Sony DCR-TRV280 Digital8 Handycam Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

I gave 5 stars, My old Sony DCR-TRV 280 along with all 4 of my new HP highest end HP Media Center computers, many power tools, new Honda pressure washer, new Mig argon welder, new 3HP Bostitch compressor, lifelong 22, my steel safe with my tax money and HOA dues in it, fax machine, printer and Sony TRV DRV280 camera was stolen in when my home was seriously burglarized while I was at the seashore on vacation over the 4th of July 2010. Thankfully the tapes were not stolen, but thrown around the home and my insurance company actually declared bankruptcy and I didn't have the money to simply replace everything, so over the last 5 years, I've been careful not to leave home too much and hid the tapes along with the DVD's that I had already processed with my new stolen Pioneer VHS direct to DVD (for my 80's VHS tapes) but many more old tapes from the 80's needed to be translated along with the HI8 tapes that I used this purchase for. Since there was no insurance It's been 5 years for me to replace all the stolen items one at a time and all used vs new, as all of the stolen stuff was mostly new and highest end available. I feel blessed that I have now been able to restore all of my DV-Hi 8 tapes with this replacement camera which arrived on time and in excellent condition. I purchased the optional firewire as the USB wire does not export full resolution and my old firewire is not connectable to my new replacement computer and was stolen with the other stuff anyway so I purchased a firewire card from Amazon, so I could plug the camera in and hoped all would work but my old driver disk that was not stolen however the old driver, "the PMB driver/program" does not load or work anymore with win 7 so I had no way to unload the full resolution firewire output. I have Roxio 10 but it didn't separate scenes and couldn't read date taken properties like the old Sony PMB did. I called Sony and explained my situation and they switched my old camera serial number to stolen and registered the serial number of my new Amazon purchase. They said sorry about not having an option to unload your used camera with the old PMB software that is unusable with hi resolution firewire that is mandatory to get your full resolution of already taken vids. I installed the new Play Memories Home that replaced the old PMB disk that I had. This firewire DV-AVI crystal clear output is not supported anymore and I believe I couldn't even install the old PMB so I called Sony again and explained that there must be something you can do for victims of crime such as myself and a couple of days later a strange new subroutine appeared on my desktop that said plug in your firewire camera now and press the record from the beginning of the tape or from the current position. I pressed from the beginning and the camera actually started to rewind itself and I didn't even need to touch it. An hour later all of my first video of about 25 hours was downloaded into Play Memories Home in full DV-AVI format of each separate trigger pull with full details of date and time that each scene was taken and options to reassemble the vids chronologically by DATE TAKEN with the press of a button. Sony rocks and so does Amazon. Couldn't be happier and I now plan to use this older video camera for more than just old tape translation cause it still rocks taking new videos as long as you use the firewire output for that crystal clear AVI output and get the Sony interface that they gave me although I assume Sony will incorporate this routine with the next upgrade of Play Memories Home for people still needing this respectable AVI format with older DCR-TRV video cameras. Play Memories can convert to these AVI files with a drag and drop to lossless MP4 format if you wish without loosing date taken details. Bottom line is I translated 25 hours of invaluable 10 year old home video with no loss using the digital firewire output and I like it so much, I am now using it as a primary extra video camera cause it shoots in AVI format, sounds better than almost any camera. As far as the super old 20 to 30 year old VHS tapes, I purchased the TOTMC USB 2.0, from Amazon and I would say it had a bit of a learning curve to it due to sound issues and installation difficulties but after about an hour of practice, I figured out the control menus so they eventually worked with my new used Win 7 computer. I would buy this again but I won't part with it as I am still finding old tapes that were thrown all around the house from the burglary. I took off a star on the TOTMC USB2 cause the installation was not clear enough, had to reboot a couple of times and sound and frames per second options had to be experimented with to obtain optimal performance. This took some time, however, once you get the settings right this will work just fine. If you are a situation like Me and you have old VHS tapes you must move fast cause these tapes even when converted are not lossless as the Sony Digital HI8's with firewire. On the older VHS tapes not relating, I lost a lot of color, sound reduction issues, jittering issues but if you use the finest 4 head VCR you can find and the faster you get it done the happier you'll be.

