Do you guys have any comment for this camcorder? I have never owned a camcorder and this will be my first unit, thanks

kuss

Hi kuss,

I haven't had experience with Sharp camcorders or seen much on Sharp in these forums but if it will help, here is a link to the maunal for the VL-Z7 so you can look at specifications and features.

http://www.sharpusa.com/files/cam_man_VLZ7U.pdf

The VL-Z7 seems to have a nice set of features - the main question mark I have is the low light performance sounds like (from the manual) it may be similar to the Canon ZR series (generally similar in features to the VL-Z7) of cameras and many comments have not been favorable for their low light performance.

If that's a concern, the Sony TRV22 which, based on comments, seems to have decent low light performance is the closest in major features to the VL-Z7 (which actually has a few more minor features than the TRV22 such as a builtin flash for still photos and a headphone jack).

All of the cameras above have analog inputs and allow passing an analog signal (such as from a VHS VCR) to a digital signal on a PC for editing if you want to or recording to digital tape. The Sony TRV19 is similar to the TRV22 but without these two features - it also costs a little less than the TRV22.

Hope this helps.

cwhiddon ---

Thanks cwhiddon, I think I should go for Sony. By the way, I'm also considering Panasonic GS50. Do you recommend GS50 over TRV22? Thank you

kuss

Clarification - the Sony TRV-19/22 DO have an external headphone jack (but not a built-in flash).

Keep in mind that none of these camcorders take stills worth anything more than for "email" or fun. The quality is nowhere near a cheap 2megapixel (or more) digital still camera. These are camcorders, made for recording video. The "still photo" is very much a marketing feature that doesn't compare to a real digital still camera.

I like our TRV-22 very much.

__________________
Sony HDV camcorder info (FX1, CX7, HC3 HC5, SR1/3/5/10, SR11, SR12, TG1, UX1, Z1) -> http://www.SonyHDVinfo.com

Hi kuss,

I'm glad Kerr caught my error.

Looking at the online maual for the GS50 and doing a search for posts on these forums for "GS50" for comments on this camera it looks like the low light performance also may not be as good as the TRV22, similar to the other brands in this price range.

These cameras all have nice features, some vary a little but the major features seem similar for all of them. The GS50 also has analog inputs and signal convert/pass through.

Given the low light concern, the TRV22 seems to be the best choice if the price is in your range.

cwhiddon ---

Thanks cwhiddon & Kerr, I'm going for TRV22 .

Kuss