Digital video (DV) camcorders deliver great-quality video, but most are poor choices for shooting still images Sony's latest release, however, is adept at both.
Sony's AU$3,569 DCR-TRV20 DV camcorder, equipped with a megapixel CCD and Memory Stick support, is adept at both.
The DCR-TRV20 is a compact camcorder of classic design. You hold it in your right hand, with the shooting controls by the thumb and zoom controls by the index finger. You can shoot through the colour viewfinder, or view and play back on the 3.5-inch / 8.9 cm, 184,000-pixel TFT LCD panel. The Carl Zeiss lens features a relatively modest 10x analog and 120x digital zoom. At the heart of the camera is a 635mm, 1.07-megapixel CCD that can grab up to 1,152x864-resolution progressive-scan images.
For shooting video, the camera offers the usual auto-everything mode, with manual controls available for focus, white balance, shutter speed, and exposure. You can also choose between seven programmed auto-exposure (AE) modes. Other video features include infrared night-shot capabilities and the ability to convert incoming analog video to DV footage. Still-image options are much less complex. You can record at one of two resolutions, superimpose still images over your video, create a slide show, and more.
Under perfect shooting conditions, video quality was about average, but the Sony's programmed AE modes produced excellent quality under challenging conditions. Still-image quality was simply phenomenal, with crisp, highly detailed images that belied their DV-camera origin. Regretfully, the DCR-TRV20 cannot shoot video in the progressive-scan format that lets you grab discrete stills from video footage. Professionals who work with both still and video digital images have been seeking the perfect device to capture both. With the Sony DCR-TRV20, they may have found it.
Sony DCR-TRV20
Company: Sony Australia
Ph: 02 9904 8500
Price: AU$3,569
3%
2%
