Rating: 
Summary: trv-510
Review: I bought the big brother, the 510, but not at Amazon. This camera is TOO COOL! Lots of features. The 510 has a serial output for your computer if it doesn't have fire wire. Bigger 4 inch screen and color viewfinder. Uses cheaper 8mm and hi-8 tapes; I can't tell the difference. Biggest gripe: As all digital camcorders (?), will only stay in stby 3 minutes, then switches off! Stupid. Shooting wildlife, getting the shot is more important than the charge on a battery. Get the larger battery and use the original as a backup. Also get an aftermarket battery holder so you can charge it outside the camera. It's dumb to tie up your camera just so you can re-charge.
Rating: 
Summary: Professional Quality Movies On A Budget!
Review: I bought the TRV310 over 1 year ago and since then I have made 5 short films using the camera and the Miro DV200 digital video capture card for my PC.I just recently got out of art school studying to be a computer animator so I have tried all sorts of digital effects with this camera after digitizing the footage and it works great! I have shot footage of one of my friends weilding fake Star Wars lightsabers and then added the glowing beams in a 3D modeling package, where doing so I had to edit nearly every frame... each frame output from this camera is crisp and clear at 720x480. Even on fast motion shots (the swinging of a fake lightsaber)! I would HIGHLY recommed the Miro DV200 card if you own one of these cameras and want to do any sort of non-linear editing. It connects right into the cameras firewire port on the front and allows you to view, capture and control the camera using your PC. Once you are done editing the footage, the card will output the edited movies right back to the camera so you can play them on your TV or put them on a VHS tape! Its also GREAT for video for the web. I start a new job across the country next week working in the video games industry and this camera is going to document my entire moving experience! EXCELLENT purchase, I would highly recommend it to anyone wishing to do any sort of digital video project. When combined with a digital video capture card and non-linear editing software you can produce some HIGH QUALITY results!
Rating:
Summary: Professional Quality Movies On A Budget!
Review: I bought the TRV310 over 1 year ago and since then I have made 5 short films using the camera and the Miro DV200 digital video capture card for my PC. I just recently got out of art school studying to be a computer animator so I have tried all sorts of digital effects with this camera after digitizing the footage and it works great! I have shot footage of one of my friends weilding fake Star Wars lightsabers and then added the glowing beams in a 3D modeling package, where doing so I had to edit nearly every frame... each frame output from this camera is crisp and clear at 720x480. Even on fast motion shots (the swinging of a fake lightsaber)! I would HIGHLY recommed the Miro DV200 card if you own one of these cameras and want to do any sort of non-linear editing. It connects right into the cameras firewire port on the front and allows you to view, capture and control the camera using your PC. Once you are done editing the footage, the card will output the edited movies right back to the camera so you can play them on your TV or put them on a VHS tape! Its also GREAT for video for the web. I start a new job across the country next week working in the video games industry and this camera is going to document my entire moving experience! EXCELLENT purchase, I would highly recommend it to anyone wishing to do any sort of digital video project. When combined with a digital video capture card and non-linear editing software you can produce some HIGH QUALITY results!
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable quality and editing options
Review: I bought this camcorder for two reasons: 1) Exceptional imageand sound quality 2) Ability to digitally edit videos on my PC Thevideo quality is superb, with excellent auto-exposure capabilities. The 20x optical zoom is great -- I leave the digital zoom switched off. Good fades are complimented by some neat SFX modes -- image trails, sepia effect, slow "shutter speed" and (limited) image keying. The standard battery doesn't last much longer than an hour, so you should factor in the cost of an extended battery into your budget. If size is the most important thing, then you should look at DV format cameras. I found them to be too small -- the Sony camera size and weight make it easy to handle while not being a burden. Hi8 tapes are also much cheaper than DV tapes. For editing, there are several fully digital capture cards available for PCs and all support this camera You can edit and review video on your PC (in real time on some cards) and render back to the camera for final recording on tape. All without any analog<->digital conversion and therefore without any loss in quality. If quality is important, or you have any aspirations to editing your videos rather than just taping the kids, vacations and weddings, then this is the camera for you.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice Camera -- but very unhappy with "clarity" upon viewing!
Review: I have had the 310 for about 2 months -- I am not sure if it's something I'M doing but when I watch the video on TV (i.e., with the cables hooked to the camera) -- it seems like some shots are pretty clear and others are VERY VERY "grainy" and this is very upsetting to me -- after all I thought I was paying for "digital" and that that was supposed to give me the best possible picture ever! I have tried the different "auto exporsure" icons and it seems that that improves the picture a good deal -- but I wouldn't say it's the "greatest" picture I've ever seen! Thank you!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent product after 4 years - only a few small gripes
Review: I have had this camcorder for 4 years and I am still happy with the purchase.
