Cheap and sweet (Sony CCD TR 427)

Member Name: stresshead2000

Product:	Sony CCD TR 427
Date:	08/01/01 (340 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, easy(ish) to use, Many features.

Disadvantages: No LCD screen, battery life short but room for expandability.

For one of the cheaper models of camcorder this is an excellent buy.
It allows you to create proffesional looking videos without too much expense and hassle.
It takes 8mm tapes, which cost about 13 quid for 5. The tapes can be used again and again until they deteriorate in quality.
When you have recorded your scene you simply plug it in to the TV and you can watch it in full colour and then transfer on to a VHS tape as you wish.
It can be a bit fiddly setting up the TV to begin with, but once you get the hang of it its simple enough. For old models of TV it might be advisable to seek advice, because you need audio/video in plugs or a scart socket.
When you look through the viewfinder it is black and white, which can be a bit annoying, but is easy to live with.
You can fade in and out of scenes using the fader button which allows you to choose from a number of fades like strip, mosaic, monotone and fader.
There are also quite a few digital effects like pastel, mosaic, neg. art, sepia etc.
There is no LCD screen, but for a beginner this is not a problem. Plus it saves on battery life.
Ther is a nightshot function (0 Lux), which when activated allows you to shoot in literally pitch blackness.
There is a title function where you can select from pre defined and make your own titles up.
The battery supplied is a 2 hour one, but you can get about 140 mins out of it. It takes 20 minutes to charge an hour, and about an hour to charge it fully.
It is a brilliant camcorder for the beginner, and provides enough features to make excellent videos, and at just under £300, it is top notch quality.

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