Quick Review Camcorders: Sony DCR-TRV280

The Sony DCR-TRV280 is a behemoth and the only Sony camcorder this year to not relocate its menu system to a touch screen LCD. Control is exacted via the panoply of buttons on the camcorder’s body. The measure of control will be limited as well. No manual white balance or shutter speed is offered, and the zoom toggle is disproportionately small.

The imager is the same as all Sony Digital8’s for the last few years: a 1/6” CCD with 290K effective pixels. Under bright light conditions, the DCR-TRV280 reproduced colors with decent accuracy and acceptable noise levels. The colors were, however, somewhat washed. Low light performance was generally poor, but no more so than the performance from its big sister, the DCR-TRV480. A solid 20x optical zoom comes with the DCR-TRV280, as well as a flashy 990x digital zoom, a sad, misleading feature meant to lure in unschooled consumers. (Digital zoom artificially enlarges the picture, distorting it in the process.)

Ease of use is perhaps one of the crucial factors that can lead someone to choose a Digital8 over a MiniDV camcorder. If so, the DCR-TRV280 will not disappoint. Given the lack of manual control options, this camcorder is designed almost exclusively for point-and-shooters. The buttons are all clearly marked for each purpose, and if even these small tasks confuse the user, there is an Easy button on the upper left side that relegates nearly all quality control to the camcorder.

The DCR-TRV280 does not take stills. A step up from the DCR-TRV280 will buy you this feature. Surprisingly, a Widescreen shooting mode is available, though it is not a true 16:9 aspect ratio. Ports on this camcorder include DV, A/V, and USB. Other features include Burn DVD, which allows you to burn the footage onto a computer with a DVD burner or to a DVD recorder. There’s also NightShot, Super NightShot, and Color Slow Shutter, which slows down the shutter speed in low light in order to capture more color information.

Aside from good old-fashioned stodginess, there is likely one other reason someone might buy a Digital8 camcorder. I can hear you saying it now: “My old camcorder was Hi8 (or 8mm analog). How else am I going to watch those tapes?” Not here, you’re not. The DCR-TRV280 does not read analog 8mm. For that, you need to step up to the DCR-TRV480. Or take my advice, find a service that does the digital conversion for you, burn all the old tapes to DVD, and hold them from the family for ransom until somebody buys you a decent MiniDV camcorder. My recommendation in this price range is the Panasonic PV-GS19.

Sony DCR-TRV280- THE BOTTOM LINE Rating: 162.04

Likes

- Ease of use - Widescreen mode - 20x Optical zoom

Dislikes

- Lack of still photo feature - Video performance - Inability to read analog 8mm tapes

Sony DCR-TRV280 Compared to the...

Sony DCR-TRV260 Rating: 85.13	Sony DCR-TRV480  Rating: 158.77	Sony DCR-HC21  Rating: 167.90	Canon ZR100 Rating: 181.94	Panasonic PV-GS19  Rating: 198.83
Better	Better	Better	Better	Better
-Ports -Navigation System -Handling	-Still Capability -Backward Mobility -LCD	-Imager Specs -Portability -Video Performance -LCD -Handling -Ports -Accessory Shoe -Video Resolution -Still Capability	-Handling -Low Light -Manual Control -Video Performance -Portability	-Manual Controls -Navigational System -Image Specs -Zoom Specs -Portability
Equal	Equal	Equal	Equal	Equal
-Imager Specs -Optical Zoom -Still Capability -Video Performance -Manual Controls -Portability -Handling -Portability	-Imager Specs - Zoom Specs -Ports - Manual Controls -Portability -Ease of Use	-Ease of use -Optical Zoom Specs -Ports -Manual Control	-Optical Zoom Specs -No Accessory Shoe -Still capability -Bottom Loading	-Ports
Worse	Worse	Worse	Worse	Worse
-Ease Of Use -Automatic Control	-Navigational System Handling	-Wide Angle -Widescreen -Audio	-Wide Angle -Ease Of use -Automatic Control	-Automatic Control