2003 CamcorderInfo.com B&H Camcorder Shoot-Off: $1,000 - $1,299 Price Group

by Robin Liss
Published on Nov 2, 2004 12:00 AM



The $1,000 - $1,299 price group includes three camcorders. The first is the Sony DCR-TRV70, the second camcorder is the second three chip camcorder to be tested, the Panasonic PV-DV953 and the third camcorder is another Sony, the DCR-PC120 a matchox style camcorder.

The first camcorder in the group is the Sony DCR-TRV70:

 

The DCR-TRV70 does quite a good job of color representation under normal lighting conditions. The camcorder's colors are bright and very well represented. Shop for the DCR-TRV70 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the DCR-TRV70 @ PriceGrabber - Read a review of the Sony DCR-TRV70

The Panasonic PV-DV953 is the second camcorder in the price group:

 

 

The PV-DV953 is clearly the best camcorder of the bunch. The DCR-TRV70 is very strong, but the PV-DV953. The one tile where the DCR-TRV70 beats the PV-DV953 is the yellow tile, other than that the PV-DV953 does an outstanding job. Shop for the PV-DV953 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the PV-DV953 @ PriceGrabber - Read a review of the Panasonic PV-DV953

The Sony DCR-PC120BT is the third camcorder in the price group:

 

 

The DCR-PC120BT is the worst camcorder in the bunch, however it's normal light performance isn't that bad - it's just being compared to two of the best camcorders in the industry. The colors are too dull. Shop for the DCR-PC120BT @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the DCR-PC120BT @ PriceGrabber - Read a review of the Sony DCR-PC120BT

Here is the composite of all three camcorders:

 

In the $1,000-$1,299 price group the PV-DV953 is the clear winner. The Sony DCR-TRV70 does a good job, however it doesn't compare to the image produced by the three chip PV-DV953. The DCR-PC120BT isn't bad, however it doesn't compare to either of the other two camcorders - being fair, you have to realize that the DCR-PC120BT is much older than the DCR-TRV70 and the PV-DV953.

Here were the results under low lighting, when the light was brought down to 15 LUX.

 

The Sony DCR-TRV70 slightly beats the PV-DV953 under low lighting in my opinion. The image produced by the DCR-TRV70 has less grain than that of the PV-DV953. Shop for the DCR-TRV70 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the DCR-TRV70 @ PriceGrabber - Read a review of the Sony DCR-TRV70

The second camcorder is the PV-DV953:

 

The PV-DV953 does a decent job in low light, however the camcorder produces just too much grain. Shop for the PV-DV953 @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the PV-DV953 @ PriceGrabber - Read a review of the Panasonic PV-DV953

The third camcorder is the Sony DCR-PC120BT:

 

The DCR-PC120BT's performance is pretty poor, you can see the major improvements that Sony made from one model year to the next when you compare the DCR-PC120BT to the DCR-TRV70.. Shop for the DCR-PC120BT @ B & H Photo Video - Compare Prices for the DCR-PC120BT @ PriceGrabber - Read a review of the Sony DCR-PC120BT

Here is the composite of all three camcorders:

 

Taking both low light and normal light performance into account, the ranking for the $1,000-$1,299 price category in the 2003 B & H CamcorderInfo.com Shoot-Off is 1. Panasonic PV-DV953, 2. Sony DCR-TRV70, 3. Sony DCR-PC120BT. Although the DCR-TRV70 slightly beats the PV-DV953 under low light conditions, the PV-DV953 clearly beats the DCR-TRV70 under normal lighting conditions, making it the clear winner. The DCR-PC120BT falls to the bottom of the pack because it looses in both tests.