Sony DCR-TRV38 Camcorder Review

by Robin Liss
Published on Jun 29, 2004 12:00 AM



The $899 MiniDV DCR-TRV38 by Sony is the center point of the Sony 2003 MiniDV line, and in my mind is the best combination of features, video quality, low light quality and price in the Sony line right now - it's the best deal that Sony is currently offering. The DCR-TRV38 offers excellent video performance, impressive low light performance and offers a nice manual focus ring. The DCR-TRV38 is matched by one of the best camcorders on the market today, the Canon Optura 20 which offers excellent stills, video performance and control options - however in the end the superior low light performance of the DCR-TRV38 wins out.

Video Performance (7.0)
The Sony DCR-TRV38 includes a 1/4.7 in. 1.0 Megapixel CCD with 690K effective pixels for video. I really like the color representation on the DCR-TRV38, I really think the camcorder excels in this area. The DCR-TRV38 produces beautiful skin tones and the camcorder doesn't over or undersaturate in any area. The DCR-TRV38 has a pretty good dynamic range working well with dark darks and white whites. The picture is certainly not as sharp as that of the DCR-TRV70, the next up model (besides the DCR-TRV39 which has the same imagining components), however I would certainly say that the color representation is better on the DCR-TRV38 than on the DCR-TRV70. The DCR-TRV38 does an outstanding job in well lit situations, especially outside - representing all the colors amazingly. My two complaints about the video picture is that the camcorder seemed to have a big problem with bleeding with really bright colors next to medium and dark ones - bleeding is somewhat accepted in any consumer camcorder however I felt it was slightly excessive. My other complaint is that the camcorder seemed to produce a little too much grain on solid surfaces - it speckled too much - in other words the pixels for a solid surface were constantly slightly changing - . It's only a problem if you look very closely at the picture. Overall I was very impressed with the video performance of the DCR-TRV38.

The Front (8.0)
I really like the layout of the DCR-TRV38. Centered at the top of the front of the Sony DCR-TRV38 is the camcorder lens. Below the lens is the Sony logo and below that is the on camera stereo microphone. Below the microphone is the infrared receiver which includes a tally light centered at the bottom. The layout of the front is simple, and the lack of any important features on the front means you can operate the focus ring with ease.

The Right Side (9.5)
The right side of the DCR-TRV38 contains the power dial towards the back. You can switch the camcorder between VCR, OFF, Camera and Memory modes. The camcorder has a slightly raised hump (to accommodate the Memory Stick) which nicely fits around your hand. I like the curved surface that the hump provides instead of a flat one because it makes holding the camcorder in your right hand much more comfortable. The middle portion of the right side of the camcorder is void of anything, providing a nice smooth surface to rest your hand. At the front of the right side is a patch bay holding all the jacks where you would want to plug something in. Even though all the jacks are on the right side, it does not interfere with your right hand so you don't need to worry about a cord getting in the way while you are shooting. When you open up the hard plastic cover of the patch bay seven jacks are revealed in two columns. The first column contains the S-Video, Mini A/V and headphone jacks. The second column contains the USB, Firewire, Control-L / Lanc and Microphone jacks.

The Back (7.5)
At the top of the back of the DCR-TRV38 is the color viewfinder. Directly below the viewfinder is the battery slot. Below the battery slot is the AC Adapter. Towards the top of the battery, towards the right, is the record button and the other side of the power dial. On the left side of the battery slot, towards the bottom are the Focus and Back Light buttons. I really wish Sony had used the extra space on the left side of the back to place a jog dial for controlling the exposure and other picture functions.

The Left Side (9.0)
The left side, like the right side, is pretty much void of any buttons. The majority of the left side of the camcorder is taken up by the 3.5 in. touch screen LCD screen. On the outside of the LCD is an oval, inside the oval is an external display. The external display shows an indication of remaining battery life and a tape counter. It's a really nice feature. Inside the LCD screen is a speaker and the display / battery info button.

The Top (8.5)
At the front of the top of the DCR-TRV38 is the hot shoe for attaching accessories. Back and to the right is the night shot button. Behind that is the edit search buttons. Behind the edit search buttons is the zoom slider and behind that is the photo button. At the back of the camcorder is the viewfinder.

Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control (9.0)
The DCR-TRV38 delivers the same amazing automatic control as every other Sony 2003 MiniDV camcorder. The DCR-TRV38 offers the Spot Focus and Spot Metering functions, which allow you to touch an area of the screen and the camcorder will adjust either the focus or the exposure respectively to the area you touched. The fully automatic control seems responsive enough.

Overall Manual Control (4.0)
The condensation of all the manual control options beside focus into the touch screen LCD was not a good choice. It is very hard to swing open the LCD and adjust the exposure with out shaking the camcorder. I also like the feel of real buttons - I don't like the touch screen LCD except for the Spot Metering and Spot Focus. It's really too bad. Sony also should have brought the dual function zoom ring / focus ring from the DCR-IP220 over to the DCR-TRV38. It would be a huge feature improvement and wouldn't cost a penny.

Zoom (7.5)
The DCR-TRV38 includes a 10x optical zoom control. The zoom is controlled by a fairly large zoom rocker which is elevated a little above the camcorder. The zoom control on the DCR-TRV38 is pretty good, it gives enough resistance so that you can get variable zoom speeds and hold them. The zoom control gets a better score than the DCR-TRV19, DCR-TRV22, DCR-TRV33 or the DCR-TRV80 - all of which include slightly smaller zoom controls which are harder to use.

Focus (8.0)
The focus is controlled wonderfully by a focus ring. A focus ring is the best way to control the focus on any camcorder. On some lower models, including lower Sony models, the focus is controlled through either a jog dial or through push buttons. Focus rings, located around the lens, are the way that professionals control the focus on full size camcorders. It's a very good and convenient location especially when you are shooting without a tripod. The DCR-TRV38 also includes the great Spot Focus feature. Spot Focus allows you to point on an area of the screen and the camcorder will automatically adjust the focus to that area.

Exposure (Aperture) (4.5)
All the picture control functions beside zoom are controlled through the touch screen LCD. The exposure control is controlled by touching the FN (Function) button on the touch screen. That brings up a superimposed menu with a variety of options. After touching the exposure button, you can manual adjust the exposure by hiting the manual button. A plus and a minus button increase or decrease the exposure over 24 steps. I really don't like the touch screen control, I wish Sony had included a jog dial on the camcorder. You can adjust the exposure using the Spot Metering function, just like the Spot Focus function.

Shutter Speed (0)
The DCR-TRV38 includes no shutter speed control, a big minus.

White Balance (7)
The white balance control on the DCR-TRV38 is standard of Sony MiniDV camcorders. It includes four modes, auto, manual set, indoor and outdoor. This level of control is pretty standard for a Sony camcorder.

Gain (0)
The DCR-TRV38 includes no manual gain control, which would really aid in low light performance.

Still (6.5)
The stills are quite good on the DCR-TRV38, and their quality is similar to that of the video performance. The DCR-TRV38 can output stills up to a resolution of 1152 x 864 pixels. The stills are saved to Memory Sticks, and the camcorder includes an 8 MB Memory Stick. You can transfer the stills from the camcorder to the computer using the included USB connection. The DCR-TRV38 can also record MPEG video to the Memory Sticks.

VCR Mode (6.0)
All the VCR functions on the DCR-TRV38 are controlled through the touch screen LCD. The camcorder superimposes the VCR control buttons on top of the video picture. The frame shuttle buttons are the only exception, they are located on the top of the camcorder. I don't mind the VCR buttons being controlled through a touch screen as much as I mind the picture functions being controlled through the touch screen, however I would prefer real buttons.

Low Light Performance (5.0)
The DCR-TRV38 does an impressive job in low light conditions, however the small CCD doesn't match up to the much cheaper DCR-TRV22. The camcorder doesn't produce too much grain, however I would really like it if the DCR-TRV38 included manual gain control so that you could adjust the gain. The slightly smaller CCD. The color representation was off creating lots of random discoloration.

LCD / Viewfinder (9.5)
The DCR-TRV38 contains a large 3.5 in. LCD screen. The LCD screen is the center point of the DCR-TRV38, considering that many of the picture functions and much of the camcorder control is done through the LCD. The LCD is particularly sharp, with 184K pixels. The DCR-TRV38 includes a color viewfinder. I really wish that the viewfinder was black and white because it would make adjusting the focus much easier because of the increased sharpness.

Audio (7.0)
The on-camera microphone of the DCR-TRV38 offers nothing special, it does an okay job of recording audio however I would always recommend using an external microphone. The DCR-TRV38 offers both a dedicated headphone jack and a dedicated microphone jack - two very important features that seem to be slowly fading away on some of the competitors models. The DCR-TRV38 also offers a hot shoe for attaching and powering an external microphone. These are all pretty good audio options however the two features that the DCR-TRV38 is missing are manual adjustment of audio recording level and an audio dub feature.

Handling (8.0)
The DCR-TRV38 handles quite well. The camcorder is a little on the heavy side and not balanced perfectly, however, it does offer a nice rounded edge on the right side for easy gripping. I am quite happy with the placement of the zoom control and the focus control, as well as the record button. I certainly do not like the touch screen LCD - it makes adjusting the exposure a pain. I really wish that the DCR-TRV38 included the extended lens like the DCR-TRV70, however in general it's pretty easy to get a stable good hold on the camcorder.

Jacks and Ports (9.5)
The DCR-TRV38 includes all the jacks and ports you would want on a consumer camcorder. The DCR-TRV38 has a Firewire in / out, a USB jack, a Mini RCA AV in / out jack, an S-Video jack, a headphone out jack, microphone in jack, a Control-L / Lanc jack and a hot shoe. My only complaint would be the Mini AV jack however Sony had to use a mini jack for size issues.

Other Features (6.0)
Battery Info The DCR-TRV38 has a button which you can press to check the remaining battery time. It's a neat feature but I don't think it's very useful.

Bottom Loading Tape Mechanism This really isn't a feature but it must be mentioned. Tapes are loaded into the DCR-TRV38 through the bottom, meaning you have to remove the camcorder from a tripod whenever you want to change tapes.

Analog to Digital Pass Through This feature allows you to hook an analog video source up to your DCR-TRV38 and convert the analog video to digital video on the fly.

USB Streaming Using USB streaming you can use your DCR-TRV38 as a web cam or for video chatting. It's a really neat feature and eliminates the need for a web cam.

Comparisons (no score provided)
The DCR-TRV38 offers the same imaging components as the DCR-TRV33 and the exact same video performance, low light performance and still performance. What the DCR-TRV38 offers over the DCR-TRV33 is a larger LCD and a manual focus ring. Two features that I would certainly say are worth spending an extra $100 on. The next model up is the DCR-TRV39, and all that the DCR-TRV39 brings to the table is network functions, which certainly aren't worth it in my opinion.

Optura 20 I feel that the Optura 20 produces a slightly better picture both in normal lighting conditions. The Optura 20's larger CCD seems to do a slightly better and more even representation of colors with a slightly better dynamic range, however I feel that the colors produced by the Sony are a little richer and more saturated, whereas the colors produced by the Optura are a little more natural looking - the normal lighting video quality difference is so close I would almost say it's more of a preference. Where the DCR-TRV38 clearly wins however is in low light conditions - in general it seems that this year's Canon camcorders are not performing well at all in low light situations. The Optura 20 does give you slightly more manual control options and better handling with a better layout and better stills. The Optura 20 wins on control options and ties on video performance, but the all important low light performance makes the DCR-TRV38 win out.

Who's it For
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 (9.0)
As I said in my DCR-TRV22, next to motion tracking I don't know what else the DCR-TRV38 could offer the point and shooter. The large LCD is also a big plus. The DCR-TRV38 is the best buy out there for the point and shooter.

Budget Consumers (6.0) I really think that the DCR-TRV38 is a great buy, possibly one of the best buys under $1,000. The quality stills, video performance, and low light performance make the DCR-TRV38 a great buy.

Still Photo / Video Camera Hybrid (6.5) The DCR-TRV38 does offer very good stills and video performance, however there are camcorders with better resolution and better stills out there.

Gadget Freaks (7.0)
Once again Sony delivers in the 'gadget freak' category, the DCR-TRV38 is fully of useless features, though I think the DCR-TRV39 takes the prize in that category.

Manual Control Freaks (5.0)
The Sony DCR-TRV38 needs to improve in the manual control arena, there is no manual control of gain or shutter speed.

Pro's / Serious Hobbyists (5.0)
If you are looking for a $1,000 under offering, the DCR-TRV38 would certainly be a great choice.

Conclusion
The final score chart for the DCR-TRV38 is as follows:

Area Weight Raw Adj. Poss.
Video Performance
2.00
7.0
14.00
20.0
The Front
0.20
8.0
1.60
2.0
The Right Side
0.30
9.5
2.85
3.0
The Back
0.25
7.5
1.88
2.5
The Left Side
0.20
9.0
1.80
2.0
The Top
0.15
8.5
1.28
1.5
Automatic Control
0.50
9.0
4.5
5.0
Overall Manual Control
0.60
4.0
2.4
6.0
Zoom
0.75
7.5
5.63
7.5
Focus
0.70
8.0
5.60
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
6.5
7.80
12.0
VCR Mode
0.30
6.0
1.8
3.0
Low Light Performance
2.00
5.0
10.00
20.0
LCD / Viewfinder
.60
9.5
5.70
6.0
Audio
1.00
7.0
7.00
10.0
Handling
1.25
8.0
10.00
12.5
Jacks / Ports / Plugs
.80
9.5
7.60
8.0
Other Features
0.70
6.0
4.20
7.0
Value
1.25
5.0
6.25
12.5
Total (weighted)
108.67
170.5

The DCR-TRV38 is a very solid camcorder which I certainly would recommend. The DCR-TRV38 performs wonderfully in normal lighting conditions producing vivid colors. The camcorder does pretty well in low light conditions as well. The camcorder offers good control options with the manual focus ring, however I do wish that everything wasn't pushed back into the LCD. I like the DCR-TRV38 a lot and I think that it is the best buy in the under $1,500 Sony line right now, however the DCR-TRV38 is competing with the Canon Optura 20 a very solid model. The Optura 20 certainly offers better control options, but the DCR-TRV38's superior low light performance makes me choose it over the Optura 20.