Sony Handycam DCR-TRV70 MiniDV 2MP Camcorder with 2.5-inch LCD Review

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Hi! I am Alex that I am here today reviewing the Sony DCR-TRV70 Sony Network Handycam. It has a still revolution of 1.92 Megapixels and an effective video resolution of 2.11 Megapixels. The Sony DCR-TRV 70 is one of Sony's Network Handycam models; in fact, it is the only one that enables you to do a lot of ridiculous things. With this camera, you can actually check your e-mail and browse the web with an optional adapter, which is really basically gimmicky. In fact, I am going to highlight anything about this camera it's going to be pricey and gimmicky. It recently retails around $1200; I bought it when it was at $800. Now sells for just around $400 or $500. It is not the most recent model, but it is still on sale. It has a 2.5-inch LCD display and it has Sony's patented steady shot and night shot modes. It comes with a 37-mm lens unlike most digital video cameras, which have a much smaller lens these days. This is one of the older models. It does use many DV tapes, but as you can see it is a very bulky digital video camera. I got this confiscated at the a Depeche Mode concert and if it had been a smaller model, I probably wouldn't have had that happen. But, it is the one reason to not buy this. Buy a smaller model. It's big. The reason why I did not get those is because of the larger lens. The lens has a focus ring, a manual focus ring, which also most Sony model cameras do not. In fact really none do, because the small ones are embedded where as this is external. You can buy optional lens attachments, which is also something that you have trouble finding for the smaller model cameras. This is a UV filter, and I cannot get it back on. It has a ton of features and it's all available via this touch screen right here. Everything it is touch screen operated. It's coo; you can twist around the touch screen like that, so it stays in line with the camera. However, I have lost the stylus. Over here is got S-Video output. It has got an audio-video output. In fact audio-video also doubles as an audio-video input, as you could record from your VCR, from your TV's, your video games, from your computer, anything. You could back up all your old VCR tapes on to new mini DV tapes using this and you can access that option switch over via the menu. It also has a headphone port; you can listen while you record. That is a great thing to do because you never know what the audio turns out like. It has got a stereo onboard microphone right here, decent, but you can buy an external microphone, it sounds a 1000 times better. It has FireWire and USB ports. The FireWire is used for transferring over the actual video content at 25 megabytes per second and the USB port is used for only transferring off the photos from the optional memory stick, which mine is missing. You have to buy this separately. It has a hot shoe, a Darney hot shoe devices for viewfinder. It is color. It is nice. It is adjustable. It can go up like this and out like that, and it's got a little focus thing on the bottom. It comes with one battery. The battery is a certain model, that model name is NPFM50. It lasts two hours with the LCD screen closed, and only 80 minutes with the LCD screen open. It charges by plugging into it right here and it charges the battery itself, so that is good, you can plug it in. Buy spare batteries. You are going to want to because one battery is just not enough. You need a spare. As I said before, it has a light when you turn on camera mode and you have flash on. Okay. I -- I cannot access the light but the light pops up from right here. It won't let me enter memory stick mode because I do not have a memory stick in. The flash pops up here. The flash only works for the photos but it does do red-eye reduction three flashes and -- but, you can't use that for the video, which sucks. In fact this camera looks horrible in low light, great in bright light, horrible in -- low light. It has a manual focus or auto focus. Auto focus is a kind of slow, very delayed. The night shot mode is okay. It is supposed to be the new patented whatever magic night shot. It sucks. It's green. It's green Paris Hilton night shot, so you do not get the best picture for those kinds of things. It has the photo button here, has zoom in and out. But as I said again most of the options are accessible via -- the touch screen with some -- you can't see inside of the camera. You should now be watching me, watch myself on the camera. That is not a very good picture, but that is because you are looking at through a web camera. It is a great camera. I've had no problems with it so far. Have had a get that head cleaned, which happens with some DV cameras. I have used it a lot. It has gotten tons of life time, so for the price that you can it now, it is a great find. So this is the Sony DCR-TRV70.