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Quick Review Camcorders : Sony DCR-TRV260

by Myra Sinnott
Published on October 01, 2004

Sony's cheaper, more stripped-down Digital 8 offering this year, the DCR-TRV260, is a good camcorder for the money, especially if you’re a fan of Digital 8. This camcorder has many of the same options as some more expensive Sony MiniDV camcorders, and the DCR-TRV460 doesn't offer more for its relatively large increase in price. (Memory Stick media compatibility and some analog inputs allowing for analog to digital pass-through, mainly.) In general, the DCR-TRV260 represents a dying breed of big, clunky, Digital 8 camcorders, likely hanging around for a couple years past their sell-by date.

There is decent automatic control on the DCR-TRV260. Sony markets this about their camcorders, bragging about their ease of use and performance, and they’re right in this case. An unfortunate quality of the DCR-TRV260 is its lack of the spot metering or spot focus that some of Sony’s MiniDV camcorders have. These features, available with Sony’s touch-screen menu camcorders, offer convenient ways to focus and adjust exposure (i.e. touch the area of the screen to be focused on or for exposure to be based upon).

The DCR-TRV260 features decent button placement. It may be "retro" to place the buttons on the outside of the camcorder rather than underneath the LCD screen, but this style allows the user to control the camcorder while recording without making noise or jolting the image. Also, the 2.5mm to 50mm focal length (37mm filter diameter) affords a 20x optical zoom, which is great for such a cheap little guy.

With manual focus controlled through a depressible jog dial, the DCR-TRV260 could only do better with a focus ring. Manual exposure settings are available with 24 steps of adjustment. Unfortunately, the exposure button is located beneath the LCD, a cumbersome placement. Instead of manual shutter speed options on the DCR-TRV260, preset AE modes are included. These set windows of performance on the camcorder’s exposure and shutter speed. Presets range from 1/60 to 1/4000.

While Sony products are usually not great on manual control, there is no excuse why white balance options aren’t included on the DCR-TRV260. There is also no gain control on the camcorder.

The DCR-TRV260 captures stills to tape; there is no card media, unlike the TRV460, which includes Memory Stick Media. However, both the DCR-TRV260 and the DCR-TRV460 take stills at a similar resolution of 640 x 480.

VCR functions are standard with playback buttons, and footage is viewable on the LCD. The user can also run data out from the FireWire or S-Video outputs to burn footage to a DVD.

Under our low-light testing environments of 15 lux and 60 lux, the DCR-TRV260 produced really grainy, noisy images. However, compared the Canon ZR series, the Samsung SCD series, and other Sonys, the TRV260 holds its own, falling only slightly behind the Panasonic PV-GS2. While noise does prevail in the image and colors appear to be muted, the spectrum also shows colors that are relatively easily distinguished from each other.

On the DCR-TRV260 is a 2.5-inch LCD and a black-and-white viewfinder. While the LCD is pretty standard for Sony, the black-and-white viewfinder is a nice touch. Sony LCDs are generally better than the competition; they usually do not solarize when viewed from an angle.

The DCR-TRV260 does not have the option for 12- and 16-bit audio, and the user does not have manual control over audio levels. There is neither an external mic input nor a headphone jack, which is very disappointing, even for a camcorder in this price range.

Handling is great, with good button placement except for the exposure button, which rests underneath the LCD. Why not put it in the back, with the manual focus button? Compared to MiniDV camcorders, this Digital 8 machine is kindy big and clunky; however, handleability is good.

As far as ports go, the DCR-TRV260 has a FireWire port, an A/V output, a USB output, and an S-Video output. With no analog inputs, this camcorder cannot provide analog-to-digital pass though. There is also a fake widescreen effect.

For the money, the DCR-TRV260 is a great camcorder, offering comparable low light and video performance to many camcorders above it in price. The downside is that is a Digital 8 format camcorder, which places it within a dying breed. You will save more on tapes, however. Disappointments, or rather symptoms of the price, include the lack of still card media, no analog to digital pass-through, no mic input, and no headphone input. The 20x optical zoom is nice, though. This is one for the budget shopper, especially the Digital 8 connoisseur.

DCR-TRV260 - THE BOTTOM LINE
Rating: 85.12

Likes

- 20x Optical zoom and 700x digital zoom
- USB port
-B/W viewfinder

Dislikes

- No still media
- No Analog to Digital Passthrough

Sony DCR-TRV260 Compared to the...

Samsung SCD103 Rating: 70.91	Canon ZR80 Rating: 84.10	JVC GR-D33 Rating: 70.91	Panasonic PV-GS2 Rating: 87.18	Sony DCR-TRV460 Rating: 81.35

Better	Better	Better	Better	Better
- 900x digital zoom - Memory Stick media (still options) - Mic input - S-Video out - CCD size and MiniDV format	- Analog to digital passthrough - Handling - Cold accessory shoe - MiniDV format - Manual Control - A/V input	- Low-light performance - S-video output - CCD size and pixel count - Manual control - MiniDV format	- 22x optical zoom - 800x digital zoom - Digital audio zoom - Card media (SD card)--640x480 stills - Headphone jack - Manual control - CCD size, Mini DV format	- Ease of use - Better LCD screen - USB port, S-Video input, A/V input - Analog to digital passthrough - 990x digital zoom
Equal	Equal	Equal	Equal	Equal
- No headphone jack - No accessory shoe - No Analog to digital passthrough	- No mic input or headphone input - CCD specs - No card media - Video performance	- No card media - No headphone jack - 700x digital zoom - No analog to digital pass-through	- No accessory shoe - No mic input - Video Performance - No analog to digital passthrough	- Manual Control - Automatic Control - No accessory shoe - 20x optical zoom - CCD size and pixels - No headphone jack
Worse	Worse	Worse	Worse	Worse
- Handling - 18x optical zoom - Manual Control - Video/ Low light performance	- 18x optical zoom - 360x digital zoom - Low light performance - No USB	- 16x optical zoom - No USB - Ease of use	- No USB	None