Sony CCD-TRV68 Hi8 Camcorder - Almost Digital Quality For Hundreds Less
Written: Jun 28 '01 (Updated Aug 10 '01)
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Pros: Price, features, picture quality, LCD, battery life, ease of use, looks, manual focus
Cons: It's analog
The Bottom Line: The TRV68 is a great value if you are not ready for digital camcorder. You get quality as close to digital as it gets for hundreds less...
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| dkozin's Full Review: Sony Handycam CCD-TRV68 Hi-8 Analog Camcorder |
The Sony DCR-TRV68 is a Hi8 camcorder, which produces pictures that approach the quality of some digital models, at a lower price. This model might be one of the best consumer-grade non-digital camcorder on the market today.
Picture Quality
Although a little worse than middle-level digital models, the picture quality is very good and comparable to some cheap digital camcorders. Although the Hi8 is analog format, which produces some video noise, often the CCD, optics and electronics of the camcorder limit the picture quality.
Cheap digital camcorders often don’t use all 500 lines of resolution advertised. The camcorder records Hi-Fi mono sound. The use of LP speed decreases picture quality (and the recording will be in 8mm mode instead of Hi8) and does not make much sense, since the tapes are quite cheap at $4-5 for 2 hours (SP mode).
Hi8
The TRV68 uses Hi8 tapes, which are smaller than VHS-C, but larger in size than MiniDV. The tape can hold up to 150 minutes in the standard SP mode, which increases in LP mode to up to 300 minutes (with some loss in picture quality). The camcorder can also use 8mm tapes. Once again, you cannot record in Hi8 in LP mode, the recording will be made in 8mm mode.
The 120-minute Hi8 tape costs around $4-5, with 8mm 120-minute tapes costing about $2. As you can see, the tapes are as inexpensive as camcorder itself.
Hi8 camcorders store sound in digital format, but picture is stored in analog format at maximum horizontal resolution of about 400 lines (comparable to Super VHS and S-VHS-C). VHS, VHS-C and 8mm format store video at 240 lines of resolution. And, unlike VHS and S-VHS, which store sound in analog form, the sound in both Hi8 and 8mm is digital.
Zoom
The camcorder has impressive 20x optical zoom, with variable zoom speed. The digital zoom allows you to achieve up to 460x magnification, which is usually too much to be useful. You can set maximum zoom level through a menu to 20x (optical only), 40x (digital1) and 460x (digital2).
And this model, unlike cheaper TRV58, has an image stabilizer, which is a must-have feature even if you think you can hold the camcorder steady at all times.
Image Stabilizer
The camcorder uses digital image stabilizer called SteadyShot. It works very well, removing unwanted picture shake. The main difference in features between this model and cheaper TRV58 is SteadyShot and it makes a lot of sense to not try to save by getting a model without it. You will regret it later.
LCD
The TRV68 features a 2.5” color LCD in addition to a B&W viewfinder. The LCD is easy to view in sunlight. Keep in mind that the camcorder uses more energy when you use the LCD, so if you plan to shoot for a long time with one battery, you will need an optional battery of higher capacity or you can switch to the viewfinder.
Manual Adjustments
The camcorder, in addition to automatic focus and exposure, has manual adjustments of both. The exposure can be adjusted manually in dark scenes to avoid video noise.
Battery
The standard InfoLithium F330 can be used for different periods of time, depending on LCD and light use (usually about one hour). You can get batteries of larger capacity if you need more time. You can see the remaining time on the screen, and it is very accurate.
Built-in Video Light
The camcorder has a built-in video light with three settings: on, off and auto (turns on automatically when the conditions require it).
Special Effects
There are 5 fader settings (black, mosaic, monotone, stripe, bounce), 6 program AE, 8 picture effects and 16:9 widescreen recording (2 modes). You can shoot in total darkness using IR-recording capability called NightShot. The TRV68 also has Control-L (LANC) editing interface, titler. There is edit search and end search.
Bottom Line
The TRV68 is a great value if you are not ready for digital camcorder. You get quality as close to digital as it gets for hundreds less and virtually no loss in features.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 370
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dkozin
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