Sony DCR-TRV19 Camcorder Review

by Mark Bassett
Published on Nov 6, 2003 12:00 AM



Sony DCR-TRV19 MiniDV Digital Camcorder Review by Mark Bassett With a compact lightweight design, the DCR-TVR19 is modestly priced camcorder for budding videographers. The base model of Sony's MiniDV camcorder line, the DCR-TRV19 is nearly identical to the more advanced DCR-TRV22. It has the same 10X zoom lens, 680,000-pixel CCD (340,000 pixels effective video resolution), which provides good video performance even in low light. With a cost of $100 less, what's missing is the memory stick, a color view finder and the ability to covert analog to digital - for digitizing VHS or Hi8.

There are a few drawbacks to the line in general. First there is a limit to the amount of manual control that Sony allows operators. While you can access manual focus and exposure through a menu tree on the LCD, there is no manual shutter or gain control. The LCD menu is another draw back, for if you're using the viewfinder you need to flip the LCD and click it back into the body to engage the optical. It stands to reason that videographers framing a shot through the viewfinder, would like be the one's using the manual controls that they can feel.

The DCR-TVR19 is a fine point and shoot, and don't bother with any bells and whistles, camcorder from Sony.

Video Performance (6.5)
The highlight of the Sony DCR-TRV19 is it's 1/4 in. 680K pixel Advanced HAD™ CCD with a Carl Zeiss™ lens. The CCD has an effective pixel count of 380K. The F range is 1.7 to 2.2, and the focal range is 3.3 - 33 mm. The filter diameter of the DCR-TRV19 is 30 mm. These features produced a fine image, and result in a score of 6.5. A more expensive three chip camcorder produces a much better image, however, similarly priced camcorders, from Canon and JVC have scored close to but below 6.5.

Despite Sony horizontal resolution rating of 500 lines, lower than the DCR-TRV33 (rated as high as 530 lines), the DCR-TRV19 provided a sharp picture with color depth. There was little or no over saturation or graininess.

The Front (8.0)
The Carl Zeiss lens is located in the upper right corner of the front side of the camcorder, and has an included opaque plastic lens cap. This presented a few problems, as it did occasionally swing into a shot. Running from the lens to the camcorder's base is a silver colored plastic plate that abuts the LCD. Creating a two-tone affect, is a dark gray plate to the left of the lens, with the remote's infrared receiver. Embedded in the infrared is a small red tally light which alerts subjects that you're recording. Further left is the tiny stereo microphone. Below the microphone is the S-Video out port, covered by a piece of soft plastic. Unlike the DCR-TRV22, this port has no input capabilities, and thus no analog to digital conversion capabilities.

The Right Side (7.0)
There's a lot of action on the right side of the DCR-TRV19. Starting at the back of the camcorder next to the viewfinder, is the still shot button and the zoon toggle. While there's no Memory Stick, you can shoot stills to tape. The zoom toggle is small but has significant sensitivity. This allow for accurate manipulation of the zoom. Along the lens casing on the top of the camera is the night shot switch. Just in front of that is the Sony smart shoe.

Below the night shot switch is a plastic cover that conceals Firewire, USB and A/V in out ports. Further down and to the right is the Control-L / Lanc port for external editing controllers or an external zoom controller. The strap sits near the base of the right side and is made of good quality suede, the series of Velcro belts makes adjustment easy.

An overall score of 7 reflects the concise design and placement of features in a very compact space.

The Back (6.5)
At the top left of the DCR-TRV19 is an extendable black and white view finder with a soft plastic eye ring. Just below that is the battery port, which fills up most of the space in the back of the camcorder. The port is recessed, and as a result more than half of the battery sits within the body of the camcorder. It's a nice touch that helps in distribution of weight, and translates into steady shots. At the top right of the battery, below the viewfinder is the AC in port for connection to external power. The placement of the port is sub-par, as it interferes with the use of the viewfinder. Who wants a plug poking you in face mid-shot?

Located below the AC adaptor is an emblazoned-red, record button. To the right of the record button is the power dial, with a small little green lock that engages VCR mode, charge mode, or camera mode.

A score of 6.5 is directly attributed to the poor placement of the AC input. However, yet again Sony has made the most of limited space, especially sinking the battery into the body of the camcorder.

