Sony DCR-TRV250 Camcorder Review

by Robin Liss
Published on May 8, 2004 12:00 AM



The Digital8 Sony DCR-TRV250 is currently the least expensive digital camcorder available, with a small price tag of just $400. The DCR-TRV250 doesn't produce amazing video quality or have great low light performance. The camcorder also doesn't have a great feature set - but the key with this camcorder is that it's digital. With a rock bottom $400 price tag, the DCR-TRV250 certainly beat's it's competitors and is a good buy - however if you shell out another $100 you'll get a much better camcorder.

Video Performance
The Digital8 DCR-TRV250 includes a 690K 1/4.7 in. CCD and a 20x optical zoom. When the area you're shooting is well lit, the DCR-TRV250 films alright. However, as will other inexpensive Sony camcorders, the DCR-TRV250 does pretty bad with blues and dark colors. When compared to similarly priced Hi8 models, I feel comfortable saying that the DCR-TRV250 performs better - plus you get the added benefit of digital video. By no means is the quality great, and you certainly will get better performance with higher models - however for the price range I feel that the video quality is worth it.

The Front
The front of the DCR-TRV250 has the lens offset to the left slightly. To the right of it is the lens is the small on-camera video light - a new addition to the Digital8 camcorders. Below both the lens and the light is the on-camera stero microphone. Below the micrphone is the infrared reciever for the remote control. On the right side of the infrared reciever is the small recording tally light which turns red when the camcorder is recording.

The Right Side
The right side of the DCR-TRV80 is very simple. On the far back is the power / mode dial, with it you can switch from VCR mode, power off, and camera mode. The rest of the right side of the camcorder is taken up with the tape door for the bottom loading tape mechanisim and the handle strap.

The Back
The back of the DCR-TRV250 has the black and white viewfinder at the top of the camcorder. To the right of the viewfinder is the grey battery eject button. Below both of these, slightly shifted to the right is the battery slot which takes M type InfoLithium batteries. About 1/3 down from the top of the back of the camcorder is the red record button, as well as the side of the power dial. Almost at the bottom of the camcorder is the menu jog dial. At the way bottom is the connector for the camcorder strap, and to the right of that is the DC in port for connecting the camcorder to an AC Power Adaptor, which is included with the camcorder.

The Left Side
The left side of the DCR-TRV250 has the most going on of any area of the camcorder. At the top, towards the lens is the Nightshot On / Off switch. At the back of the camcorder is the 2.5 in. LCD screen. Below the LCD screen, towards the front of the camcorder is a hard plastic piece which covers the S-Video Out, A/V Out, Firewire In / Out and USB ports. Towards the back of the camcorder at the bottom is the fader, back light and focus buttons. If you open up the LCD screen, the display, exposure, title, menu, volume - / +, end search and execute bottons are located along with the speaker.

The Top
About half way towards the back of the DCR-TRV250 are VCR and other controls. In the first row is the light, Battery Info, rewind, play and the fast-forward button. On the second row is the stop, pause and record buttons. At the back of the camcorder on the top is the relatively large zoom control, and behind that is the silver photo button.

Picture Manual Control
Zoom
The DCR-TRV250 provides manual contrlo of zoom with the zoom slider on the top of the camcorder, towards the back. The zoom control feels pretty 'cheap' to me. The zoom slider is tight to the camcorder, instead of slightly raised up as it is on the MiniDV models. The slightly raised controls are easier to use than the zoom control on the DCR-TRV250. It makes it harder to get variable zoom speeds, especially slow ones - which is very important if you actually want to use zooms in your video.
Focus
Sony sadly took off the focus ring from the Digital8 camcorder models this year, opting instead for focus conrolled by a dial. It was a great move a few years ago when Sony took the lead by putting focus rings on all their camcorders because of their ease of use. Instead, focus is controlled by pushing the focus button, which toggles between automatic and manual focus. When in manual mode, the jog dial adjusts the focus. It is very hard to get an accurate focus and I'm really disaapointed with this move.
Exposure
Exposure is controlled similarily to focus. The exposure button is located inside the LCD screen. You can adjust the exposure using the jog dial at the back of the camcorder.

