Sony's Digital8 embraces old, new
When digital video cameras first entered the market, I was caught in a quandary. If I went digital, what would I do with all those eight-millimeter tapes from my old camcorder? Many other camcorder owners, presumably, were in the same situation.
Fortunately, Sony recognized the plight facing owners of legacy machines and introduced a digital format -- Digital8 -- to bridge the gap between the newer MiniDV format and the older eight-millimeter and Hi8 formats.
Digital8 allows you to record digital video to eight-millimeter tape, which has a broader distribution than MiniDV, making it easier to obtain in some locales. Eight-millimeter tapes also cost less than MinDV. And Digital8 cameras can play eight-millimeter tapes recorded on older camcorder models.
However, while you can view tapes recorded on older machines, you can't transfer their contents from the Digital8 camera to your computer through a FireWire or iLink (IEEE 1394) connection.
At the beginning of the year, Sony introduced a number of camcorders, including a Digital8 model, the DCR-TRV260. Not only does the model have an attractive price, $350, but it has a number intriguing features, like USB streaming. In addition to the typical IEEE 1394 connection, the camcorder has a mini-USB port, a port commonly found on digital cameras. Not only does the port provide an alternative means of uploading digital video to your computer, but it allows you to use the camcorder as a webcam.
With the camcorder as webcam, you can broadcast live video with sound over the Internet to friends and relatives, or let them watch your latest adventures from tape.
Unlike using an iLink connection the USB link requires some manual manipulation. You have to activate it from a menu on the camera and you have to calibrate it on your desktop with a utility provided by Sony.
The technology is adequate for webcam work, but less desirable for producing videos. Video didn't appear as sharp as that captured through IEEE 1394 and there was a tendency to drop frames at higher quality settings.
To aid users in exploiting the USB connection, Sony includes a software suite called Picture Package. It allows you to automatically create music videos from footage captured with the camcorder or slideshows from stills garnered with the unit's photo mode feature.
Picture Package is bare-bones software with a high aggravation quotient. It's not intuitive to use and its end products are amateurish at best and embarrassing at worst.
But folks don't buy camcorders for the software packaged with them. They buy them for the hardware. And that's where the TRV260 shines.
Although the unit is chunkier than its MiniDV relatives, it still fits comfortably in the palm of your hand. The camcorder's recording and zoom controls are on the small side, but they are thoughtfully placed within thumb reach at the rear of the device.
Its optics are very good. It has a 20x optical zoom and a monster 990x digital zoom that impressively renders what it sees with a minimum of distortion. Video captured by the unit was sharp and color fidelity faithful to its subjects in a variety of lighting conditions.
The camcorder's color LCD, which swivels through 270 degrees -- a feature very handy for producing creative angles for your video -- displays excellent clarity.
Playback controls are located behind the LCD on the side of the camcorder. The design keeps the outside of the silver unit sleek, but makes the buttons awkward to reach when working with the LCD.
John P. Mello Jr. is a freelance writer. He can be reached at jpmello@cox.net.
