Sony DCRTRV460 Digital8 Handycam Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom

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Binding: Electronics Brand: Sony Connectivity: IEEE 1394 (FireWire) Digital Zoom: 50 Display Size: 2.5 EAN: 0027242643116 Feature: Digital8 Handycam camcorder and digital still camera with 460,000-pixel CCD Floppy Disk Drive Description: None Included Software: Yes Label: Sony Manufacturer: Sony Maximum Focal Length: 50 Maximum Resolution: 290000 Minimum Focal Length: 2.5 Model: TRV460 Monitor Size: 250 Optical Zoom: 20 Publisher: Sony Studio: Sony Warranty: 1 year warranty
Features Digital8 Handycam camcorder and digital still camera with 460,000-pixel CCD 20x optical zoom lens (digital zoom to 990x) with Super SteadyShot image stabilizer 2.5-inch rotating LCD and black-and-white viewfinder Low-light recording settings, Memory Stick Pro slot, and analog-to-digital conversion ability NP-FM30 InfoLithium Rechargeable Battery
Accessories Corel Photo & Video Pro X3 Bundle AmazonBasics Camcorder Bag with Shoulder Strap (Black) AmazonBasics Quilted Case for Small Electronics Including Cameras, Mobile Phones, GPS Units (Black) [Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging] Pinnacle Studio Ultimate Collection V14 Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3
Related Items Belkin F3N401-06-ICE IEEE 1394 4-Pin/6-Pin 400 Mbps FireWire Cable (6 Feet) Sony DCR-TRV280 Digital8 Handycam Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom Sony V825CLD Camcorder Cleaning Cassette 8mm Sony DVC-60 PR/5 Premium Minidv Videocassette (5-Pack) Cranford
Editorial Reviews: Digital8 record/play, Hi8/8mm play only * digital photo mode * MPEG Movie EX mode * 460,000-pixel CCD * 2-1/2" color touchpanel *
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Happy with Handycam Comment: I have used the Handycam a little bit. I need a firewire to upload the video to my computer. Once this is done, I think I will really like the camera. Customer Rating: Summary: The Sony DCR-TRV 460 is a great Camcorder. Comment: I have had at least four Sony DCR-Trv460 Camcorders and have never had one that had a problem. I have read all of the good things others have said about the TRV460 and I agree as I saw all of the good qualities in the TRV460 camcorders I have had. I like the fact that the Sony DCR-TRV460 Camcorder has a memory stick you can use to put video's on a computer or DVD that last over an hour plus the camcorder has a Firewire connection that you can also use to put your video from the camcorder to the Computer or to a DVD Recorder. Possibly the thing I like the best is that I have never took a video Tape from another Camcorder that I wasn't able to play on the TRV460 that uses the same size tape. I have tried this with a lot of other camcorders and I could not do it. For example I tried putting a tape I recorded on A TRV250 and I was unable to play the tape on a TRV350. I took the same tape and put it in a TRV460 and the Tape played fine. So if you have some tapes from a camcorder that no longer works I recommend trying the TRV460 and I am confident it would play the tapes. On camcorders that you cannot get to play tapes that were recorded on another camcorder Instead of getting a picture you get a noise with breaking up picture that is so bad you cannot tell what is supposed to be on the tape, but if you tape over it with the new camcorder the picture that you record with the new camcorder looks fine. I used to use quite a few batteries and spent a lot of time charging Camcorder batteries until I realized I could operate the camcorder using an AC Power Adapter/Charger such as an Ac Adapter FOR SONY AC-L10A AC-L10C, AC-L10B Digital Camera and Camcorder Charger. When you do use the charger or AC Adapter to operate the camcorder rather than using a battery to operate the Camcorder you need to remember to take the battery out of the camcorder because if you operate the camcorder while charging the battery you will possibly get an error light and damage the camcorder. This can keep you from having to charge a lot of batteries because when I use the camcorder to put video's onto my external SONY VRC-VC20 Video Recordable DVD Drive or my Sony VRDMC5 DVDirect DVD Recorder I spend quite a lot of time doing this and it saves me a lot of work being able to use the AC Adapter/Charger to power the Camcorder during this time rather than using the Camcorder battery. The DCR-TRV460 is in my opinion a great camcorder that is excellent in all ways and I recommend it highly. Customer Rating: Summary: Good Camera but you need lots of extras to actually use it Comment: I bought mine in late 2005, but didn't use it when I was overseas because the supplied software was TERRIBLE and I never could get it to work. I ended up using the video capture on my separate Digital camera. So, a year later, I fired it up this week and spent an entire day trying to play a video I recorded yesterday on my PC... being a digital video novice, here are the caveats you need to know after I spent all day on it, plus read all 43 review before this one: - I like the features of the camera, the zoom and fold out screen, but the pain is usability and working with the videos or pictures once you take them. If you just want to take taped videos, and watch them on a TV using the provided AV cable, it is ok, but NOT if you want to see or use the video on a PC and edit it. So read on... - You really need a second battery, which I ordered automatically, which added to the price. Some of the reviews here say you can use 3rd party batteries, but others say an embedded chip prevents using them. Mine was an expensive Sony battery. - There