Sony CCD-TRV98 - Shoot Me Mom!
Written: Jul 05 '01
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Ease of Use: |
 |
|
| Durability: |
 |
|
| Battery Life: |
|
|
| Movie Quality: |
|
|
|
Pros: Sony quality, reputation and tons of features.
Cons: Heavy. Features take a while to learn.
The Bottom Line: This is a good quality family camcorder. Sony quality, gets the basic shots and has plenty of functionality. Zoom range is large and it works well.
|
|
|
| nwinston's Full Review: Sony Handycam CCD-TRV98 Hi-8 Analog Camcorder |
Having children plunged me into the world of video.
Formerly scoffing at those who lugged camcorders
around with them, I joined the club. Grandparents
far away claim to enjoy having film of events they
can't see in person. I am suspicious of those
claims. Don't they actually groan when they open
their mail and find 2 hours of tape from us? After
all, who wants to sit through action-less t-ball,
school skits and Easter egg hunts? However, until
they are brave enough to spit out the unvarnished
truth about these "America's Worst" videos, we will
continue to send them.
One small problem. Sending the tapes requires a
camcorder. The one we bought right after our first
son's birth didn't last long. Fortunately, we bought
the extended warranty*, saving enough in repair bills
to send said child to college. We borrowed a camera
from a neighbor to re-enact the "first steps" video.
(Sorry Grandparents, this is our confession. They
were actually second or third steps before we got
the camera borrowed and turned on.)
Deciding that waking our neighbors at 5:30 am for
these pivotal events in our children's lives would
wouldn't win us any awards, we bought camera #2. It
lasted a little longer. (Memo to parents: Pulling
to a standing position using the flip out LCD screen
will snap it right off if the child weighs 18 pounds
or more. I didn't test it with any smaller children)
Time to get a great camera. An unbreakable one.
My husband left our cave and went hunting. Sales
people apparently found his "unbreakable"
requirement laughable. Either that or they just
thought my husband was funny looking. He decided
that in order to get a camcorder, he would have to
give up on drop proof. Once he did, he was quickly
sold on the Sony CCD-TRV98.
Shelling out his $500 in old presidents, he came
home with his prey. We unpacked it and read up on
the features. Whoa! This baby comes with more
functions than my first car! A quick rundown:
• Picture Stabilization System cuts down on shakiness
• Hi 8 and 8mm tape recording
• 320,000 pixels provides great detail and clarity
• 20X OPTICAL/ 560X DIGITAL ZOOM brings action closer
• NIGHTSHOT™ captures video in total darkness (0 lux)
up to 10 feet away using with an infrared system
• 3 1/2" swivel screen LCD display
• Wireless transmission to a nearby receiver
• InfoLithium rechargable batteries
• Picture and fader special effects & titling
• Manual and autofocus
Coming with the Sony CCD-TRV98 are the following
accessories:
• NP-F330 InfoLithium Battery
• AC-L10 AC Adapter
• Lens Cap
• Shoulder Strap
• Wireless Remote Control RMT-708
• Mono A/V Cable
You can optionally add a quick charger for the battery.
You can upgrade the batteries to ones with more power
storage for an additional price. Wireless receivers
are also purchased separately.
This camera has served us well. We're getting all
the summer shots needed to send the Grandparents
into a long snooze. Our needs are simple though.
How much finesse does it take to shoot a t-ball
game where the ball is rarely hit and even more
rarely fielded? We have played with the special
features like fade and night shot but the feature
we use most is the zoom. It's nice to be able to
get the entire first grade class mumbling the pageant
song before we zoom in on our own scared performer.
Down sides to this camera are few. It's kind of
heavy to carry around all day, so we just get it out
for events where we aren't on the move. The
batteries are expensive. You definitely need at
least one extra. When one runs out of juice, you
need a charged spare to use. Buy the ones with the
most storage. More expensive initially, they save
you frustration. Using the flip out LCD screen
drains the batteries quickly.
Bottom line on this camera is that it's a great
Sony product. If you need a family camera to get
your lives on film for posterity, this may be a
good choice for you. If you drive by our house
and hear "Shoot me, Mom!", don't call the police.
It's just one of my guys, wanting his antics on
film.
* Camcorders are the only item we've ever bought
with an extended warranty. Consumer Reports
Magazine was our guide. They recommend passing on
the high profit warranties but did say to buy them
for camcorders.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 500
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
nwinston
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Location: US
Reviews written: 272
Trusted by: 240 members
About Me:
Loving my boys and the summer weather in Oregon!
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.