Sony MiniDV DCR-TRV50 review

• Imaging Device : 1/4" 1,550K Gross Pixels, Advanced HAD™ CCD


• Video Actual : 970K


• Still Actual : 1,390K


• F : 1.8-2.2


• Focal Distance : 4.2-42mm


• 35mm Conversion : 48-480mm (Camera Mode) 40-400mm (Memory Mode)


• Filter Diameter : 37mm


• Optical Zoom : 10X


• Digital Zoom : 120X


• Focusing : Full Range Auto/Manual


• Minimum Illumination : 7 Lux (0 Lux with NightShot® Infrared System)


• NightShot Infrared System : Super NightShot®, Color Slow Shutter


• Shutter Speed : 1/4-1/4000 (AE Mode)


• Memory Mode : Yes, 1360 x 1020, 640 x 480


• MPEG Movie EX Mode : Yes, 320 x 240, 160 x 112


• Viewfinder : Color (180K)


• LCD : 3.5" Color (246K)


• Accessory Shoe : Yes (Intelligent)


• Portable Printer Capable : Yes


• Video Input/Output : Yes/Yes (Special and S-Video)


• Audio Input/Output : Yes/Yes (Stereo)


• i.LINK DV Interface (IEEE1394) : Yes, 4 Pin


• USB : Yes


• USB Streaming : Yes, 320 x 240 ( up to 30 FPS)


• Headphone Jack : Yes (Mini, Stereo)


• Mic-Input : Yes (Stereo)


• White Balance : Auto, Outdoor, Indoor, Hold


• Exposure : Yes/Dial (24 Step)


• Power Consumption (VF/LCD/VF+LCD) : 3.4W/4.5W/4.8W


• Battery Code: NP-QM91D

Sony's MiniDV DCR-TRV50 is their upgrade to the popular DCR-TRV30. The camcorder is a standard form factor, with many neat features and good still quality. From its professional Carl Zeiss lens to the 3.5-inch LCD, and everything in between, the DCR-TRV50 screams quality. It is unequivocally Sony's top consumer model, and well worth the expense. Power battery code : NP-QM91D.

The DCR-TRV50 MiniDV Handycam Camcorder gives you a huge, easy-to-view color LCD and massive megapixel resolution, making it the odds-on favorite for delivering exceptional-quality digital video, digital audio, and digital still images every time you turn it on. This unit also features Sony's revolutionary Network capability through its Bluetooth adapter which allows you to connect to the internet without the need of a computer (adapter sold separately).

The Sony DCR-TRV50 has a 1/4 in. 1.5 Mega Pixel HAD CCD. The effective video pixels used is 970K while the still is 1,390K, but more about the still performance later. The DCR-TRV50 has a 10x optical, 120x digital zoom while the horizontal resolution is rated at 530 lines, the top for the MiniDV format. Mini DV digital recording format delivers 3X color bandwidth of VHS and lower signal to noise ratio compared to analog formats and provides stunning video performance.

The CCD in the TRV50 is of enough resolution to capture 1,360 x 1,020 digital stills onto the included 8 MB Memory Stick--about a 1.38-megapixel image and sony NP-QM91D. That resolution is currently tops in the digital-camcorder world (the digital still resolution of camcorders hasn't risen nearly as fast as that of digital cameras), and is good for prints up to about 6 by 9 inches. As far as video is concerned, Sony claims the high-resolution CCD translates into a video resolution of around 530 horizontal lines.

An upgrade of the DCR-TRV50 over the DCR-TRV30 is the addition of a touch panel LCD screen. The LCD is 3.5 in. and 246K pixels. The camcorder also has a color viewfinder. If you have an area that is under or over exposed or an area that you want to put in focus all you have to do is touch on it an the camcorder adjusts automatically. This is a great intermediate between automatic and manual control. It gives the inexperienced user a way of tackling the camcorder controls which can be very daunting.The camcorder usb can be used in sony laptop battery.

The DCR-TRV50 includes wireless Bluetooth connectivity, just like the MicroMV DCR-IP7. In fact, the DCR-TRV50 has the same Bluetooth functions as the DCR-IP7BT and the DCR-PC120BT. In addition to digital stills, you can record pretty poor quality, 160 x 112 resolution MPEG video to the Memory Stick or you can store 320 x 240 resolution MPEG video. Sony makes up to 256 MB memory sticks currently. Unlike other MPEG1 movies, MPEG Movie EX will allow you to record uninterrupted to the full capacity of the Memory Stick media. For example, the 128MB Memory Stick media will record up to 85 minutes of non-stop MPEG videos.

The DCR-TRV50 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, NP-QM91D battery, effectively using the camcorder as a web cam. This feature can be used to shoot video for emails, for the web, or for videoconferencing.