To: custserv@mail.sel.sony.com
Date: 1/15/99

Dear Sony Customer Service:

I am writing in regard to your video camera, the Sony DCR-TRV900. I have
been using the camera frequently in the four months I've had it, and have
enjoyed it greatly. I think this camera represents a very high
price/performance ratio in the marketplace at this time, and from what I've
gathered from reading email and newsgroup postings, others think so too.

Immediately after I got the camera I started a web page detailing my
experiences, answering questions from others, and showing sample still
shots. My web page is at http://www.best.com/~beale/trv900/ and includes a
frequently-asked-questions list (specific to the TRV900) at

  http://www.best.com/~beale/trv900/dvfaq.html

which as of Jan. 15th 1999, runs to some twelve thousand words. I average
about seven thousand "hits", from four hundred different visitors, on my web
page, per day. Some have emailed that they bought a TRV900 based at least
in part on my FAQ and sample images.

All this is by way of background to the observation that, as good as the
camera is, I feel improvements could be made. I would appreciate your
comments on the following observations:

1) I and many others find the automatic exposure to give too bright (and
hence noisy) an image in dim light. I suggest an option to limit gain in
auto-mode to +12 dB, and/or enabling a wider range of user-input program
shift (exposure compensation). The camera does have an exposure shift but
its effective range is only about 1 stop. The simple firmware change
suggested would make the camera significantly more useful in dim light,
filming stage productions with dark backgrounds, etc.  Several people have
mentioned the camera suffers by comparison to other cameras with the same
basic light sensitivity, but which simply don't use as much gain in
auto-exposure mode.

2) The camera does not seem to reproduce objects which have a very red
color clearly (in focus), although green and blue objects at the same
distance are fine. I have an example image which shows this (near the
bottom of my main TRV900 web page, look at the "Watch out for red"
headline). This flaw is also demonstrated at another web page

  http://home3.swipnet.se/~w-33156/camera.htm

and I have heard of at least one user who decided against the TRV900 solely
on account of this issue. It is a surprising oversight given the otherwise
excellent image quality of which the camera is capable.

Once again, congratulations on the fine product as it stands, and I look
forward to hearing from you.

best regards,

John Beale
beale@best.com
http://www.best.com/~beale/trv900

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Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1999 15:33:42 -0500
From: CUSTSERV@mail.sel.sony.com (custserv)
Subject: Re: Sony TRV900 webpage and comments
To: "John P. Beale" <beale@best.com>


     Thank you for your message.
      
     We appreciate the time you have taken to share your comments and we 
     will pass along your suggestions to the proper department for review.
     
     Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us and, for your support of 
     Sony products.
     
     Regards,
     
     Sony Response Center, Internet Group
     vff
     
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Editorial note: I was hoping for a real response with some relevant
information, or at least a letter signed by a real person, but that may
have been hoping too much. I am tempted to assume a calculated attitude
(any admission of a potential problem or planned future fix would probably
affect current sales). But it's probably just banal corporate inertia.

If anyone out there knows a fruitful avenue to pursue technical questions
about Sony DV products please let me know. Every day my page gets a few
hits from various hosts in the sony.com domain... I know you're out there.

-john (beale@best.com)

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