The Left Side (6)
The left side of the DCR-TRV19 is taken up by the 2.5 in. LCD screen. Above the LCD screen, light blue Backlight and Battery Info Buttons run horizontally along the Sony logo-ed Carl Zeiss lens casing. All the action on the camcorder is concentrated in the small LCD. Pop open the 2.5 touch screen for access to a bevy of functions. On screen at start up is time/date, the record speed, time code, and a "FN" button. Gingerly touch the FN button and you're taken to the first page of a well organized menu, that offers manual focus and manual exposure options. As well as a spot meter and four fade-out choices. The second page shows a self timer and a brightness adjustment for the LCD, and the volume control. In VCR mode, the menu has the typical stop, RW, FF, and play/pause. Another FN button calls up a sub-menu with three pages of options include a tape search and variable speed playback.

A score of 6 is given because it is an inconvenience to use a touch screen for everything. It drains battery life, and is relatively imprecise when using the manual focus mode.

The Top (7)
The top of the DCR-TRV19 has a lot of the same features mentioned in the right side section. This is because the camcorder is designed in a sloping two step style. With the top left, where the casing of the Zeiss lens is, running raise front to back. And to the right, stepped down, are the zoom control, the photo button, the night shot, and the super shoe. Overall, the biggest missing feature on the camcorder, most noticed by the large depression where they were on older camcorders, is the VCR control buttons. This results is the biggest point deduction in this section.

Picture & Manual Control Automatic Control (9) Automation is the hallmark of the Sony 2003 MiniDV line. The combination of the Spot Focus and Spot Metering provides accurate, though sometimes slow react to focus. With backlight button engaged, the camcorder has reliable automatic exposure modes that work well.

Overall Manual Control (3) Unfortunately the success in automation results is manual control drawbacks. In addition to the inconvenience of having to control everything from with in the LCD, there is no manual shutter speed or gain control. Physical controls offer feel and finesse that cannot be achieved on the touch screen, especially when it comes to focus. Why manufactures haven't learned from 100's of years of camera manufacturing is an elusive question. Perhaps they fear users will crunch the gears of their automated lenses. A little faith in consumer dexterity would go a long way in ease of use for videographers. The reason Sony scores any points on the manual evaluation is that some actual control is offered.

Zoom (6.5) The DCR-TRV19 has a 10x zoon that can be digitally enhanced, from the LCD menu, to shoot at 20x or 120x. Though you should never use the digital zoom on the DCR-TRV19 or any camcorder because the quality is absolutely terrible. The zoom control button on the DCR-TRV19 is small, and for larger hands, results in difficultly making variable speed zooms. There are six zoom speeds, but because of the small amount of physical space between extremes, you need ginger finger work to get anything other than extreme zooms. Sony could have taken the larger zoom control offered on other 2003 MiniDV models, but perhaps because of the size of the DCR-TRV19, unfortunately opted for a smaller control.

Focus (4) If not in automatic, focus is controlled on the touch screen LCD. So that creates a unique spatial challenge when using of the viewfinder. While the menu is displayed within the optical, your fingers are not. That means one must look away from the shot displayed in the optical, to the LCD, to increase or decrease focus. Then check the optical to determine accuracy, and again look to the LCD for additional adjustments. Although a neat trick is to watch the image-flip on screen, when rotating the LCD into place. A Spot Focus feature lets you just touch the area of the LCD screen you want the camcorder to focus on. Besides a half-second delay, it's a cool feature - although it doesn't help the camcorder out in the manual focus score.

Exposure (4.5) The exposure control is controlled the same way as the focus, through the LCD menu. There is also a Spot Metering feature to adjust the exposure like the Spot Focus feature. The reason exposure receives a half-point over focus, is because Sony has an impressive 24 steps of exposure, while other manufacturers offer between six and eight.

Shutter Speed (0) Sony rates the shutter speed of the DCR-TRV19 at 1/4 of a second to 1/4000, there's no manual shutter control. Auto Exposure modes work well, but they don't tell you what is the value of the actual shutter speed. This limits creative control.

White Balance (7) White balance appears to be universal across makes and models. The DCR-TRV19 has four modes: automatic, indoor, outdoor, and manual.

Gain (0) There is no manual gain control on the DCR-TRV19, so the camcorder scores a 0 in this area.

Still Performance (2.5)
Unlike the DCR-TRV22, the DCR-TRV19 has no memory stick. Although is can record 640 x 480 stills to tape, which translate to approximately 7 seconds per still. The VCR function, and the remote can scroll through the tape to locate the images. An interesting element is the variety of effects that are available in the menu: old movie, flash (which shoots progressive frames), and slow shutter for low light. The DCR-TRV19 includes both a USB port and a USB cable for transferring your still images from your camcorder to your computer. The camcorder looses two points because of its lack of memory stick.