are no tapes in the box, so you have to buy some. - READ the simple manual first for each task you do... for instance if you try to plug in the USB cable to a pc first it screws up the drivers, and you have to go to troubleshooting sections to manual delete the drivers, then reload. - Sony uses a 4 wire firewire cable called "iWire" (they don't say firewire anywhere).. BUT THEY DON'T PROVIDE THE iWire CABLE. So the user wastes time trying to get provided USB cables to work and after two hours trying to install, reinstall and use the TERRIBLE Sony provided "Picture Package" software, or keep flipping through all the touchscreen menus to turn on "Burn DVD" which uses a CD-R (not DVD) and never find a way to transfer the video to the PC. I finally got the low budget USB Streaming player to work so I could see my video in a small screen on the PC, but there was no option to capture it to a file (stupid). Sony also provides an "AV" cable that has three composite rca jacks to plug into your vcr so you could play the video through that method, but I don't have a VCR anymore - I use a Comcast DVR which has the physical jacks, but they are disabled (a whole separate story about Comcast DVRs). - Using firewire - finally, I fired up my previously purchased Pinnacle Studio version nine, which apparently can't recognize the Sony USB connection, as it kept saying it was looking for a connection on ieee 1394 input, which is firewire (Sony refuses to say that common name). I finally figured out I needed firewire for best transfer to the PC (and so do some of the reviews), and ordered the 4 wire to 6wire Sony iWire cable by part number (read the Accessories catalog) because my PC does have the standard 6 wire Firewire jack on the back. Just after I ordered it, I found that Belkin had much lower priced cables of the same type on Amazon, or you can order used ones or generic ones. ALSO, I happen to have a Sony laptop, and it has a Sony design 4-wire firewire jack on it (not the standard 6-wire jack), so I ordered a Belkin 4-wire to 4-wire cable to connect my camcorder to the Sony laptop. - Sony doesn't provide any memory stick card at all so you can't use that storage feature until you buy one. Other reviews here say 64-128mb are fine for storing the 1mpx pictures it takes. 1-2 reviews say that you can't store movies on the memory stick, but I would confirm that - I haven't tried it. - Conclusion: - Get a second battery - Don't rely on the USB connection for anything except a streaming video to the Sony viewer, but you can't capture it. Go for firewire, which means you need the cable (see below) and a standard firewire port or Firewire card on your pc. - Get a 128mb memory stick to start (which means you also need a memory stick reader on the PC or laptop). The HandyCam pictures are only 1 megapixel, so I will rarely use it, but the memory stick is how you transfer the pictures to a PC (There might be a way with the USB line, but I don't want to waste anymore time on their software) - Order the 4 wire to 6 wire iWire or Firewire cable for playback and transfer, and if your computer doesn't have firewire, add a card with it. The Sony part number is VMC-IL4615 - but get the Belkin alternate or another supplier - Sony's price is $39.95 when Belkin's is 1/4 of that. (I ordered it, but haven't gotten it yet). - Expect to not be able to do ANY work on the PC editing your video with the USB cable or Sony's poor software. Instead, try using firewire and the free Microsoft Movie Maker that comes with XP. OR, expect to pay $100 or more for Pinnacle Studio, or ULead's Movie product, or Adobe's video maker products. Pinnacle has special high end audio visual cards with firewire you might look at. Or just make sure you have a good AV card with firewire and the right hardware specs to use the video editing software (i.e. ATI Radeon, etc.) . MY HP has the right specs, so I didn't need an additional card. - To process video files on the computer, you might need to add more memory - if the editing is slow, determine if more RAM will help. - The camera doesn't come with a bag, so you will need one. - The battery is charged by plugging the power brick into the camera and charging the battery in the camera. It is slow, and means you can't use the camera while charging, but I always have two batteries charged, so that is what you have to live with, or buy an external charger. - Misc - I bought an infrared filter and tripod also for the camera. - Cost - So even though you budgeted $400 or so for the camera, the true price with all the above is more like $600-700 to actually be usable. And now, my budding You Tube production might actually happen, once I get those cables... VJ Customer Rating: Summary: Good Product Comment: Works well. Has fire wire and is Digital Quality. Would recommend this product. Customer Rating: Summary: Mine's still working after 26 months Comment: I've read some poor reviews on what's happened over time with other people's Handycams, but I must say that mine still works after 2 years, a few typhoons and several 'dropping' accidents. I'm just now beginning to find some of the neat features of this camcorder, too! The reason I purchased this camcorder was because of the colored infrared nightshot, which works great! You can take pictures in pitch darkness. Although I must say recently I've noticed problems with the handycam's playback feature. It keeps switching to Hi8 mode when the video isn't taken with the Hi8 feature (this makes the LCD screen turn blue so you can't see the playback). I'll most likely buy another Sony with the color enhanced nightshot, but I think I'll switch to the DVD or harddrive version. More Reviews