| Pros: Picture quality, Hi8 Playback Capability, Price Cons: Zoom Control, Image Stabilization, Bottom cassette loading, Handling Comfort, 15x Zoom While holding out for the cost to come down on DVD camcorders and needing a new camcorder that would play my existing Hi-8s, I went with the backwardly compatable Digital8. The TRV740 appeared to be a solid choice with it's many features and great output quality. But when I first started to use it I was quickly disappointed by the following: Zoom Control: My previous camcorder was a Canon ES5000 (Hi8). The TRV740's zoom control is awful in comparison with the Canon. It's very difficult to activate the slowest zoom speed as the sliding switch does not move smoothly. 9 times out of 10, you'll go right past the slow speed as the force needed to get the switch moving is much greater than the force to keep the zoom speed steady so an overzoom situation happens. Then you're zooming rapidly and have to slow it down which ruins the slow zoom effect. "Super" SteadyShot: Huge disappointment here. Electronic stabilizers simply do not compare with optical stabilizers (Canon). It almost seems that when the stabilizer is turned off, Sony added shake to the image so that when the stabilizer is on, it looks better in comparison to when it was "off". Just a silly conspiracy theory to let you know bad it is. Bottom cassette loading: Did you ever think you'd see a camcorder that had to be removed from a tripod in order to change the cassette? You've got it with this one. Unbelievable. Handling Comfort: It's a little heavy and not something you want to use for an extended period. 15x Zoom: This is on the low side and the only reason I can imagine that they went with this low of an optical zoom is because of the poor image stabilizer. At 15x, let alone 20x, you need a tripod or it looks like you have some sort of neuro-muscular affliction. I'll probably keep it to use as a player to backup my Hi-8 collection by playing those tapes to a DVD burner. I recommend looking for something else if you think you'd be bothered by the same things as I am with this camcorder. |
