Sony CCD-TR8181 Camcorder Review

I recently did a search to find the cheapest camcorders on the market today. I was very surprised to find more than half a dozen available for under $300. There were two things that really blew me away. The first was a Quasar model for under $200. The second was finding a fully loaded Sony Hi-8 on the list. I was even more shocked to find that the Sony CCD-TR818 can be found for as low as $270. At that price they should literally be flying off the shelves.

The only thing the TR818 does not have that most folks these days are asking for is an LCD screen. Other than that, it’s packed with features. Best of all is that it records on Hi-8. Though not quite up to the standards of today’s digital formats, Hi-8 is one of the best all-around formats. This is especially true when you factor in the cost of the tapes, length of the tapes, picture quality, and overall reliability.

The TR818 has most of Sony’s more popular features. It has SteadyShot, NightShot, digital effects modes, 6-program auto exposure, a titler, and a color viewfinder. It will also shoot in 16:9 aspect ratio. The TR818 has an MSRP of $299.00. It comes with a 20X optical zoom, and a 460X digital zoom. It boasts 320,000 (200K-effective) gross pixels from the ¼” CCD, yielding up to 400 lines of horizontal resolution.

I found the TR818 to be fairly well designed in terms of where things are located, and it felt pretty comfortable holding it in my hands. I also thought the color viewfinder seemed to be perhaps a notch above some of those on comparably priced models. This unit does have a manual focus ring, and a manual exposure control. But it does not have the ability to set the white balance manually. There are also some other potential problems as far as serious enthusiasts are concerned. There is no external microphone input. The video out is a special mini A/V, and there is no LANC/Control L terminal. There is also no LaserLink ability, though you won’t find it on any of the lower priced models, either. These are only drawbacks for the videophile. For the average user, this camera has pretty much everything you would need.

On the Sonystyle website, it is written of this model that it “hits a home run in price and performance”. I would have to wholeheartedly agree. This may be the best consumer-level camcorder for the money that I have ever run across. If you are looking for a good, easy-to-use, quality piece of equipment at an extremely fair price, look no further. If you are dead-set on getting an LCD screen, then you might want to bump up to the TRV58 for an MSRP of $349.00. It has the swivel screen, but sacrifices the SteadyShot. If you want both, you’ll have to jump to the TRV68 at an MSRP of $399.00. Either way, you really can’t go wrong.

If you’re someone who relishes finding incredible bargains, you’ll want to jump all over this one. It’s a beauty. And for less than $300.00, who could ask for anything more?