Yamaha Home Theater
CNET editors' review
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CNET editors' rating:
stars
Good
Detailed editors' rating
- Reviewed on: 04/18/2003
- Updated on: 04/22/2003
- Released on: 01/08/2003
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 External playback controls come in handy when you connect the camcorder to a TV or a VCR. |
 A typical Sony power and mode dial. |
 The cassette hatch opens from the bottom of the camcorder, which makes it impossible to change tapes while the TRV350 is on a tripod. |
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 A button for everything and everything with a button. |
Operational features include a manual focus wheel (helpful for shooting through glass, which stymies autofocus); basic exposure compensation, to cope with dramatically different foreground and background brightness levels; and the usual array of autoexposure presets, such as Portrait and Sand/Snow. Shutter speed adjustment isn't as flexible as on some other models--a single slow-shutter preset for low-light conditions gives you more accurate color at the expense of smooth motion, but otherwise, the camcorder automatically selects a shutter speed between 1/4 and 1/4,000 of a second, depending on the selected autoexposure program.
The TRV350 includes several built-in special effects and a titling function for adding a bit of polish to your cinematic efforts. While Sepia and the vaguely psychedelic Trails effects are fairly run-of-the-mill, more ambitious amateur directors should note two shooting modes not found on many entry-level models: a frame-by-frame mode to create stop-motion animation à la Wallace & Gromit and an Interval Record mode to produce time-lapse footage.
Unlike most of the MiniDV camcorders we see these days, the TRV350 uses a black-and-white viewfinder rather than a color one, but those who wear glasses can adjust the diopter for a more comfortable focus. You can use both standard Memory Stick and Memory Stick Pro cards to record still JPEG photos and MPEG-1 video clips on the TRV350, although Sony doesn't bundle a Memory Stick. Unfortunately, given the camcorder's low resolution, we can't really recommend it for still captures.
As you'd expect on a camcorder that's backward compatible with analog 8mm and Hi8 tapes, the TRV350 provides on-the-fly analog-to-digital conversion and analog inputs with pass-through. That means you can transfer old analog footage to a computer or plug your VCR into the camcorder and convert VHS home movies to the more flexible DV format. The step-down TRV250 notably doesn't offer any of this digitizing functionality--a good reason to pay a little extra for this model.
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 The included battery should last you through one-third of a kid's birthday party. |
At the maximum 20X zoom, you'll definitely want to leave the digital image stabilizer on, no matter how rock-steady you are. At that magnification, even the slightest camera movements become exaggerated. The stabilizer does a consistently satisfactory job; the only perceptible reduction in picture quality appeared during our panned shots.
We'd prefer a zoom-lens toggle switch with just a little more resistance to it, which makes it easier to zoom smoothly and gradually, even if your fingers tend to be a little clumsy. As it was, it took our experienced hands some trial-and-error to find the right amount of pressure for a perfectly controlled zoom. Zooming the lens is quiet, though, and no identifiable noise is picked up when you're shooting in silence, despite the microphone's sensitivity to distant sounds.
Both the black-and-white viewfinder and the color LCD are reasonably sharp--not the highest resolution we've seen but no noticeable pixel grid either. Battery life is average for its class, and as always, we appreciate Sony's InfoLithium system, which displays estimated remaining battery life in minutes so that you'll know when you're running on fumes.As is typical of many entry-level camcorders, the TRV350 yields nice detail and vivid colors under sunlight, but quality drops indoors, built-in video light notwithstanding. The automatic white balance does its job fairly well. In outdoor shots, colors look cool but not overly blue; under incandescent lights, flesh tones look warm but not as red as we've seen on some models.
 Standard video looks a bit soft. |
 Video gets sharper on the close-ups, however. |
 Good enough to use for stills? Only if they're really small. |
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