Entered CNET Catalog: 04/09/2003
SKU: DCRTRV80
Manufacturer: Sony Electronics, Inc.
Manufacturer description
The DCR-TRV80 MiniDV Handycam Camcorder doesn't just deliver exceptional-quality digital video, digital audio, and 2.0 megapixel digital still images. This unit also features BIP (improved Bluetooth capability, enabling peer-to-peer data transfers between Bluetooth products) networking, USB streaming, the revolutionary Carl Zeiss Lens T coating for a 70% improved reflection rate, and a sprawling list of powerful features and design elements. An added bonus is the new touch panel (with included stylus) that can be used to access the functions of the camcorder.CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 08/06/2003
With its moderately compact body and grip-belt design, the TRV80 is configured for handheld shooting. Finely crafted and machined, this camcorder has a solid feel and weighs 1 pound, 12 ounces with the battery and the cassette loaded. The controls are well labeled, and most people will master basic operation in no time. The cassette hatch is bottom-loading, which means you can't change tapes while the camera is on a tripod. This probably won't be a concern for the typical user, but keep it in mind if you're taping long presentations or performances.
To get the most control, you don't so much hold the camera as let it hang off the back of your right hand, fastening the adjustable belt firmly, as the manual suggests. Even when we did so, we found the ergonomics inconsistent. The Start/Stop button is rather awkwardly placed for the thumb, whose most natural position is considerably lower on the body, over the Memory Stick slot. On the other hand, the pressure-sensitive, spring-loaded zoom lever and the Photo button right behind it are within easy reach of the index and middle fingers.
 The power/mode dial and the Record button fall in the usual place under your right thumb. |
 The zoom switch offers variable speed control; you can snap a still by pressing the Photo button. |
One of the distinguishing features of Sony's latest TRV models is their touch-screen menu system, which you use instead of physical controls to activate almost all functions. The setup will appeal to some more than others. For the most part, navigating is easy, although the more-esoteric options will definitely require you to crack the manual.
 These conveniently placed buttons are for selecting the Backlight exposure mode and switching between automatic and manual focus. |
 Shooting in the dark? These controls let you cycle through still-shot flash modes or activate the infrared NightShot mode. |
If you prefer the viewfinder to the LCD but want the ability to adjust exposure, you can turn off the LCD and fold it against the camcorder body with the screen facing outward. When you want to adjust exposure or activate the fader, you still touch the LCD, but it remains dark while the relevant settings appear and change on the viewfinder. While this awkward setup is a little better than having no exposure control during viewfinder use, an exposure dial on the camcorder body would have been a lot simpler.
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 The Edit Search control lets you quickly review your most-recent footage and pick up shooting where you left off without switching to VCR mode. |
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Sony created the TRV80 for the kind of buyer who springs for the fully loaded Mercedes instead of the stripped-down Ferrari. The camcorder offers all the little luxuries a casual moviemaker could want, but it doesn't provide the manual controls and the shooting power a serious videographer needs.
The TRV80's 2.1-megapixel CCD enables you to supplement the 10X optical zoom with an exceptionally sharp digital zoom that holds together remarkably well, even when you push it to the 120X extreme. The big sensor also beefs up the camcorder's photo mode, allowing you to shoot 1.9-megapixel (1,600x1,200-pixel) stills. The useful selection of photo features includes a pop-up flash, exposure bracketing, continuous-shooting modes, and Sony's Hologram AF for focusing quickly and accurately in low light. For all of these reasons, this camcorder should shine at Little League games, dance recitals, and the like.
Adjusting exposure while shooting is a little tricky as you have to do it via the touch screen. We invariably failed to maintain our shot. Again, we wish Sony had added a traditional wheel to the camcorder body--we'd love to see it right under the manual-focus button on the TRV80's successor. You adjust the overall exposure via an exposure-shift function; you can't set the iris, the shutter speed, and the gain independently. You can choose from Spotlight, Sports, and a variety of other programmed exposure modes; select a spot-metering point on the touch screen; and activate the Backlight mode with one button-press. Spot focusing is available through the touch screen, too, and plenty of special effects are at your disposal.
