Sony CCDTRV57 8mm Camcorder

This is a very good camcorder! You really can't go wrong with this one. Its very easy to use and no setup is required. The batteries last forever (well maybe not forever) and you can get alot done with out having to recharge. It has a wonderful steady shot feature which removes some of the shaking your hands make when you are shooting. It also has other great features. It has a 20x optical zoom (the lens actually moving) and a 360x digital zoom (the camera enlarging the picture), It is Control-L (LANC)compatible (which is similar to Panasonics 5-pin control system), so you can edit directly from the camcorder (if you plan on using a computer to edit), an LCD is attached to the side (you know, the screen that pops out), but it also has one of Sony's best features, the 0 LUX Nightshot. This enables you to film in TOTAL darkness. Its a wonderful feature. This camera is alot of fun, its light weight, and has rather good quality (but is nothing compared to MiniDV or Digital8). If you want a good 8mm camera, and don't want to sell the farm, this is it. If you want really good quality and want to edit on your new iMac, get a MiniDV camera or a Digital8. Keep in mind, you can still edit on a computer using a video capture card (a new one is comming out soon from 3dfx www.3dfx.com). So this is a purchase you shall benefit from. I STRONGLY suggest this purchase.

This is the first camcorder I purchased for making home movies of my son and other family events. I agonized over format and decided to go with 8mm over a digital product. My reason for this decision was cost, and the reality that the only thing this would be used for is casual taping.

So far the camera works perfectly. The battery system is very good and does not suffer from the memory problem that nickel-cadmium batters have. It charges quickly and lasts for quite a long time if you use the flip out screen conservatively. The night vision system is really cool and works via an infrared beam. You can record in total darkness and make your oun BLAIR WITCH PROJECT! I have not experimented with all the features offered but will slowly explore these over time. For a basic camera you cannot go wrong with this unit and I recommend to anyone looking for a sold 8mm camera to record family and friends.

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Picture quality is good, loud & sensitive mono sound, easy and not too heavy (about 2 lbs with battery), not too big size for travelling (about 4.5 x 5 x 11 inches). STANDARD BATTERY that came with this camera works 2 hours for B&W viewfinder recording 50 minutes with color LCD recording. If you play black a lot on the LCD (I like to do that), this battery will last about 30 minutes, charging time is about 1 hour. Option batteries are available, and I think I should have one.

Night shot and super night shot movies is just like in a horror movies, every things look faded-green or B&W and people has silver eyes, well, at least I can see the objects (I shot in total darkness). The battery consuming is higher with the night shorts. By the way that tiny built-in light is useless. Remote seems to be useful for the play back only, hardly used at all. I love the multivotage adapter that came with the camera, I wish Sony adds the PAL playback too incase of travelling to Europe and Asia (Hitachi has this feature).

Photo effects are not very useful but programe AE are good and easy, however the icons of programe AE are very tiny, quite difficult to figure out what programes am I on (my eyes are getting old). Every one looks good on that small color LCD, however in the strong day light it is very difficult to see that screen, the manual recommend to use the B&W viewfinder instead. Multilanguage titles with custom setting options.

If you live a hi-tech life, do not buy this cam. because the output is only A/V (2 jacks), no s-video connection, so it's not working with my TV-video capture card in the computer (I use Avermedia product), I heard that it might work on pinnacle system, but did not try it yet. I think I might be able to connect it through the VCR which has A/V connector and can be connected to my TV card, however this attempt hasn't been succesful.

The accesories price are quite expensive (i.e. separate battery chargers, spare batteries, filters, car battery adapter) espectially if you buy them direct from sony....

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This is a great camcorder for starters. The Night Shot (witch is really infared) is one of the best things Sony could of put on Thier camcorders. The remote is nice when you are watching the viedo ar tape recording it so you don't have to get up. The 2.5 in. LCD I could live without because it dosent have that very good of clarity. The only real diffrence that it has between digital camcorder is it's abilty to do computer editing and the abilty of being a digital camera, anyways the quality of the digital camera feature is really poor. Steady shot is a good feature for amature camera people. The thing that really took me in suprise is the top notch zoom which is top of the line when I wrote this. All in all it is a good camera for a good price.

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I just received this today and I'm very excited about this camera. It comes complete with bag (in primary colors), strap for camera, A/V cable, remote, batteries for remote, AC adaptor, and rechargable battery pack. Only thing you need to buy is the 8mm tape. Well worth the money considering you don't have to buy the extras. This camera will help make some memorable holiday moments last forever.