VCR Mode (6)
The VCR mode in the DCR-TRV19 is controlled by the touch screen LCD and the remote. You can stop, play, pause, fast forward, rewind, and shuttle frame by frame. The problem again is the LCD screen. Not only are there no physical buttons, but that when you are watching video, the lower right corner will always be covered by a superimposed 'FN' button or some other VCR menu control.

Low Light Performance(6)
For the price, the low light performance of the DCR-TRV19 is commendable. Of course, a three chip camcorder with 1/3 in. CCDs would dwarf unit, but that means a larger investment. Graininess was minimal in low light, and the camcorder captured a watchable image with detail in candle light. In medium low-light, the camcorder gathered what luminance there was and produced a quality image. In normal indoor conditions, which are technically low light, the camcorder had amazing clarity.

The Night Shot and Color Slow Shutter (a Color Night Shot), brought the night to life. Although maybe not the kinda of life you want to preserve. Night Shot mode uses infrared light to capture images in green, ala MSNBC war coverage. The Color Night Shot slows the shutter speed down so each frame is exposed for longer - better have a steady hand. Neither of the features are recommend for anything other than novelty. Unless you're a private eye or a war correspondent.

LCD / Viewfinder (9.0)
The DCR-TRV19 has a 123K pixel LCD screen that produces a sharp adjustable image. Sony officials said, ''The screens are built to withstand constant usage.''

That should mean there'll be no degeneration due to the constant touch of fingers. Considering the functionality of the nearly all functions relys on the screen, one hopes Sony's claims are on the money.

Unlike the DCR-TRV22, the DCR-TRV19 has a black and white viewfinder. The circumference of the optical is protected by soft rubber that feels nice around the eye. The cylinder slide out to engage, but disengages if the LCD is operational, that is unless you rotate, flip, and click the LCD back into the body of the camcorder.

Audio (7)
The DCR-TRV19 is not designed for sound quality. Despite minimal motor noise, the mike is tiny and sounds tinny. One would be remiss not to invest in the external microphone, which attaches to the camcorder's hot shoe. Unfortunately there are not many recording options either, multiply channels for adding sound or voice over in post just aren't offered.

Handling (7)
The DCR-TRV19 has a nice feel for a small camcorder. It's well balanced, in part because the battery does extend to far from the body, changing the weight distribution dynamics. The unit measures 2 and 7/8 inches wide, 3 and 5/8 inches high, and 4 and 1/2 inches long. The overall weight is 1 pound 2 ounces without battery, and 1 pound 5 ounce with battery and tape. The camcorder feels nice in hand, the strap sits a little low for big hands, but adjustability partially solves this problem.

At issue is necessity of opening the touch screen LCD for any and all adjustments. Although the fold back solution helps, it means shorter battery life, and that there is no feel - you have to look every time you adjust.

Jacks / Ports / Plugs (8)
The DCR-TRV19 offers, Mini AV In / Out, S-Video Out, Firewire In / Out, USB In / Out, Microphone in jack, headphone out jack, AC Adapter plug, Control-L / Lanc port, as well as a hot shoe. The absence of an S-Video in, means no analog to digital transfer capability and results in the loss of points.

Other Features (6)
Battery Info The Battery Info feature lets you see the remaining time left on your battery on the LCD screen with out truly powering up the camcorder, even though it takes power to use this feature. I think it's a little odd and can't see many practical uses for it. Bottom Loading Tape Mechanism This is a downgrade, tapes used by the DCR-TRV19 are loaded from the bottom. Meaning if you want to changes tapes while the camcorder is on a tripod, you have to take remove the unit. Analog to Digital Pass Through Unfortunately, the DCR-TRV19 doesn't offer this 'in-demand' feature. And this results in a deduction of 2.5 points.

Comparisons (no score provided)
An interesting video comparison is between the Sony DCR-TRV22/19 and the Sony DCR-TRV33. Even though the DCR-TRV33 is the 'upgraded' model, costing $100/$200 more, the CCD is smaller. The DCR-TRV22/19 has a 1/4 inch 680K CCD while the DCR-TRV33 has a 1/4.7 inch Meagpixel CCD. An almost absolute rule in camcorder technology is that a camcorder with a larger CCD will produce a better picture.