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 You can save photos and MPEG-1 clips on Memory Sticks or higher-capacity Memory Stick Pro media. |
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Bluetooth, USB streaming, and networking capabilities add gadget appeal to the TRV80 and may be useful to some videographers. You can beam photos and MPEG-1 movies from the Memory Stick to Bluetooth-enabled mobiles, PDAs, and other devices. Alternatively, if you get the optional phone modem or Ethernet adapter, you can use the camera itself to send and receive e-mail with JPEG stills or MPEG-1 videos attached.
When put through its paces, the TRV80 holds its own. The quick and consistent autofocus doesn't drift and wavers only before the serious challenge of very low light. Thanks to a well-placed button and a burly focus ring on the lens barrel--right where it should be--manual focus is a snap, and we particularly like the distance feedback displayed on the LCD.
The 184,000-pixel, 3.5-inch fold-out LCD is a joy to use, providing a sharp and clean view with true colors. It's useful for even the trickiest manual focusing. If you're casually gauging exposure by eye, the LCD won't steer you wrong, though both it and the viewfinder are a little bright. We bumped the onscreen LCD Brt slider down a notch from its default center position to get the most-accurate exposure preview. The viewfinder, which we didn't turn to a lot, was equally clear and functional.
When you manipulate it very carefully, the pressure-sensitive zoom is extremely smooth and permits any speed from artfully slow to dizzyingly fast. However, we don't have the finger discipline necessary to achieve a consistently slow zoom throughout the entire range. We'd love a menu setting for the speed; then we could maintain it even while pressing the lever fully.
While we'd prefer optical image stabilization, which allows a greater maximum wide angle as well as stabilization in progressive mode, we have to admit that the TRV80's electronic stabilization is rock solid and produces no telling artifacts.
In general, we were very pleased with the TRV80's image quality; our test footage was sharp and well exposed, with vivid and accurate colors. The camera ably handles scenes with mixed light levels, maintaining details in shadow areas and not excessively blowing out bright spots. Using exposure shift and spot metering to cleanly and consistently adjust the exposure is easy and holds no surprises.
The camera will automatically pump up the gain significantly (up to +18dB) in low light, but in our tests, the increase didn't result in excessive noise or murkiness. As expected, in dim conditions, colors become desaturated, but they don't skew. In near or even total darkness, you can use the NightShot mode with or without the built-in infrared illuminator to capture somewhat eerie monochrome footage. Color Slow Shutter lets you retain your scene's color, but it also adds a heavy dose of motion blur--the mode is generally more useful as a special effect than a way to restore vibrancy to a dimly lit setting.
And what about those 1.9-megapixel stills? They're among the best photos we've seen from a camcorder to date, and if you e-mail them or post them on the Web, you'll be pleased with their quality. Even prints at 4x6 and smaller are reasonably acceptable. However, artifacts and inconsistent color saturation keep the TRV80's shots from competing with those from dedicated 2-megapixel still cameras.
User opinions
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User Rating: 
8/10
great camera for intermidiates
Pros: touch-screen, shape, flash, bluetooth
Cons: could get annoying with touch-screen, some functions
User Rating: 
9/10
Loads of features, fantastic video
Pros: Great color and sharp video. Controls are intuitive. Love the touch screen.
Cons: Quick zoom, but you get used to it.
User Rating: 
5/10
For this price, get a TRV950
Pros: easy auto settings, comparatively small and light, fast zoom works well for Documentary style filming.
Cons: There's a sickening lack of control, no shutter-speed control, no aperture control (both are combined as exposure and hidden in a touch screen menu that's virtually impossible to access while shooting. That may not bother you, but just wait until you're f
User Rating: 
6/10
Very good camcorder, but poor interface to features
Pros: Very good video. Not too small, not too big. Built in flash makes camera function that more usable. Decent list of features.