This camcorder was purchased as a new unit for Cristmas. It came defective, the unit would not accept the tape and continued to eject the tape. It went to the service center for repair. The software to use to look at or transfer the data onto a computer was missing. $38.00 for this CD. The unit will not play an analog tape ONLY DIGITAL, and when Sony was contacted they said the unit manufactured was discontinued. Sony support was of no help either. DO NOT BUY this unit. Jim Powell

Given that I've not used the camera a lot, yet, it seems to be very good--nice picture quality, especially in low light. I like the large viewscreen, but find the on/off slide button a bit badly placed ergonomically. It's heavier than I expected and given that I have small hands, sometimes it's too cumbersome.I've only downloaded once to my computer and while it went fairly smoothly (though not as "transparent" as I would have preferred), the playback was jerky. That's part of the reason I haven't been using it much... I guess you could say I'm a bit too hassled right now to try to figure out why. I don't doubt there's an easy solution.For the price, it's a good camera, but if you want something light and easily handled, I'd recommend going with something else.

After doing hours of research on the internet (and I do mean hours and even days) EXTENSIVE research, I have found that, for the money ($259 from Amazon w/free shipping & also getting the Amazon Visa Card for an added discount), this is the best deal as far as digital camcorders go available today. It is certainly the cheapest priced digital camcorder I could find brand new, and the best built camcorder, especially when compared to the many mini dv's available (they look like they could break if you look at them the wrong way)! I had a friend who had a mini dv camcorder comment on their delicate nature, and her mini dv camcorder also quit working after only a few months of normal use (think about the same price range as digital 8 now--not more costly mini dv camcorders).The Sony digital 8 camcorders may be discontinued soon by Sony (at least that is the asumption from what I read), but I have read more positive reviews (at this price range) for the Sony digital 8 camcorders than any of the comparable mini dv camcorders IN THIS PRICE RANGE. I purchased a Samsung (JUNK JUNK-AVOID) mini dv camcorder from Sam's Club prior to purchasing the Sony DCR-TRV280 from amazon.com, and I was more than disappointed in the performance of the Samsung mini dv camcorder. The picture from my old RCA Autoshoot VHS-C camcorder produced a picture much better than the Samsung could. I couldn't believe how horrible the quality was on the Samsung mini dv camcorder! This was difficult to tell in Sam's Club as all of their camcorders are in a very bright area of the store.Also, I think blank tapes (8mm/high 8) will be available still for several more years, and this Sony digital 8 camcorder suits my purposes quite well. The tapes can be erased and reused many many times with very little loss of quality, if any, when well taken care of. I must state the opposite of most people when asked "should I go for mini dv or digital 8?" I say go with digital 8 if you're a "point and shoot" person like I am. Consumer Reports also states that these digital 8 camcorders are amongest the best buys in digital camcorders available today. You have to remember too, that Sony is a big name with a big reputation of producing great quality electronics.Oh, another thing, how many digital camcorders can you get hours upon hours of use out of a single charge on one battery? Check out the optional batteries that are available with these digital 8 handycams. The NP-QM91D is the longest lasting (6 to 12 hours on 1 charge!) Also compatible with this digital 8 handycam is the NP-QM71D and NP-FM50. BEWARE of generic batteries, however (I found out the hard way!) Sony makes many of their newer models to detect the generic batteries and cause the camera to shut down and not charge the battery. I just sent back a generic NP-QM91D that was only $37.50 (Sony brand is around $149 new). Just stick with the Sony brand name infoLITHIUM batteries only. I re-ordered and got the NP-FM50 for $44 from amazon.com (Sony brand). It will give 2 to 3 hours recording time, which, when combined with the battery that came with this camcorder, will be about 4 hours of battery time. This should be plenty for most users. The batteries also recharge remarkably fast (except for the first two batteries I mentioned. Those require an optional "fast charge charger" to get them to charge quickly).By the way, the Samsung mini dv had many complaints of low battery time (40 minutes or less). I think Sony makes the longest lasting batteries, and I have done a lot of research on this! I hope you will take my word for it, and check out this digital 8 handycam yourself!