The coolest little camcorder I have ever used!

A few months ago while browsing the electronics department I came across the camcorder section and suddenly it hit me: I must have one of these. It took me about 4 months of hint dropping and flat out whining before I convinced my husband that I really did need one. So off we got to Sears to do some camcorder shopping. I had already done reading on the subject here at Epinions, so I had a couple of models I wanted to look at specifically, one being the Sony CCD-TRV37. Ultimately this is the model I went with.

I only had a couple of requirements for my new toy. First off, it had to have one of those LCD screens, whether it flipped out from the side or was a flat camcorder. I wear glasses and was not about to try to mess with holding the viewfinder to my eye and get those lovely rubber marks on the lens. Second, I wanted it to be less than $500. I am not a pro at taking videos, and I did not even really need one, so why spend a ton of money on a simple desire and not a necessity? Being my only two requirements, I had a lot to choose from.

Why did I pick the Sony CCD-TRV37?

The style and look
Now remember, I have not used a camcorder since the early 90's, and back then it was one of those giant things that you had to rest on your shoulder and held a VHS tape, the zoom made a buzzing noise when it was being used, and you could only film for about 30 minutes before you had to take a rest. So this thing was amazing to me. It is so light, I barely even notice the weight at all. The LCD screen flips out to the side, and it is SO clear! I was not expecting such a great looking picture from it, but it is wonderful. The viewfinder is black and white, while the LCD screen is color, but like I said before, I do not plan on using the viewfinder so that does not bother me at all. This camcorder is just plain cute too. It is small and silver, which I just happen to love.

The features
Wow, this thing can do all sorts of stuff! My parents camcorder I mentioned above had a zoom, but that was about it and it wasn't that great. This little model has a 200x zoom that is amazing! While playing with the floor model at Sears, I could read the labels on housewares products from the electronics department without difficulty at all. I was highly impressed with it, and it focuses very quickly as you are zooming.

One of my favorite features is the Fader feature, which allows you to transition your shots smoothly. Rather than stopping and starting abruptly, you can fade in to your next scene and fade out, using 5 different settings (fader, mosaic fader, stripe - my favorite one - bounce, and monotone). You can also record using different picture effects, like pastel, negative art, sepia, black & white, solarize, mosaic, slim and stretch. I don't think I will use any of the picture effects much, but they are fun to play around with.

You can select various exposure modes to record in, which I will find useful in the future I am sure. There is a spotlight mode, which can be used in a theater or anywhere people's faces will be lit heavily; soft portrait mode, which brings out the subject from the background; sports mode, which minimizes shake on fast moving objects; beach & ski mode, for use when sunlight reflects on people's faces heavily; sunset & moon mode, which maintains atmosphere; and finally landscape mode is used for recording far away objects like mountains and prevents your camcorder form focusing on windows when you are filming through them. I plan on using the beach and ski mode this winter during our ski trip.

There is a title feature which allows you to add titles to a recording so you can label your videos on the video. There is a light you can use for dark situations, or you can switch to night vision and film in the total darkness! Everything is green when you film this way and I have found that the focus works a little slower, but it is still pretty cool if you ask me. I think this is called 0 Lux, but I really don't know what that means. There are a few more features for the more advanced user, but so far I have not messed with them yet. For example, you can switch the camera from auto-focus to manual focus, but I think at this point I should leave the focusing up to the camera.

The ease of use
It took me no time to figure out a lot of effects and features on the camcorder. All I had to do was play around for a little while and I had it down. I am still learning, but I am sure in no time I will be a pro. Ha. At any rate, this is not a difficult piece of equipment and being a beginner myself, I think I can say it would be perfect for beginners.

Viewing your tapes is a breeze, and you can view them on the CD screen or with a simple cable you can hook the camera up to your VCR and watch them on your TV. This also allows you to transfer your 8mm tapes to VHS if you would like.

Overall, I have been very pleased with my new toy so far and am sure it will get a lot of use. I do recommend picking up a starter kit if you choose to buy a camcorder. I bought one at Sears, and it included an extra battery, a carrying bag, and a cleaning kit.

For those who are looking for more features than the TRV37, you can pick from 3 higher level models. The TRV87 is the very top of the line from Sony for these type of cameras, and it has quite a bit more features that some people may find worth the extra cash. I wasn't looking for many of those features, so I went with the model that suited me best.