I did it again! All the money that we had saved to buy a handycam stared at me through the AKG microphone that I bought for my studio. All the troubles that awaited me in the future months, stared at me through the two glaring eyes of my wife. And this time, she was right in getting mad at Maddy. In fact, every time she is right in getting mad at me! But this time she was righter!
It always happens with me! I mean, how would you feel if you had a whole music studio ready, but could not record a single song for want of a lousy mic? You will agree that you will feel like a chump! I did! The microphone was a must! So I went to the bank, withdrew whatever money I had and got the mic! It was two days later when I realized that the money was painstakingly saved by my wife to buy a handycam to record my child’s first years. And I had goofed.....as usual!
And there I was, standing in my wife’s room at Ashwini Maternity Home, wishing that my wife would suddenly find that I am deaf or she is mute!
One look at my son made me understand what a foolish thing I had done. Such an angelic face, and we had spent the money! Sorry....I had spent the money.
But where there is a brother, there are gifts!
I was indeed surprised when a chap(closely resembling Santa Clause) came over to my house and gave me a parcel, saying that my brother had sent it from UK as a gift to my son. As I opened it, there it was! A brand new SONY Video Digital Camera Recorder DCR-TRV130E.
THE MAIN FEATURES
The DCR-TRV130 is a small easy-to-use video camera. It has 20x optical zoom and 560x digital zoom. You can record on Digital 8 cassettes, which are readily available at cheap prices.
The battery life is around 3 hours. The camera needs info LITHIUM battery packs. Charging the battery is child’s play. You just plug in the supplied cable and switch on the power. A steady light appears. When it goes off, your handycam is ready for another session.
The camera has a prop-up view finder, through which you focus on the scene. In addition, it also has an LCD-screen which can give you a colour image while shooting.
In addition, it gives you options to shoot under different conditions. You can switch the mode to Nightshot/Super Nightshot(For dark places), Low lux mode(For insufficient light), Sunset & Moon mode(obviously for sunset shots and fireworks etc.), Backlight(For Backlit subjects), Spotlight(For dramas and plays etc.), and Beach and ski mode(For reflected strong light, like on the beach or on a skiing slope.
While recording, you can also use the features like shooting still images, giving a title, transiting between scenes and digital processing of images. Plus you can create a soft background for the focused image.
Your experiments with the images can continue even after the recording, as this handy magic gives you many editing tools to be used in the playback mode. For starters, you can display the date/time of the recording. You can also digitally process the recorded images in the playback mode. You can scan the still photos. In the sound system, it gives you the choice between mono and stereo sound.
The DCR-TRV130 uses the Hi-8 or Digital8 cassette.
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
As I am not a photography freak, I cannot really be a good bet to talk in detail about this camcorder. However, as a layman, I feel that this is a very user friendly camera which serves your purpose with amazing simplicity. And what’s more- It’s a Sony!
I have had no complaints about this camera and do not have any reason to go for a new one unless my wife starts hating it for some reason! Sigh!
IN CONCLUSION
My son Rahul is 11 months old now. On the 1st of January he will be one year old(Yep...he is a New Year baby). When I look back at the past year, I see many cherished moments of my first born. The first time he had solid food. The first time he started turning on his belly. The first time he started crawling. The first tooth!
And as I remember all these things, I can only look gratefully at my SONY DCR-TRV130, which smiles back at me as if saying- Don’t worry, Maddy! All those great moments are safely recorded.
I don’t think my AKG microphone can ever record such beautiful miracles of God!