Sony DCR-TRV140 8mm Camcorder

TRV140 is GREAT but not perfect

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Apr 3, 2002 | 33 out of 34 found this Sony DCR-TRV140 review helpful

Sony's DCR-TRV140 is an excellent home-use video camera. There are many noteworthy features but nearly as many disappointing ones. The overall quality is excellent but this particular model lacks some of the most attractive Digital8 features. A break...-down of Pros and Cons follows.Pros:* Awesome picture quality* Very good zoom (even digital looks pretty good)* Impressive NightShot (night vision)* Long battery life even with cheap battery that is included (112 minutes on full charge)* Fully featured remote controller* LOTS of special editing features* Fun streaming video USB feature (makes the camera work like a webcam)* Fun timelapse and frame-by-frame (stop-motion) recording capability* Very good SteadyShot technology* Able to record in 16:9 widescreen format for widescreen TVs (very cool)* Adequate user manualCons:* There's NO WAY to record from an analog source* It can NOT play back 8mm or Hi8 analog tapes (a big reason I wanted a Digital8 camera!)* Streaming USB cable is only 2.5' long making it all but useless without an extension* No headphone jack for quiet playback* No external microphone jack* Rewind and f.forward are slow (takes about 5 minutes to rewind a full 60 min tape)* When recording on 8mm tapes (as opposed to Hi8 tapes) playback looks very pixelated and generally bad when played on another Digital8 player (even using the same model camera for playback)* Although it has a firewire (i.link) connection, it doesn't come with a cable - Sony charges $70.00 for a 10 footer!I would recommend this model to anyone who is interested in taking high quality video on cheap Hi8 tapes but who does not care to play back old analog tapes in the new camera. I would not recommend this model to someone who is interested in working with analog inputs or outputs or who is planning to make professional or semi-professional videos. Read more Less