Cons: Too sensitive of a zoom control requires extra care when wanting a slow zoom. Practically all controls and features are operated via the touchscreen. To take advantage of the feature set, you'll need to always use the side viewer and dig through menus.
User Rating: 
7/10
A 3CCD might be better but what price
Pros: Great video. Love the selective focus and exposure. Good weight
Cons: Right-handed; find stylus difficult to use. Off-tripod loading. No exposure wheel like the TRV20 etc. Start button awkward for a small hand
User Rating: 
3/10
Loads of features but nothing that works brilliantly
Pros: 10x optical zoom, memory stick pro, easy controls and LCD touch screen is fairly easy to use with some practice.
Cons: Very grainy still pictures, even with variable sharpness settings. This also carries over somewhat to the video side. The bluetooth software may not be compatible with other bluetooth software. Sony were unable to help me with this problem!
User Rating: 9/10
Sony has done it again!
Pros: This camera is definately the best single ccd unit on the market to date. Sharp, clear video with accurate color and low noise. True widescreen 16:9 and progressive scan make this camera a winner. I also looked at the Canon Optura Xi which is also an exce
Cons: None so far.
User Rating: 8/10
Great Camera for the Price!!!!
Pros: I bought mine for less than $800 from 5starelectronics.com For what I was looking to spend, I was also able to get the Platinum Pro pack. It came w/ a wide angle lens, 2x telephoto, universal charger, 256MB memory card, 5 pack of tapes and a really nice c
Cons: I don't like the fact that the zoom speed isn't adjustable. Record button is in a difficult location. Flash is a little bright on stills. Still a great camera for the buck...
User Rating: 9/10
Best quality bang-for-the-buck anywhere
Pros: High quality LCD /color viewfinder, in camera analog to digital conversion and editing , instant ease for recording, snapshot or playback stills to memory stick.GL@ should emulate.
Cons: adaptable, but annoying touch screen consolidation of controls. Must have handgrip across knuckles for proper access to record and snapshop button.
User Rating: 
10/10
Excellent Video Quality
Pros: The video quality on this camera is absolutely amazing. I was blown away by the clarity and color accuracy when compared to my old Hi-8 model. The only way to achieve better video would be to move up to a 3-ccd camera such as the TRV-950. Hard to beat the
Cons: Small camera means it can be difficult to hold properly. Touchy zoom takes getting used to.
User Rating: 8/10
great quality camera but with lots of little disappointments
Pros: excellent video quality; color is very true to life, especially in daylight, both inside and outside; great white balance at "auto" setting; appealing exterior design; works well with video capturing software; very good quality in low-light;
Cons: Record button location is not very good; the flash creates heavily overexposed still images, even at "low" intensity setting; the signs on the camera body are painted with some low quality paint which fades away or even disappears after a month of extensi
User Rating: 6/10
This camera is the bomb.
Pros: Great video, great pictures. Sony rules. The touch screen takes a little getting used to, but is not at all confusing if you read the manual. Besides you can fit all of those options into the camera using buttons.
Cons: havent found any yet, but ill keep looking.
User Rating: 8/10
why is trv50 better than trv80
Pros: outstanding video qaulity and how on earth can the tr50 outperform the trv80.
Cons: all touch screen.
User Rating: 
4/10
poor stills as usual
Pros: I think we need to go further to achieve this combo. We still need still separate. Those stills are very bad and we still need to carry a separate still.
Cons: bad still pictures as with trv 50.
User Rating: 8/10
THIS CAMERA IS AMAZING
Pros: Great video and photo quality. Touch screen is awesome. Huge screen with lots of features
Cons: Not a great battery life. Bulky but manageable.
User Rating: 8/10
The best bang-for-the-buck, period!
Pros: Has everything a consumer would want in a camcorder. Picture quality is fantastic, too many features to name.
Cons: Price is steep. Under $1000 would be superb. Although easy to get started with the basics, the feature list is so extensive that reading the manual is a must.
User Rating: 9/10
Awesome camcorder, tons of features
Pros:
Cons:
