A very nice quality camcorder if dated now! (Sony Handycam DCR-TRV14)

Member Name: sacwhh22

Product:	Sony Handycam DCR-TRV14
Date:	19/09/09 (28 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quality item, cheap to buyused now!

Disadvantages: Old technology

I purchased this Sony model around 5 years ago for about £200 i think?

My main reason for purchase was for Paranormal Research, and as such wanted a model that had decent reviews for its nightvision capability, and this fit the bill on that count!

Prior to this i had not owned a camcorder and knew nothing about using them really, but found this surprisingly easy to pick up and learn with. The instruction manual was huge as they always are to cover every single function they can do, however to just do the basic recording and playback it doesnt take a rocket scientist to suss that out!

Its a very nice size and weight and sits very comfortably in the hand even when using for fairly long periods of time! The record and zoom buttons are placed very nicely so thatwhen your hand is sitting ion the handgrip unless you have particularly long fingers, they are perfecty within reach - very important for comfort!

Th quality of reording was excellent onto the MiniDV tapes (which each record either 45 mins or 60 mins of footage) and playback on PC or TV was crisp and clear with nice sound quality. The night vision function was also fairly good - however it turned out not to be quite powerful enough for the ghosthunting so i bought an extra infrared light to attach - which then worked extremely well!

The batteries lasted an average of 95 minutes which could have been better i guess, but there are non branded batteries available on ebay for only a few quid so you can stock up!

The recordign sensor finally gave up the ghost (get it? lol) last September which was a shame, so we have now replaced it wih a HDD camcorder - however this was a very nice camcorder for a good length of time!

Although a very old modely now, and even the MiniDV is dated, however if you want a cheap second hand model for occasional use, i would recommend looking around for one of these on ebay - often go for less that £40!

Summary: If you want to buy a cheap used camcorder for occasional use this would be a good buy!

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