Cons: Zoom Control, Image Stabilization, Bottom cassette loading, Handling Comfort, 15x Zoom

While holding out for the cost to come down on DVD camcorders and needing a new camcorder that would play my existing Hi-8s, I went with the backwardly compatable Digital8. The TRV740 appeared to be a solid choice with its many features and great output quality. But when I first started to use it I was quickly disappointed by the following:

Zoom Control: My previous camcorder was a Canon ES5000 (Hi8). The TRV740s zoom control is awful in comparison with the Canon. Its very difficult to activate the slowest zoom speed as the sliding switch does not move smoothly. 9 times out of 10, youll go right past the slow speed as the force needed to get the switch moving is much greater than the force to keep the zoom speed steady so an overzoom situation happens. Then youre zooming rapidly and have to slow it down which ruins the slow zoom effect.

"Super" SteadyShot: Huge disappointment here. Electronic stabilizers simply do not compare with optical stabilizers (Canon). It almost seems that when the stabilizer is turned off, Sony added shake to the image so that when the stabilizer is on, it looks better in comparison to when it was "off". Just a silly conspiracy theory to let you know bad it is.

Bottom cassette loading: Did you ever think youd see a camcorder that had to be removed from a tripod in order to change the cassette? Youve got it with this one. Unbelievable.

Handling Comfort: Its a little heavy and not something you want to use for an extended period.

15x Zoom: This is on the low side and the only reason I can imagine that they went with this low of an optical zoom is because of the poor image stabilizer. At 15x, let alone 20x, you need a tripod or it looks like you have some sort of neuro-muscular affliction.

Ill probably keep it to use as a player to backup my Hi-8 collection by playing those tapes to a DVD burner. I recommend looking for something else if you think youd be bothered by the same things as I am with this camcorder.

The DCR-TRV740 is not quite a well-defined camera. Its older brother, the TRB840, has many feautres that the 740 skimps on. One major dissappointment is the low-resolution 2.5" screen. The screen is not only small, but also has about half as many pixels as the MiniDV cameras have on their LCDs. So, you can understand that the picture you see while shooting may look dissapointing. As far as the CCD, yes, its Megapixel, but what good is the resolution when the pictures dont look any good? I had a DCR-TRV310, which in 640x480 mode took better stills than this! The low-light quality of this camera is worse, as well. I think that the use of a small 1/4.7" CCD is to blame. It just doesnt capture as much light!

The real problem is that there seems to be no real reason to buy this camera unless you need D8 and cant afford a DCR-TRV840. The manual features are downright terrible- most of the controls must be accessed throught the menu, even the automatic stuff(a very bad move by camcorder companies)! And to press the buttons on your cam, you inevitably move the camera. The camera does have a nice fast rewind/fast-forward speed, so if you own a lot of D8, Hi8, or 8MM tapes, and need a camera to play them back, this will do.... I returned my camera and am going to get a real D8 Playback device, the GV-D800. And then buy a MiniDV camcorder.

CONCLUSION: This camera is OK, just dont expect anything magical out of it. Not even the Megapixel resolution saves it. Just not well thought out- I think the camera designers should actually use the cameras they make!

I used the still photo function recently at a boat race and was more than pleased with the results. The high resolution stills come in a 1152x864, which results in a pretty good picture.

Video quality is good. The ccd in the 740 and 840 produces a really nice looking picture.

I cant hear any of the tape drive sound that others claim to hear on their recordings.

The only thing that keeps me from giving it 5 stars is the need to get a larger battery is you plan on shooting much away from a power cord. A larger memory stick is probably in order if you intend to use the still photo feature.

This unit comes with just about all the accessories you need with
one exception, a tape. You cant test this unit without paying
extra for tape(s). Now, if one dont like this unit, you can
probably return the unit (may be with a restocking fee) but
what about the tape(s).

As you can see now, I dont have a good experience with this
unit. TRV740 may be is a good machine. For above reasons,
I have a tough time recommending it.

This unit comes with just about all the accessories you need with
one exception, a tape. You cant test this unit without paying
extra for tape(s). Now, if one dont like this unit, you can
probably return the unit (may be with a restocking fee) but
what about the tape(s).

As you can see now, I dont have a good experience with this
unit. TRV740 may be is a good machine. For above reasons,
I have a tough time recommending it.

I would have given the camcorder a 5 star rating except for these annoying things that I hope Sony will fix in future models:

1) The tape mechanism IS as noisy as folks say. It IS detectable in the playback IF you listen for it. I can live with this is since the audio record quality is so nice and sharp. My guess is that this noise is due to the tape been driven at 1.5x to 2x the speed of Hi-8.

2) The supplied batterys life is about 60 mins with LCD usage so this will drive most people to buy an additional power pack. This is common across camcorder lines, but still annoying.

3) The 2.5" LCD is not as detailed as the Sonys MiniDV version. While it is acceptable, realized that this 2.5" LCD has 61K pixels and the Sony MiniDV line has almost double the number of pixels.

4) Megapixel or no megapixel, a camcorders digital stills are rarely as good as a "decent" digital camera. Since I have a 2.1 mega pixel digital camera, the quality of digital stills on the TRV740 is useless to me.

5) Wide angle shots are not as wide as the old TRV95. One would almost need a wide angle lens to properly capture an indoor gathering. However, the wide angle lens is another $$. Again, due to the limited zoom on DV camcorder these days for preserving picture quality (lens), this may be common across other camcorders. I can only wish for 28mm by default.

Okay, I feel bad ripping on the camcorder for so long, overall, I am happy with the TRV740 and I look forward to using it to preserve years of memories.