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I bought the Sony video camera recorder, DCR TRV740 as a backup and replacement for my old TRV740. It is a good digital 8 camera that uses Hi-8 tapes. Its dual purpose of converting/transferring hi-8 material to computers for editing is great. However, it drops frames sometimes and it lacks white balance where the image is very grainy in half-lit rooms. The camera has many creative filter features, time codes, manual and automatic focus, manual exposures (if preferred). It is obsolete and if the camera needed repairs, it will take 6 months for parts to be replaced because they are coming from Japan to USA.
Sony Handycam DCR TRV740 Features • Records on Hi-8 Tape, not Mini DV-Tape • Records in Digital format – (Digital8) • A 120 minute Hi-8 tape will record 60 minutes of digital video. The higher requirements of digital video are laid down on the Hi-8 tape at twice the speed of analog video. • The TRV-740 produces great looking digital video. • It is backward compatible with older analog 8mm video. You can copy your older analog tape to computer for editing. Can then output the resulting edited video back to the TRV-740 in the digital format. • Has “Pass Thru” capability. You can hook up other video sources, VCR’s, TV’s or other cameras, to pass their video signal through the TRV-740 to a computer for editing. The analog signal is converted to digital as it is passed through to the computer. • The TRV-740 can take digital still photos. These pictures are stored on a Memory Stick. The pictures are good, not great. If you are looking for great digital stills – get a (now) inexpensive digital camera. Consider the still capability as a small perk for occasional casual shots. I know I have printed up OK 4x6 inch photos taken with my TRV-740. The shots from my Canon Powershot G6 are fabulous up to about 11x14 inches. • Still photos are downloaded via the USB cable. • Video is downloaded via the IEEE 1394/Firewire to your computer. • The TRV-740 has the “NightShot” AND “Super NightShot” modes. NightShot can record clear video in low light – the video is in that green tinged CNN-looking video – kind of cool. The Super NightShot can record in no light situations by illuminating with a built in infrared light. The resulting video is very choppy and cannot show much motion – acts as a very slow speed camera. This mode sounds interesting, but is practically unusable. • The digital video tape is inserted at the bottom of the unit. You cannot change tapes while the camera is on a tripod – got to take it off. Kind of a hassle. • Comes with a remote. Some features are only accessible via the remote – so don’t lose it! • The included battery (NP-FM50) lasts about a n hour of use (mileage may vary a lot depending on features used). There are other third party batteries available that last much longer. Be sure to have a second battery. I have had my TRV-740 for about two years and really enjoy it. It has been on several backpacking trips and is sufficiently rugged for normal outdoor activities. The plastic case is a little beat up but the innards are still producing great video. Some reviewers say the camera is a little large, but I prefer this style of camcorder compared to those tiny video cameras that are so small they are hard to hold steady and finding button – forget it! The downside is the D8 digital format. It would seem that this is a format that is going away. However, the tape will be available for many years and you can’t beat this if you have a collection of older analog 8mm video tapes. These tapes are playable on the TRV-740. I am in the process of converting my 20 years of old tape to DVD using the TRV-740 connected to my computer. Works great. If I didn’t have a bunch of old video tapes I would look at the Mini DV format – the most popular format. Stay clear of the DVD writing camcorder if you plan to edit your video. If you have the older analog 8mm tapes - look at this unit for great compatibility.Read full review
I bought this camera for filming some deer hunting videos. I like the fact we can plug in our wireless microphones and use our headphones for monitoring voice. The camera I bought did have the slap C code on it. Turns out the roller had fallen off. I was able to fix this quickly and everything works. The power button is a little finicky, but overall I love this camera. I like that I can convert Hi-8 to Digital 8. Makes our movies we already created on our old Handycam Hi-8 look great. Overall I am well pleased with this camera.
The 8mm format is dead. So is pretty much all tape-based consumer grade video. Your only chance to save those videos is to get them on disk. Here's the problem: 8mm cameras are no longer available. Fewer and fewer are still in action, many of them were junk to start with, and have not gotten better with time. Worse problem: not all 8mms can do the job. There are a number of 8mm cameras (definitely not all of them) that can transfer to computer, but some don't do " regular" 8 mm or HI- 8 tapes. This is one of the cameras that did all of the 8 formats. If it fit on an 8mm tape, this camera can digitize it for you. It is also firewire compatible, like most modern cameras, so you can control your video camera from the editing software. If you try the USB style transfers, you are in for a world of hurt (and inconvenience) **One thing that people don't yet realize is that recordable DVDs are also not forever. they only last a few years before they become unreadable. I recommend backing up to a decent hard drive or SSD anything you burn on a DVD. The other nice thing about this camera is you can still use it as a studio camera, it has good enough resolution for most kinds of videos (520 lines) especially if you are going to save to mpeg anyway I cannot recommend this as a field camera simply because, like all sony's of its era, it is a terrible battery hog.Read full review
If you are a Video 8 user (8 mm, Hi 8 or Digital 8), having this camcorder it's a must. Sony discontinued the investment and development in Video 8 camcorders about 2 years ago and the models you find in the market today are not as good as this one (not even many of the Mini DV ones have its resolution). The TRV 740 and TRV 840 were the last Digital 8 camcorders with 1/4.7" CCD and 1 Megapixel capability (680k effective for video). Even though the TRV 740 and TRV 840 are not the smallest camcorders you can find in the market, they are good enough small to take it with you and shoot amazing quality videos without worring about additional size and weight in your hand. I already have a TRV 730 (previous model) and I just bought this TRV 740 just to have a backup in case of failure. If I have the chance to find another one (hopefully a TRV 840) as good as this one and the money to buy it, I will do it. If you feel you're wasting your money by having to cameras, consider that you can also use one of this cameras as your "editing unit" always connected to your computer. This will simplifies your editing process and it´s also cheaper tahn having a Digital 8 VCR which costs almost twice the price of an used camcorder.Read full review
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