Sony DCR-TRV103 20x Optical Zoom 360x Digital Zoom 2.5-Inch Display Digital Handycam (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

I bought this camera in Summer of 1999, when raising roof on my house. I loved the idea of the Digital8 feature. The Camera had functioned well for me until early 2008. Then when I knew it was time to convert my 50 or more 8mm tapes over to DVD, I started getting these moisture warnings. After getting about 15 of my Families 15 years of 8mm & Digital8 tapes converted, it finally gave up the ghost (with a little help from my video production Son).Great Camera.-But as with all Technology it has been exceeded by something else & my remaining tapes are in limbo.I have since purchased 1 crappy used Sharp Hi8 camcorder & returned it, then I bought a used Sony CCD-TRV318 for $145.00 & plan to sell it since I found out that it will only transfer my pre-Digital8 tapes. Somehow the Digital8 tapes have mucked up the Heads, because after several tries to get the Hi8's to work (anything recorder on my TRV103), I cannot get my regular 8mm to play Clearly when Copying to DVD.-Hi8 to transfer my movies and found out that if I recorded them with a Digital8 Camera onto a Hi8 Tape that they are NOT Playable on a Hi8 Player, except for the same Model# it was recorded on (Maybe). So, I just purchased my 3rd Camcorder on Ebay that is the same model for $145.00 with NO Return Policy even though the guy swears it plays tapes OK.-All-in-All it was an awesome Camera. Now I will just have to deal with the issues of Buying & then selling these Camcorders to other Needy Folks who have had the Same Technological misfortunes that I have.PS... My Wife has been bugging me through this entire 2 year ordeal, to just borrow a Friend or Neighbors old 8mm Camcorder to convert the tapes to DVD. If it were only so easy!GOOD Luck & Help a Brother out is what I always say.So we'll see

Camera works great. Plays both analog and digital tapes just as the description detailed. Dealer was very helpful and responded to my needs very quickly. Thanks to T & J Gift World, now I can look at all my son baby film we haven't watched in over 8 years!

* * * * * I M P O R T A N T * * * * *Ignore the bashing of this camera for CCD problems (with a reference to CNET forums). This camera is NOT one of the models affected by CCD's manufactured between OCTOBER 2002 and MARCH 2004. There were MANY manufacturers affected by these faulty CCD's, NOT JUST SONY.* * * * * I M P O R T A N T * * * * *Despite being a superseded model, my camera still takes nice video. The Digital8 format was great for me because I had a lot of 8mm tapes that would have been otherwise lost if I couldn't transfer them via firewire with this camera. I paid $1100 for this brand new a few years ago, but you can get budget models today that compare or outdo it for much less ($300).The battery life is one of the big benefits (about 2 hours of shooting time), and with the NP-F550 battery I got over 3 hours of recording time easily.Pro's:1. Flexible Digital8 format allows digital recording on regular 8mm tapes2. Good video and 16-bit PCM audio3. 20X optical zoom4. Easy transfer of analog 8mm video to digital via firewire5. Excellent battery lifeCon's:1. A bit bulky (by today's standards)2. A/V inputs don't allow for direct pass-through to firewire (subsequent models allow this, but for the TRV103 you have to record input video/audio to tape then playback and capture over firewire).3. Low-light video is somewhat grainy (but average for the time period this model was produced).

I ordered this camera because I already owned one which needed repair. I could not find anywhere that would repair it. I have many movies of cherished events from years past that I wanted to be able to edit for my children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, the camera that I ordered from Amazon does not work. It shows a code on the screen that means that it needs a new motor. Nice! Not!

Very happy with the speed that I received my camcorder, it was in excellent condition and works like a charm, I would definitely recommend buying from this seller and look forward to doing business with again, very nice experience!

It is really great and played all my old tapes. Thanks a million!

I used this camcorder(my camera was different and broken) to import old 8m tapes to my computer and make dvd's. I was going to order another more expensive but this seller advised me it wouldnt work for what I wanted it to do and this one would be better and cheaper. I didnt need any special equipment, just a wire to connect to my mac. Easy!Thanks and I definitely would order again from this seller.

I bought Sony camcorder last year. It has stopped recording video. I can't see anything in the viewfinder or screen. Absolutely nothing.On the flip side, it did work nicely for the year when it was working though.Just in case, you think I am disgruntled, cynical and I am writing this out of spite, please follow this link. There are many like us.[...]In fact, people there have filed a class action suit against Sony on this issue.Overall, buy it if you want to. But see you on the forum above in 1 year.