Sony DCRTRV27 MiniDV Digital Handycam Camcorder w/ 3.5" LCD, MPEG EX, Memory Stick & Mega Pixel Video/ Still
by Sony

Our Price: $249.00
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Digital Camera
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Digital Photo Product Details

• MiniDV camcorder
• 10x optical, 120x digital, zoom with image stabilization
• 3.5-inch color LCD monitor; color EVF
• Records still photos onto tape or included Memory Stick media
• Analog-to-digital conversion with pass-through analog inputs

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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sony DCRTRV27 MiniDV Digital Handycam Camcorder w/ 3.5" LCD, MPEG EX, Memory Stick & Mega Pixel Video/ Still

Customer Review: Mine died within 10 days...
Summary: 1 Stars

The day after receiving the TRV27, we taped about 10 minutes of our daughter swimming, and I couldn't have been happier with it. The video and audio were crystal clear, noticeably better than the Hi-8 tapes. A test of transferring this data onto the PC (using a Matrox RT.X100 capture setup) showed that to be painless, and the resulting files were flawless. I thought I'd definitely made a good purchase. Unfortunately, that feeling was short-lived...

A little more than a week after receiving the new camcorder, I had transferred a couple of our Hi-8 tapes to Mini DV. I then noticed that attempting to play back one of these Mini DV tapes on the TRV27 showed a strange "banding" of the image...the top 1/4 of the picture was there, followed by a gray horizontal band covering the next 1/4, then another 1/4 that looked good, followed by another gray band on the bottom 1/4. Both tapes that had been transferred played this way, as did anything new I tried recording from the camera.

I ran a cleaning tape through it 3 times, which finally brought the picture back, but that left me with a bad feeling...why did the heads need cleaning that badly after approx. 2 hours total recording time? That was only a precursor to the trouble to follow...

The next day was Thanksgiving. I used the camcorder to record about 20 minutes of the family. The following day, I wanted to start transferring Hi-8 tapes again, and decided to check the playback first, based on the previous problem. I tried to put in the tape I had recorded on Thanksgiving, but the tape carrier only took it in about halfway and then stopped, with the unit "dinging". There was a yellow triangle with a line under it on the LCD and the code C:31:40, or something like that. All I found I could do was remove and replace the battery multiple times, as each time it would pull the tape in a little farther. Finally it got the tape all the way in and rewound it, and when I hit playback, there was nothing...no video, no audio, just bluescreen, both on the LCD and hooked up to our tv. I tried running the head cleaning tape through it a couple times, and still nothing. I even tried some of the other tapes that we had transferred...no matter what, it would not playback a single thing.

A call to Sony's 1-888 number and time with their rep said it would need to go in for service...to Irvine, California (I live in Colorado). All this 10 days after receiving it and total usage on it of about 2 and a half hours.

So now my new TRV27 is in the mail, on it's way to service, with no clue as to how long I'll be without it, nor what shape it will be in when I get it back. So I'm afraid that based on this experience, I could not recommend this camcorder. Seeing as how our Hi-8 unit, which is also Sony, had similar trouble, I don't think I'd be able to recommend Sony period. That old unit failed entirely the first time we really wanted to use it as well (for a Disney vacation), again after minimal prior usage. It went in for service too, and took more than a month to get back. And it had another visit to service after that one. And in fact, it's not working correctly now, which is why I rented a Hi-8 camcorder to do the tape transfers (money which was lost when the new camcorder wouldn't work either.) Nope, I do not have a good feeling about Sony camcorders at all.

Description of Sony DCRTRV27 MiniDV Digital Handycam Camcorder w/ 3.5" LCD, MPEG EX, Memory Stick & Mega Pixel Video/ Still

Lens
The lens is a famous, high-quality Carl Zeiss construction with a single 1/4.7-inch CCD capturing the image, enabling the camera to produce 520 lines of resolution. The SteadyShot function stabilizes the picture and reduces camera shake. Use the infrared NightShot for shooting at night or in dark settings. The TRV27 also sports a 10x optical zoom, which is enough for most purposes. Turn on the digital zoom, which electronically magnifies the optical image, and reach up to 120 times.

Digital Stills
Digital stills can be stored on a Memory Stick, which works independently from the DV tape system. The camera performs with 1-megapixel resolution, making it capable of sharp images that are up to 1,152 x 864 pixels in size. The camera can also shoot in MPEG movie mode, storing 320 x 240 videos onto the memory stick. MPEG movie lengths range from five seconds to the length allowed by the capacity of your Memory Stick.

Inputs and Outputs
The TRV27 is equipped with the standard DV IEEE 1394 port (also known as FireWire) for a super-fast, lossless connection to a PC or other DV machines. The USB connection is used to transfer digital photos and MPEG movies. The traditional S-video and RCA connections are also present for direct viewing on a television or VHS dubbing.

The DCR-TRV27 comes with one 8 MB Memory Stick. Memory Sticks are reusable, but if you tend to take a lot of digital images, then you'll want a bigger card.

MiniDV Format
MiniDV digital technology delivers clear, sharp video with over 500 lines of horizontal resolution--far superior to the 240 lines of resolution offered by 8mm camcorders. You'll also get minimal color noise interference for a more stable picture.

You'll also get excellent sound quality, recorded in either 12-bit or 16-bit audio recording modes.

• 16-bit audio includes on set of stereo audio tracks to produce CD-quality sound.
• 12-bit audio utilizes two sets of audio tracks so you can easily add background music or commentary into your videos while maintaining the existing soundtrack.

This is all delivered on a cassette that's 1/12th the size of a standard VHS tape. A MiniDV tape offers digital recording time of two full hours--20 times the capacity of a CD.

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