For myself being a big guy, I was never comfortable with the tiny MiniDV camcorders out there, and the size of the Digital8 camcorders is a nice fit in my hands, without being too large and heavy for my wife to use comfortably.
I have not had much chance to do comparison testing, but the picture quality is very good. In some cases I might think the color is a bit undersaturated, but I prefer this to seeing colors pushed beyond what they should be. I have no complaints about the sharpness of the video. In very low light the picture doers become grainy; I suspect that new camcorders out there may do a better job in low light than the TRV310.
One thing I really like about this camcorder today is that it seems better built than the Digital8 models than Sony is currently producing. In addition, the lens is a bit larger on the early Digital8 models, so low light performance may actually be better than the current ones (but I have not done a comparison). I also will recommend the TRV130 for video editing; I have had no problems loading video off of the camcorder onto my Windows XP PC with a firewire cable.
My complaints on the camcorder:
1. Still uses tape, which can jam up inside the camcorder (luckily I havent lost a tape yet). I've also been told specifically to use *only* Sony Hi8 / Digital8 tapes with this unit.
2. There is a manual exposure setting, which is good for shooting candlelit scenes, etc. But the camera is missing a manual white balance that I wish it had. The white balance is done automatically when the camera is turned on; when indoors with natural light I will point the lens to a blue object at powerup to eliminate a bluish tint to the picture; likewise if the indoor scene is lit I will point at a warm-toned object to eliminate everything looking orange.
3. The supplied Infolithium battery is useless. I which Sony would include one of the larger batteries as standard.
4. As mentioned above, low light performance could be better. The low light settings the camera provides are rarely used.
Altogether, I'm very happy with this camcorder.
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended; good for those trading up from 8mm
Review: I have just returned from a three week visit to Shanghai, Beijing and Cambodia and used the TRV310 throughout. Excellent quality video: sharp definitions, striking color, good in low light. This is my fifth 8mm (& Hi-8) camcorder and it far surpasses anything I have used in past. Many visual effects--almost too many. Major difference between this and the TRV510 is a somewhat smaller foldout screen and black and white viewer. Modest price compared to full digital cams. Slight and only ocasional camera noises during high volume playback. Highly recommended--not top-of the line full digital, but one can still use all previous 8mm and Hi-8 mm tapes--so if you are trading up you have not forsaken your past. Good feel with low light and even 0 lux capabilities, though obviously the quality of the latter is poor.
Rating:
Summary: Great consumer camera
Review: I have last year's model of this camera. The entire line of these Digital8 cameras is great for the average family or amateur videographer. There are many plusses to these cameras. First, they use cheaper Hi8 MP/ME tapes with 1 hour of record time. Image quality is great - not as good as higher quality prosumer or pro cameras - but still a MAJOR step up from VHS, Hi8 or any other non-digital camera. The firewire interface makes bringing footage into your computer a snap. You'll finally be able to edit those home movies that have been collecting dust on your shelves over the years. The camera records the date, time, exposure and other information to a data track on the tape. That means you can see the date/time stamp when you play the footage back without burning it into the actual video. My only critique of this camera is that fastforward and rewind speeds are a bit slow, there's no control over your audio levels, and little control over shutter sped...but those are more prosumer options, anyway.
Rating:
Summary: Great consumer camera
Review: I have last year's model of this camera. The entire line of these Digital8 cameras is great for the average family or amateur videographer. There are many plusses to these cameras. First, they use cheaper Hi8 MP/ME tapes with 1 hour of record time. Image quality is great - not as good as higher quality prosumer or pro cameras - but still a MAJOR step up from VHS, Hi8 or any other non-digital camera. The firewire interface makes bringing footage into your computer a snap. You'll finally be able to edit those home movies that have been collecting dust on your shelves over the years. The camera records the date, time, exposure and other information to a data track on the tape. That means you can see the date/time stamp when you play the footage back without burning it into the actual video. My only critique of this camera is that fastforward and rewind speeds are a bit slow, there's no control over your audio levels, and little control over shutter sped...but those are more prosumer options, anyway.
Rating:
Summary: TRV310
Review: I have owned my TRV310 for approx. 9 months now. For the money this is a fantastic camera that completely blows away similarly priced analog cameras. The main reason? It's digital! No more tape dropouts! I videotaped an entire season of High School football on the same 2 tapes (9 games) and even after 9 re-cycles, there was not a single dropout or tape error. Amazing! The image is equivalent to mini-DV (the main varaible being the type of lenses that the cameras may use) and it has been totally reliable under many different conditions. On the downside, there is no manual white balance and no manual volume control for the audio. If Sony had included these 2 features I would have given this camera a 5 star rating. Also, the LCD screen is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to use outdoors in bright sunlight. (This is a problem with all camcorder LCD screens and not just this one). All in all I would say that for the money, this camcorder is a spectacular value. Now if Sony will only come out with a Digi-8 record/playback deck so I don't have to use my camcorder as a VCR.
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