Sony Handycam CCD-TRV138 Camcorder - Silver

I bought this camcorder 4 months after the sound on my other one stopped working and I was impressed. The optical zoom is good at 20x and the digital zoom (which is completely pointless) is 990x. The second thing I noticed is that the LCD screen moved to more places and that there was 2 record buttons. One was on the LCD screen, the other was next to the off button. The viewfinder can also move to different places but is still in Black and white. Another feature that this camcorder has is Nightshot Plus. This feature allows you to record at night with a brighter picture than with a flashlight or lamp. There are also many DSEs or Digital Special Effects that you can play with in recording or editing. They are:

Sepia: adds a brown old tone to the screen
Black and White: the way films used to be
Negative Art: reverses the colors in the picture
Pastel: makes the picture look colored in with a pastel crayon
Solarize: makes the picture out of basic colors
Mosaic: the picture - made out of squares
Slim: stretches the picture vertically
Stretch: a lot like widescreen

When filming out or indoors there are different Program AEs you can use when the light in the picture changes. If you dont like switching them, you can set them to AUTO. The PAEs are:

Sports
Spotlight
Portrait
Beach/Ski
SunsetMoon
Landscape

If you want to buy this camcorder because it has great battery life, don't. It doesn't have a great battery life but it is still a great camcorder.

I bought this camera used to replace another Sony model that broke. I've tried it out and the picture is rough and has a line through the top of the screen, probably because was heavily used. I would recommend going to the new digital cameras that can record to a hard drive or flash drive and also ones that are HDMI ready.

This camera is actually going to be used as part of my ghost hunting investigations. I purchased it used from someone I contacted and trusted. The camera actually does more than what I thought it would do but the main thing for me was that the "Nightshot" mode worked as intended and it certainly does just that!!

I love this camera, but the one problem that I do have with most of these type cameras is that you neeed some type of external device to be able to download to a PC or computer. Other than that, my team and I are getting everything we need out of this camera....and if you decide to purchase an IR camera its always best to purcase an LED IR light that will help illuminate the darkness 100x's better!!

I had bought a new Sony MiniDV camcorder to replace my old 8mm broken Sony Handycam. Since I had several 8mm tapes to recover into digital format I had to buy a new (refurbished by Sony) Handycam CCD TRV138 to make the transfers.
After looking at the High8 tapes this camera made, I should have left the MiniDV camcorder on the shelf. MUCH better indoor filming capability than the MiniDV, just as good outside, and came with it's own light... something the Mini desperately needs.
Only caveat is that the cables included are all Sony proprietary design so you don't want to loose them.
Final note: Yes, buy this camera. Tapes are cheaper (you can use 8mm regular or hi versions) and the hi8 results are simply amazing! You won't be disappointed.

I like that fact that it is so light and easy to use. The price was very fair. I do alot of outside video taping so the flip out viewfinder is great unless the sun is overhead then its hard to see. The eyepiece view finder is black and white so this is a minus for me. I video some wildlife and its very hard to pick out animals or birds in the woods when the viewfinder is black and white. I should have done my research. I am sure the camera is great for most folks, I would have spent more for color if I had known the eyepiece viewfinder was black and white though. I guess I assumed that everything was color these days so it never crossed my mind. The camera seems of good quality though. $200 is more than fair for this camera.