The differences in the video quality of the two camcorders while shooting under well lit conditions is barely noticeable, in fact, unless you have a professional test monitor or an HDTV, you wont be able to tell a difference. From close observation, the DCR-TRV22/19 has better color reproduction and depth, while the DCR-TRV33 captures a slightly sharper image. This is likely explained by a higher pixel count on the DCR-TRV33,, but the difference is so subtle it wouldn't effect my buying decision.

The DCR-TRV22 and the TRV19 have a 17.5% larger CCD than the DCR-TRV33. That's significant - and it becomes obvious in low light conditions.

The DCR-TRV19 does not have the digital camera capabilities of the DCR-TRV22 - the camcorder has no memory stick. With the DCR-TRV19, your stills are captured to the tape, though the quality will not be that much worse than the 640 x 480 resolution offered by the DCR-TRV22. If you don't care that much about stills, save yourself $100 and buy the DCR-TRV19. The biggest competitors to the DCR-TRV19 are the Panasonic PV-DV103 (Specs, $233.32), the JVC GR-D70, and the Canon ZR70MC. The 70MC offers much better manual control, and better handling with external manual controls. Although, low-light performance and video quality of the Canon can't compare to the Sony. The ZR70MC includes a Megapixel CCD for higher quality stills, and a card for storage, essentially the Canon ZR70MC is better in virtually every aspect except video quality and low light performance.

The Panasonic PV-DV103 has a 1/6 inch 680K pixel CCD 600, that results in adequate video performance, but in low light it excels. A jog dial delivers strong manual control, and the PV-DV203 (Review, Specs, $199.99) also captures quality stills on an SD card. For $600 it's a worthy challenger of the Sony DCR-TRV19, which lacks good manual control and has no data card.

While the JVC GR-D70 has a 16x optical zoom and a 680,000 Pixel CCD, the image quality is questionable. The Sony is heads above the JVC.

Who's It For (New Feature for Reviews)
In the new Who's It For section, try to figure out which section you fit into, and the corresponding comments should help you decide whether or not this is the camcorder for you. Point and Shooter's (8) . If you're the type of user who just wants a camcorder that they can point and shoot - the DCR-TRV22, DCR-TRV19 and DCR-TRV33 are for you.

Budget Consumers (5) Not a bad choice. The camcorder has captures a good image and has good low-light performance. Still Photo / Video Camera Hybrid (3) With no memory stick, the DCR-TRV19 is not really something a model one should consider. Spend and extra and get the DCR-TRV22 or TRV33 and achieve great video performance and a Meagpixel CCD. At the DCR-TRV19 price range, go with the Canon ZR70MC.

Gadget Freaks(6) The touch screen LCD the biggest gadget in this slim and small camcorder. Although if you're really looking for some gadgets, go with the DCR-TRV38 or DCR-TRV39 with their Bluetooth.

Manual Control Freaks (5) This camcorder isn't for you. The DCR-TRV19 offers terrible manual control. The place to get manual control in this price range is the Panasonic PV-DV203 or the Canon ZR70MC, though they don't offer as good of a picture as the DCR-TRV19.

Pro's / Serious Hobbyists(4) The DCR-TRV19 could be used as a backup, or for letting your little brother shoot b-roll.

Conclusion The final score chart for the DCR-TRV19 is as follows:

AreaWeightRawAdj.Poss.
Video Performance
2.00
6.5
13.0
20.0
The Front
0.20
8.0
1.60
2.0
The Right Side
0.30
7.0
2.10
3.0
The Back
0.25
6.5
1.630
2.5
The Left Side
0.20
6.0
1.20
2.0
The Top
0.15
7.0
1.05
1.5
Automatic Control
0.50
9.0
4.5
5.0
Overall Manual Control
0.60
3.0
1.8
6.0
Zoom
0.75
6.5
4.88
7.5
Focus
0.70
4.0
2.8
7.0
Exposure
0.65
4.5
2.93
6.5
Shutter Speed
0.60
0.0
0.00
6.0
White Balance
0.55
7.0
3.85
5.5
Gain
0.50
0.0
0.00
5.0
Still Performance
1.20
4.5
2.5
12.0
VCR Mode
0.30
6.0
1.8
3.0
Low Light Performance
2.00
6.0
12.00
20.0
LCD / Viewfinder
.60
9.0
5.40
6.0
Audio
1.00
7.0
7.00
10.0
Handling
1.25
7.0
8.75
12.5
Jacks / Ports / Plugs
8
9.5
7.60
8.0
Other Features
6
6.0
4.20
7.0
Value
1.25
3.0
3.75
12.5
Total (weighted)
89.7
170.5