Other Controls
VCR Mode
You enter VCR (Playback) mode on the DCR-TRV250 by sliding the mode dial to VCR. The placback controls are located on the top of the camcorder. One control the DCR-TRV250 lack is the ability to shuttle (fast forward and rewind) one frame at a time. The DCR-TRV250 also can not play back Hi8 and 8mm format tapes. The camcorder can record a Digital8 signal and playback a Digital8 signal from Hi8 and 8mm tapes, but it can't actually play back a Hi8 and 8mm signal, as other Digital8 camcorders have been able to in the past. This used to be one of the biggest draws of Digital8 camcorders - because they could be used as transition camcorders for people who had Hi8 or 8mm camcorders in the past but wanted to transition to a new Digital format yet still be able to watch their old tapes. Not doing playback of Hi8 and 8mm tapes takes away one of the biggest advantages of the Digital8 format.

Low Light Performance
The low light performance, as with other pervious low end Digital8 models, is quite poor. The grain is extreme and you can't operate the camcorder and get useable video unless you have a moderate amount of light. The low light performance of the DCR-TRV250 was terrible. I really can't suggest using this camcorder in low light situations, the CCD just doesn't have enough area to pick up enough light unless the area is well lit.

Audio
The DCR-TRV250 lacks any audio options other than the on-camera microphone. There is no external mic-in or and headphone out. It's realy a problem on this camcorder. I certainly wouldn't recomend using the on-camera microphone, and Sony doesn't provide the user with any other options.

Handling
The DCR-TRV250 handles alright - however I can't stop but think that the camcorder has a 'cheap' plastic feel. The body seems too light and the plastic outside seems too light. It's nice that Sony has manual actual button controls such as a jog dial, however inorder to toggle between automatic and manual exposre you have to open up the LCD screen. You can however toggle between automatic and manual focus using the button on the outside.

Other Features
Night Shot
The Sony DCR-TRV250 includes only the standard Sony Night Shot - and as in the past the Night Shot has a terrible green tone and I wouldn't recomend using it or shooting any video with it. When Sony advertises the camcorder as 0 lux - it doesn't mean that the video produced in 0 light situations is useable.
On-camera light
I think it's a nice gesture for Sony to include an on-camera light but I think it's more of a move to compete with some of the low end VHS-C camcorders which include video lights. Although in the store these might seem like a great idea - there is no way that any camcorder, including the DCR-TRV250, is going to be able to draw enough power from the battery to produce enough light so that it can actually improve the quality of your video. This is a marketing feature - it really isn't going to help you out at all.
USB Streaming
Interestingly, although the DCR-TRV250 doesn't include still capability - it includes a USB port (which is typically used for transfering digital stills to a computer) for USB streaming. USB streaming is a nice feature - it will allow you to use your camcorder as a web cam without any additional software.
Battery Info
A new addition to the Sony line of camcorders in 2003 is the Battery Info feature. With the press of one button, the camcorder will display a nice screen indicating how much time is left on the camcorder, with out actually 'powering on' the camcorder - though the camcorder does have to turn on, though just not all the way. It's a neat feature, however I don't typically see it really becoming usedful very often.

Comparisons
The DCR-TRV250 technically replaces the DCR-TRV240, however the feature set it much more similar to the DCR-TRV140, last years lower model. The price point on the DCR-TRV140 however was $500, so the DCR-TRV250 is dropping the entry point for Digital8, and any digital camcorder to $400 - a big move. In a direct comparison, the DCR-TRV250 includes the same features as the DCR-TRV140 - it also lacks many of the key features that the DCR-TRV140 lacked - such as audio options, backwards compatibility for Hi8 and 8mm tapes, a focus ring, and good video quality. The problem is that there is no last years model of the same price to compare the DCR-TRV250 to.

The only sister camcorder for the DCR-TRV250 is the DCR-TRV350 (Review, Specs, $360.8) - Sony's only other Digital8 model this year. For an extra $100, you get a lot more. The DCR-TRV350 includes still capability for $500 and seems to be a much better competitior.

The most likely competition for the DCR-TRV250 is going to be Hi8 and VHS-C camcorders. I really think if you're set on being a bargain shopper and spending $400 on a camcorder, the DCR-TRV250 is the best choice you can make. The video quality is going to be comparable or better than any analog camcorder - however the biggest benefit is that the DCR-TRV250 is digital. Having the option of digital transfer of your videos to your computer via Firewire is indespensible and certainly worth it.

Conclusion
The DCR-TRV250 camcorder isn't a great model, it really lacks in having little manual control, no audio options, the video quality and low light capability isn't stellar, and the camcorder feels cheap in your hands. The Panasonic PV-DV53 (Review, Specs, $199.06) offers a lot more extra features, though thew video quality isn't much improved for the same price. I would suggest maybe spending another $100 and looking at the Canon ZR60 - you'll get a lot better camcorder with a ton more features and a much better picture.