The NightShot mode lets you capture video in low light. By activating the infrared light, you increase the range at which objects will show up during NightShot operation.



Menu Control

Through either the LCD or the viewfinder, you can bring up a menu which lets you access many of the functions of the camcorder. You bring the menu up by pressing the "menu" button under the fold-out LCD screen and you scroll through menu items and select choices by turning and clicking in, respectively, a small roller wheel at the lower left-hand corner of the camcorder.

There's a "wide" mode, accessible through the menus, that let's you record a 16:9 (ratio of width to height) image versus the standard 4:3 image. With a widescreen TV in native 16:9 mode, this image will fill up the entire screen.

The menus give you access to a variety of digital "picture effects," including: negative art (the image looks like a photographic negative), sepia (monochrome brown-tinted image), black & white, solarize (the image looks like a topographical map drawn with very fine colored sand), slim, stretch, pastel, and mosaic (converts the image to a grid of colored tiles, with the color of each tile representing the average underlying color of that section of the image).

Also through the menus, you access the "digital effects," including: still (freezes the action), flash motion (motion converted to a series of stills), luminance key (freezes part of the picture while the rest is seen as regular motion video -- appears the camera is looking through a pane of glass, part of which has the initial image from when you pressed record-start painted on it and part of which is clear and allows the ongoing motion video to appear), trail (leaves edges hanging off moving objects or objects past which you pan), slow shutter (lets you access the following shutter speeds which are lower than the camcorder's normal lowest lens speed of 1/60th of a second: 1/30th, 1/15th, 1/8th, and 1/4 of a second), and old movie (uses sepia and slower shutter speeds to give the video you tape the appearance of an old movie).

These effects allow you quite a bit of creative control. Anybody who is, for example, shooting low-budget music videos, will find these various modes very useful. If you watch professional video work, such as the short documentary-like stories on TV news magazine shows, you'll notice they frequently use effects, such as solarization, which are identical to those available in the TRV240.

You can combine the "picture effects" and "digital effects," allowing for some wild and wacky video. Making a video about your family's visit to San Francisco and you want to re-create the drug-user's perspective of an acid trip? Just combine the solarize and 1/4-second shutter effects. Want to simulate the view from inside a car during a collision without having to actually total the minivan? Simply set the 1/4-second and mosaic effects simultaneously. There's great fun to be had.



Status Screens

Status screens, visible through both the LCD screen and the viewfinder, keep you informed of the time code (tape position in hours, minutes, seconds and, on playback only, frames), picture and digital effects in use, shooting speed (SP or SLP), and available battery running time. There's an additional status screen on the outside of the LCD door which lets you see the tape position when you have the LCD screen clicked into the shut position.



Still Shutter

When you press the digital still shutter button, you actually see a "shutter" click shut in the viewfinder or LCD screen. At the standard SP recording speed, you can fit a total of 510 stills on a Hi8 120 tape. The camcorder records seven seconds of audio with each still.



"Intelligent" Hot Shoe

On the top forward section of the case, to the right, there's a hot shoe. The hot-shoe has the Sony "intelligent hot shoe" functions. For example, if you use a Sony video light which is designed for intelligent hot-shoe operation, the shutter and exposure settings in the camcorder will affect the brightness level of the light. You can also just use the hot-shoe as a mechanical attachment point for compatible devices with their own power supplies.



Image Stabilization

The TRV240 has a image-stabilization feature, Super Steady Shot, which they claim will eliminate camera shake during handheld shooting. Its effect on camera shake is minimal.

The best way to get rid of camera shake is to use a tripod. If shooting handheld, you can teach yourself how to grip the camcorder in such a way that shake is minimized (hold the camera with both hands, push the rubber eyecup right up to your eyebrow ridge).



Included Accessories

Accessories included with the TRV240 include a remote control, A/C adaptor/battery charger, NP-FM30 lithium-ion battery (gives about 40 minutes recording time), A/V cable (with custom 3.5mm plug for combo video/audio A/V jack on camcorder at one end and standard video, R audio, L audio RCA plugs on other end), USB cable, shoulder strap, and a CD with image-capture software.



Construction Quality

As for construction quality, the TRV240 uses plastic throughout. It's really not made to withstand anything more than very minor bumps. As is true with most inexpensive camcorders, Sony invested in the features rather than the physical toughness of the TRV240. You just have to be prepared to baby it. Keeping the camcorder on a short lanyard attached to your wrist at the other end would not be a bad idea. Most extended warranties don't cover any kind of accidental damage.



Caveat Emptor

As always, be careful of merchants, especially online merchants, advertising a very low price on the TRV240. I found the camcorder at B&H, an authorized dealer, (see my recent review) for $540. Sony actually does not allow its authorized dealers to advertise discounted prices, except with closeouts and the like, so you should be cautious with any retailer who does so and ascertain whether or not you are getting a U.S.-warranted or gray market camcorder.



Conclusion

This is probably the best value in the Digital8 line. For a small increase over the cheapest model, the TRV140, you get many useful features, such as analog-to-digital conversion and the focus ring around the lens. On the other hand, moving up to the next higher model mainly gives improvements in still-image features. If you really want a good digital still camera, you would probably be better off just buying a digital still camera, such as the Canon PowerShot A10 which you can find for a little less than $200.