Digital-Camera Reviews

I work with camcorders since 1988 - S-VHSC, Hi8, etc. No question, no matter what kind of digital camcorder you compare with an analog one, it is superior. However, I found this camcorder particularly interesting and bought it since I left the 'semi-professional' field (and being now an electrical engineer in software development). Here are my findings:
Pro:

1) Awesome workmanship: The high-grade plastic case pieces precisely fit and give the camcorder a valuable finish, the buttons have a well defined 'ignition' point and the connectors for FireWire, USB, Analog Video etc. are 'cemented' into the case.
2) Excellent cost / feature ratio: Although following the hype of marrying video with stills, this camcorder emphasizes on video (please, do buy a digital camera if you need digital stills). The outstanding optical unit with a real 22x zoom and one of the most effective image stabilizer in the market, combined with a friendly user-interface including illuminated buttons and a clean menu, this camcorder is a bargain.
The picture quality is excellent. One note here: please remember that the miniDV standard builds on 5.7 Mhz video bandwidth. In other words, no matter what the (multi) colored CCD ship is capable of a resolution, it comes down to a maximum of 370,000 effective pixels needed for NTSC video. The 460,000 pixels of this camcorder seem more than enough.
3) Accessories: Just in case you really care about the somewhat whining recorder server motors, please do buy the optional microphone - it's an awesome addition if you do semi-professional sound-recordings. Also, Canon offers wide and tele-converters specialized for the ZR series. Not a novelty in camcording in general, but a serious affordable consumer expansion if needed.
4) Internationality: Yes, there are other electrical power systems out there: the Canon switching power supply is not only very light, it also connects to almost every wall-outlet in the world with the right (optional) plug-adapter.
5) Ergonomics: Oh yes, I thought about a palm-ready camcorder, too. But think about it: the optical unit including the lenses and the CCD has to fit into half the length of a regular camcorder like the ZR 50 (Palm recorders do not have more than 10x zoom, the ZR 50 has 22x). The camcorder fits right into my hand, the zoom button can be accessed naturally without shifting the camcorder in your hand (try Sony!) and the zoom button is depth sensitive - the deeper you zoom, the less sensitive is the camcorder zoom-button. Additionally, beside so many other brands out there, the digital zoom is even useable to a certain degree. It becomes affective once the optical zoom is exhausted to a 22x. However, if you want quality video, turn it off.
6) Video Modes: Select one of the predefined video modes. One of the most impressive mode is the night-mode - if the moon strikes you, your ZR 50 will catch it. However, don't expect wonders, every serious video-grapher recommends at least 100 lux (a unit of measuring light-intensity).

Con:
I couldn't find a con so far - maybe the sound-quality the integrated microphone produces? Hm, given the size of the case, it seems reasonable...

Yeah, I am enjoying this camcorder. Canon showed once again that a camcorder design can meet almost all of a consumer-customer's needs:
Rich functionality, lightweight design, extensible through optional accessories including lenses, robust workmanship.

Recommended!

This is an awesome camcorder! I've had it for about two weeks now, and I love it. The video quality is very good and its compact size makes it very portable. I have a Apple iMac G4 and the ZR50 runs outstanding with it.

I am an amateur filmmaker and I was previously using my father's Canon GL1, which is a great camcorder, but I needed something for myself. I was skeptical of a high quality camcorder at a low price. So I did all the research and liked the ZR50.

The still quality isn't that good, but that is not why I bought it. If you are looking for a nice digital video and still camera, this is not for you. It is a nice bonus, though, to take low quality photos and share them with people over the Internet.

If you have read that the motor noise is a problem, well, the same noise is on my father?s Canon GL1 which is $... So, you make the decision to associate the noise with this particular camcorder or not.

If you want a small digital camcorder that takes great video at a good price, this is one for you.

I actually own a zr25mc, but I had a run in with a cup of coffee and the thing is all done. Just ordered the ZR50MC because of the 22x optical and the success I had with the ZR25MC.

I hear a lot of complaints about the motor noise. yes it is there, and yes you can work around it by using an aux mic. The camera is so compact that the tape mech sits very close to the audio. To me, the size outweighs the noise. You can tuck this thing in a pocket.

