Sony DCR-TRV18 Camcorder Review

The DCR-TRV18 has a 1/4 in. 680K pixel CCD. The effective number of pixels used for both video and still is 340K. When I compared the picture quality of the DCR-TRV18 to the DCR-TRV25/27, I could notice a difference. Although I couldn't really notice a difference in the resolution, the colors on the DCR-TRV25 and DCR-TRV27 were much better and richer than the DCR-TRV18. As I said in my DCR-TRV25/27 review, I can confidently say that the DCR-TRV27 produces a noticeably, though not remarkably, better picture than it's smaller CCD cousin, the DCR-TRV18. Interestingly, the CCD on the DCR-TRV27 is smaller than the DCR-TRV18, while the DCR-TRV27 is supposed to be a better model. The smaller CCD results in a higher minimum lux rating of 7, versus the minimum lux of 5 on the DCR-TRV18. So you're going to get better low light performance out of the DCR-TRV18.

The camcorder has a 10x optical, 120x digital zoom. The LCD is 2.5 in. with 123K pixels. One of the greatest things about the DCR-TRV18 is the manual control that it delivers. You can manually adjust the autofocus using the focus ring, or adjust the exposure (aperture) using the dial. Unlike the Digital8 models however, you can manually adjust the white balance, and shutter speed. You have to navigate the menu which is a pain, but it's better than no manual control.

The still performance of the DCR-TRV18 is poor. The camcorder can only take 640 x 480 stills, and there are other camcorders available for a similar price (including the Sony Digital8s) that take much higher resolution stills, because they have mega pixel CCDs. The stills are saved to removable memory sticks.

The DCR-TRV18 has MPEG mode, but not MPEG MovieX mode meaning the length of the MPEG videos that are saved to memory stick is limited. You can record either 160 x 112 or 320 x 240 resolution video.

The camcorder handles pretty well, and there hasn't been much change in the layout between this camcorder and other horizontal Sony MiniDV camcorders. If you were to compare this model to the higher end Digital8 camcorders, like the DCR-TRV740 or 840, which carries a similar price tag, there is a difference. The DCR-TRV18 is much easier to handle with one hand. I do not like the zoom control on the camcorder. When I compare it to those on some of the Panasonic models, although it is bigger, it is also much looser and as a result it's harder to achieve a slow zoom with the variable zoom control.

You got get your video off the camcorder somehow. The camcorder has a IEEE 1394 Firewire port for transferring your video to and from your camcorder to your computer or to any other digital device. The camcorder has both standard, RCA and S-Video in out ports. Importantly, the camcorder has a 1/8 in. microphone in, and headphone out port.

The camcorder has many other extras to spice up the mix. Interesting, it seems that after supporting it for many years Sony has dropped the IR Link feature from the camcorder, it seems it never really caught on. The camcorder has electronic steady shot, which is fine in quality, but will never replace a good tripod. A neat feature that the camcorder has is on the fly analog to digital conversion. This allows you to convert an analog source (coming in through the RCA or S-Video ports) to digital, through the Firewire port on the fly. The camcorder has also added Sony's new color night shot (actually each manufacturer has now converted their older, mono-color night shot to color). The night shot is improved over the first version, however it still has a green hue. There is some color that is noticeable but I still wouldn't recommend shooting anything you care about in night shot mode.

The DCR-TRV18 adds USB streaming, which has also been added to many other Sony digital camcorders. This feature allows the user to hook the camcorder up to their camcorder and stream 320 x 240 video, effectively using the camcorder as a web cam. This feature can be used to shoot video for emails, for the web, or for videoconferencing.

The DCR-TRV18 is a disappointing camcorder. The still performance is really bad, and the only premium on this camcorder is the manual control. However, you can get better still performance with those manual controls at the same with the Canon ZR models, Panasonic or JVC models. If you are looking for good still performance, the Sony DCR-TRV740 is a much more attractive camcorder. The DCR-TRV17 was a nice camcorder but Sony has fallen behind in my opinion on the DCR-TRV18 and I would recommend looking in other places.