As I may have mentioned – the DV port in My Sony Handycam finally destroyed itself. The camera has a rock chip taken out of the lens from Maine Forest Rally and the zoom controls make a crunchy sand sound when operated. This camera will live out the rest of it’s days strapped to a rollcage. The only way to get the video off the tape is to buy another camcorder…

Lucky for me I spotted a deal right away on ebay. Sony DCR-TRV460, no cables, no battery, no memory stick, no strap, no bag, no nothing. ‘As is’ no warranty – $70. Even if it was totally non-functional there were enough spare parts to repair my old camera and I could part off the rest.

I found it waiting for me when I got home. Whip open the cardboard, slap a battery in it. She fires right up! Video, sound, record, playback, LCD, viewfinder, all fine! Besides the couple of scuff marks it’s fantastic. It helped to brighten up a crappy week.

As + ($380 camera for $70) =

Here we go! I’m not totally sold on the camera angle in these, but I needed to try something different. You can certainly see how much further inside the corners I traveled and just how close I get to them. I didn’t pump the intercom audio in – but you can hear a quieter Christine and tell how much easier it is to read notes with the Peltor intercom. The third video is from all the way in the back seat. It’s fun to watch my hybrid ‘shuffle’ / ‘hand over hand’ Massachusetts driving and the handbrake slide at the finish is gratuitous.

RallyAirIII_run1.wmv 12.3MB
RallyAirIII_run2.wmv 12.2MB
RallyAirIII_run3.wmv 15.0MB