One of the best things about this camcorder, is the placement of zoom. I looked at some of the vertical style camcorders out there, and was disapointed/confused by there placement of zoom. Camcorder functions are very intuitive, as oppose to like a sony, where everything is done by hunting around in menus (like I feel like using an operating system when filming).

Image quality is superb. For those of you that whine about its low pixel count (460K is a bit low), you should realize that this is not even noticable on standard TVs, unless your some kind of cyborg that can distinguish those things. I'd even say its not noticable on an HDTV, but thats beyond my knowledge.

Personally, I would recommend Canon over Sony. Although Sony has tremendous extra features, I'd imagine you would use them about 5% of the time. I hardly even use the features on the Canon, opting to do that kind of stuff with adobe premiere/after affects.

I'd say, the only negative about the ZR50MC is the plastic housing, it can and will get scuffed up.

As a novice to the camcorder world I was very concerned and confused about the wide range of features and prices available in the market so, unusually for me, I took a little time and did my research.

Boy am I glad I did, and I am especialy pleased with the result. The Canon is perfect and does everything I want. It's easy to use and the results have been extremely good, especially considering that I am really new to all this.

It seems from the reviews I have read that most camcorders with built still photography features lack the quality of purpose built digital cameras, and while this is also true of my Canon, its not really an issue as I have several still cameras in 35mm and digital formats that I like to use.

The quality of the video on the Canon is really very good. I do not have the needs of a serious hobbyist or professional but I still want something that gives good quality and I am very pleased.

I am also very happy with the overall ergonimics of the camera and its ease of use. One of my first outings was a car trip out of NY city and I shot a lot of city shots from the car. The results were very satisfying.

I have only used a few of the special features and have not done any editing yet but on first glance I found the instructions a little confusing but I put that down to my lackof experience.
I really have no negative comments, my only small niggle is the hinge on the little door that covers the DC power seems very flimsy and I sense it may snap one of these days but apart from that the camera is really sturdy

In terms of value, after much research I feel I got a very good product at a fair price. I compared it to Sony and JVC products and felt that I bought a lot of quality and flexibility and saved over 200 dollars over the Sony without losing any features that I needed.

So this has been a very gratifying experience and I look forward to using the camera for a very long time. I strongly recommend it.

The images from the Canon ZR30MC camcorder are terrific. I cannot imagine another video camera any better. This camera's design and quality is excellent, well thought out, and it is incredibly easy to use.

I love the versatility of this camcorder, you can switch from taking video to stills with just a click of a button.

I have used an analog Canon Hi8 camcorder in the past, and the ZR30MC picture quality and sound blows it away.

I am completely happy with this purchase, and would recommend the ZR30MC to anyone. For the money, this is the best video camera on the market.

Read the specs, compare ALL the features, talk to those who own it, and you too will buy it! Simply the easiest to use and best quality digital video camera you can buy! And the price---what more is there to say?

Some cameras you buy and get home to find no microphone plug! Some no Firewire connection or RCA video jacks to archive all those old tapes you have. You won't have that problem with this Canon gem.

This is the second of the ZR series I have owned. I have also owned Sony among others, always going back to Canon.

I purchased the ZR25 for the Christmas holidays. I was attracted by its snazzy design, compact size, great ergonomics and price (especially when considering Canon's free leather bag and battery pack xmas promotion). The camcorder's operation was extremely easy and intuitive. Exterior shots were outstanding in all conditions. Sound quality was excellent. Unfortunately, its performance in interior conditions was disappointing. The images always appeared to be grainy. Tough to understand why because my home's interior features white walls and has ample lighting i.e. not "low light" conditions. For comparison purposes, I shot similar interior scenes using my trusty, 12-year old RCA full size VHS camcorder (what a great workhorse!) and 6-year old entry level Samsung 8mm camcorder. Both produced superior images. I returned the ZR25 for this reason. What a missed opportunity! Canon could have really aced this market segment. It clearly has the best overall design. Hopefully, they will correct this deficiency with their next ZR generation.

