How I chose the Sony Camcorder

I did about 2 months of research looking for the best camera from $700 to $1000 price range. After looking at many camcorders I narrowed it down to the Cannon MC25 ($699) series and the Sony TRV17 ($1099)... yes I know, the price difference and what was offered by the Cannon made it a very, very good candidate. I found a review about the Cannon that did worry me just a bit and that came from someone that stated they thought you really needed more light indoors or the picture would be yellowish. I did not find that concern with the Sony at all. I checked with the November 2001 issue of Consumer Reports and it actually rated the Cannon camcorder a bit higher than this Sony for the sound. I spoke to some sales people (skewed view I know) about the Cannon vs. the Sony and their comment was that Cannon was known for cameras and photo equipment so they thought the Cannon would be a better ROI but I thought that since Sony was heavily into the electronic arena and this is digital, that the positive mark would move over to Sony on that one. I also liked the fact that the side camcorder screen was 3.5” instead of 2.5” and most of the industry seemed to be moving more towards the larger screens. I also like the fact that the Sony viewfinder was in color. So, I took the vote after comparing, seeing the cameras in action etc, and it seemed for my use the Sony would be the less risk buy to meet what I want out of a digital camcorder.

I just purchased this camcorder last weekend and started using it the next day. I was totally amazed at the performance it gave me compared with what I expected to be a very good experience anyway. After having a bit of an ordeal with Sears.com and the “matching price” spoof (they lie like a rug), I went over to my local Best Buy store and they matched the price I found from www.buydig.com right away.

Prices

I purchased the Sony camcorder for $811 (only $112 difference from the Cannon, that’s a BIG plus that knocked the Cannon way off my list at that point). So, I purchased the Sony camcorder ($811), 4-year extended warranty ($149), Sony case & extra battery combination ($80 thus saving about $20 from buying them separate), battery charger ($49), Laser-Link receiver ($49), additional FM70 battery ($100) that is rated at 3.3 times the amount of charge the regular FM30 battery or otherwise the FM70 holds 5 hours of power (really more like 2 ½ - 3 hours). The 4MB memory stick comes with the camera. Total price for all of this was $1,238 (plus tax) so that matching deal I ended up paying only $139 for all the extra accessories after taking account for the match price deal. I will plan on getting a smaller travel bag that will hold the camcorder, extra battery and tapes (just a small semi-soft carrying case $50) and a lens filter kit ($40 mostly to protect the Carl Zeiss lens it has) sometime this next week.

First experience with Laser-Link

I strapped the battery on, put in a tape, went through the manual (sort of glancing and picking sections out) and started taping. I found the menu system from the camcorder to be very workable and readable (but I am a technical sort of person by profession anyway). What I liked most was the 3.5” screen. The color on the screen was very appealing but when you view the results on the TV screen it was very impressive. The colors were rich and full. I plugged in the Laser-Link into the TV. This accessory uses wireless infrared from the camcorder to this Laser-Link receiver and allows you to view the tape in the camcorder on the TV without physically connecting the camcorder to the TV. Well, I went over to the couch and sat down with the camcorder. I pointed the camcorder to the laser-link receiver, pressed the “laser-link” button on top of the camcorder and presto….. the picture was on the TV. It’s nice that I don’t have to physically connect the camcorder to the TV set with cables anymore.

Recording indoors/outdoors

There are absolutely no concerns with taping indoors with low light, indoors with normal light or outside. The picture is very clear, bright and full of color. In my case I do not see a need for buying a light accessory for this camcorder.

Recording in Twilight/Evening and into NIGHT.

That next day after the purchase we went on a road trip to a nearby town (the sun was starting to set). We taped along the way during the sunset period and also when we were in the town after dark. At one point while driving all the cars on the road had their headlights on, the lights on the street poles were on and I would consider that time to be just about the time the sun disappeared over the horizon I glanced over at the camcorder screen (the wife was taping of course) and I was amazed that the screen was actually lighter/brighter than what I could see myself just looking around. I was wondering where all that light was coming from. We did notice that as long as you kept the camcorder pointing away from the sky (above the horizon plane) and mostly at the level horizon the screen would be very bright otherwise it would go a bit dark (sort of what I was expecting it to do in the first place). After getting home I looked at the recording on the TV screen and I was very impressed with the results. I didn’t really expect it to be so bright and colorful. It was just like we were taping during the day. What was also nice was the fact that we taped while we were driving in town at night and that recording came over the TV just like we would see on some of these professional shows like COPS when the cameraman would travel around with the police officers taping scenes at night. All this quality from this little Sony camcorder. Amazing.

Night vision light.

I was very curious about this little feature. I have seen night vision at the stores but never really experienced it in total darkness. I took the camera into our walk-in closet since the city lights make things too bright for a full test. I shut the door, turned off the lights and WOW, I could see and record just like I had a spot light on. Of course everything is in different shades of green but I was surprised at what the camera would pick up and tape in total darkness. I have not tried it at night away from our city but the manual says it works up to about 10 feet. You can actually purchase an infrared light that sets on top of the camcorder that will boost your night vision view by 100 feet for $100. I personally don't see the need but you may if you go camping or something like that.

Extra Misc. surprise in the box.

When you open up the camcorder case you will find an accessories catalog. In this catalog you will find an offer that if you register your camcorder online with Sony at www.soney.com/productregistration/ew they will extend their standard warranty from 90 days to 1 year absolutely free. They also give you a $20 “special offer”. Perhaps this is why Best Buy gave me the 4-year extended warranty as opposed to the standard 3-year that Sears and others were offering. I don’t really know.

Speaker on the camcorder

The sound from the camcorder speaker is fine but I think it should be a bit larger. From what I saw it is very small even though the sound coming out of it was just fine. The sound quality it taped was excellent though.

Ease of use

Both my wife and I found the camcorder to be very easy to use. Very light but still feeling like it is a high quality piece of work that would not break apart on you. Just pick it up, open up the side screen viewer, point it and press the button. I found that whatever you see with your eyes (indoors or outside) it will look better coming from the camcorder. No worries about low or yellowish tint light on the recordings at all.

Other features

Of course there are other features with this camera that anyone can look up and research on their own. What I wanted to share was my experience with this camera that eased my concerns and made me a very happy camper and extremely satisfied with this camcorder.

Cons

I would think that the speaker should be a bit larger even though the sound is fine coming out of the camcorder itself. I have not found a way yet (and maybe there is I just haven’t run across it) to easily display the date/time stamp on the screen while recording. Our last camcorder had a date/time button on the camcorder itself that we could just press to easily have the date/time on the screen. I’m sure there is a way but it’s sort of hidden then. I do know that you can have the date/time on the recording but I can’t see very easily yet how to get it on and off the screen at will.

Future

We plan on getting the Hollywood Dazzle product ($299) that will allow us to convert our old VCR tapes and our future recording onto CD via the computer. This software will also give us the ability to edit the records, add music, dialog or whatever we want. I know that the Sony camcorder will also do a lot of editing on the camcorder itself but I want the flexibility of doing it on the PC and save the movies or pictures onto CD.

Conclusion

I hoped this helped you in your research from someone who bought and used the product and some of the first time experiences.

Good luck.




Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 811