Hi--

Sony divides its 1-CCD line by imaging type (with subsets of body style and feature sets).

Two of the current imaging types (PC9, TRV30) are compared with two of the three 3-CCD

imaging types at www.David-Ruether-Photography.com/camcorder--comparison.htm. The 'low end"

PC9/TRV11/17/18/19/22 has the best low-light range, with the least motion-artifacting,

good color, acceptable sharpness; the 1-megapixel PC101/TRV25/27/33/38 has a sharper

image, acceptable motion-artifacting, better color, fairly high contrast, and limited low-light

range (I like this one the most in good light); the 1.5-megapixel image (PC115/120/TRV30/50)

has a sharp image and good color, but irritating motion-artifacting with motion (I like this one

on grey days); I have not tried the 2-megapixel models (TRV70/80). All 1-CCD models suffer

from tonal problems (highlight "blow-out", featureless shadows) and relative low-light limits

compared with most 3-CCD models. The stills from all are unacceptable for printing, but

those (at video resolution only, to minimize color noise) 1-meg and above, or 3-CCD are

quite usable for web images - though the VX2000 stills, up-sampled with Genuine Fractals,

can make acceptable 5"x7" prints... My favorites of recent 1-CCD models are the

discintinued D8 TRV740, the discontinued TRV27 (buttons instead of touch-screen for

camera controls), and the current TRV33 (all have the same image-quality).

David Ruether

d_ruether@hotmail.com

http://www.David-Ruether-Photography.com

Hey, take a gander at www.visitithaca.com, too...!

Hey David!

I’m sorry if my English isn’t too good, but I’m writing from Denmark!

I’ve had big trouble finding reviews and tests of Sony DV-cams, but you seem to known a lot about it. I would like you to guide me briefly through the small (and tempting) jungle of Sony DV cams. I want the best cam for the smallest money, and my obvious opinion is that Sony produces some of the best DV-cams ever. I’m not interested in the top-of-the-pop cameras like the vx2000 and the trv950 (money you know L), but I still want a fairly nice picture with good overall quality. I’m sick of my old Sony DRC-TRV650e Hi8 analog camera, it just isn’t good enough anymore.

If you should choose lets say 3 DV-cams from Sony’s 2003 collection, one expensive, one fairly good but still cheap, and one very cheap but still okay, what would you chose?

Remember: The DV-cams you recommend should also be able to shoot some nice Photos.

My very best regards and a hell of a lot thanks…

Martin Tychsen

Sales manager - Cutting Art

Tlf.: (+45) 23 20 99 50