Sony DCR-TRV11 Camcorder Reviewby Robin LissPublished on Jun 22, 2004 12:00 AM 
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The DCR-TRV11 is a MiniDV camcorder with a MSRP $1399. It packs an over 600,000 pixel CCD for capturing ultra high resolution video. The camcorder includes a large 3.5 inch color LCD screen. The Sony camcorders have great battery times. You can get batteries that run 10-12 hours on the camcorder which is great if your going ot be shooting a long event. The 12 hour battery goes for $129.99. The TRV11 includes the 0 Lux night shot feature which allows you to shoot video when its dark outside. Although many features on todays camcorders are just frill and are useless, the night shot feature can be used and the video, although green in color, is watchable and useable. Because the camcorder is small, the zoom is very small just 10 x optical and 100x digital. The picture starts with the lens and you can't get a good picture with out a good lens. The PC100 includes a Carl Zeis lens, one of the best lens out there which will result in a great quality picture. The viewfinder, sadly, is color which means you may run into focusing problems with the camcorders focus ring because you won't get a sharp enough picture. The TRV11 captures still pictures that are captured in resolutions as high as 1152 x 864 and stores them on Sony's memory stick media and the camcorder comes with a memory stick reader so you can easily dload those pics to your PC. The camcorder has analog in which is a great feature for dubing your old VHS to long lasting DV.
The TRV11 is a good camcorder. Its standard style and is feature packed. Althoght the zoom is low, its got a focus ring and tons of manual features. Sony includes all the manual controls most videographers should need but the camcorder is easy enough for the beginer. If you want good quality but don't want to spend mega bucks go with the TRV11. One note, its not matchbox so shooting good vids on it will be much easier.