We bought the Canon ZR25 right before our daughter was born. It took excellent video but was slightly grainy and did have some problems with it trying to focus on other objects. We could live with that because it was so easy to use.

However, now I've been working on doing some video capture with my PC and it just ate my daughters 6 month old tape. I figured I'd better not put any of her other tapes in until I tried it out with a new tape. That was a good decision. Now the camera won't play or record and just gives me a "remove tape" message.

I checked with the store where we purchased the camcorder and they say it starts at $199 to get it repaired.

From reading other reviews.... it's probably not worth it!!!!

First I want to say I'm not very knowledgeable at all about Mini-DV, and as this being my first camera as such any opinions I express are only very amateurish and I cannot compare this camera to others as I have not had the experience of using any other DV devices, and I have not had alot of time lately to play with it. But I'll say my first impressions here of it for what they are worth.

First, I'll have to say my impressions about the Image Stabilisation, as far as I can tell. It's not much to be desired. If I don't hold the camera very steady in my hands or use a tripod the "shakes" are very noticeable. I have been using the camera to take footage of rural Alaska, on trails and mountains, and as you can probably guess it's rather hard to climb a rough trail without considerable shaking. It's not horrendous, but I really don't see any help from it. Again, I don't really know what to expect from it either, but so far, it's not been what I expected. But, it's also not the more desireable optical stabilisation as opposed to this cameras digital, and it is also better to just turn this feature completely off anyway when using zoom in extended ranges.

Also, the low light feature does work, but is very grainy when taking indoor shots especially. It seems the camera does best in bright outdoor light, and to take decent footage of indoor scenes your lighting better be good. The various options for lighting adjustment in the menu for outdoor/indoor lighting however work great, and adjust for the different conditions well.

The camera seems VERY well built. I have knocked it around considerably on the trails, thrown it in a bag and out without overdue care, and subjected it to high winds, mist, and rough handling. No problems. It feels very solid in the hands and does'nt give me any impression of fragileness. The LCD door clicks open and shut with certainty, as does the battery. The covers for the DC jack and S/DV in-out jacks are'nt though, they are made of rubber and do not seem to be very reliable, and hang by a thin rubber strip when open. They also don't seem to want to stay closed alot, and I'm always afraid of ripping them off when opening them for access. Otherwise, the cam seems very solid and able to withstand abuse. The camera fits snugly and comfortably in the right hand using the supplied strap, and it also comes with a neck strap for additional security. The controls are easily accessible considering this cameras very small size, though the main power switch is hard to move due to it's extremely small center lock button. The footage/shutter stop/start button is very nicely located and can be quickly found with the thumb. Same is true for the zoom rocker with the index finger.

The Optical zoom (10X) is superb. No degradation in image quality whatsoever either all the way up to 40X in the digital zoom. This thing is like a telescope, I can zoom in on things the naked eye could never pick up even past the 40X. However......past the 40X, the image gets grainy, and is practically worthless past 100X. It gets so pixelated past 100 that I turned the option off and only use the 40X digital zoom option. Again, it is best to turn stabilisation off when using zoom past 10X optical.

The image quality so far is excellent. Very clear, the colors are accurate and vibrant, and noticeably improved over Hi-8 when dubbed to a VHS tape. The zoom is smooth, and very fast/slow according to how much pressure you place on the rocker swith.

The DV out/in works flawlessly with my firewire terminal, and I've been using MGI Videowave 3 for editing and compression. BTW, I can also highly recommend that program, very user friendly and works great. I may someday want to graduate to a more robust application, but for now it's awesome. I also called their tech support for a question I had regarding capture (I was being an idiot, enough said of that!) and the support person was very friendly, patient and helpful.

The ZR25's battery life seems excellent. I have not yet ever completely depleted it using the included Li-ion BP-512 pack, even using the LCD constantly. Canon has available a higher capacity pack as an accessory, but I see no need for it for my uses.

The LCD quality is not what I expected. According to specs, it's 2.5 inch LCD is approximately 112,000 pixels. I'm not sure how that compares to other screens in it's class but I'm sure it's low. I always have to keep in mind that my footage is going to look 3X better than what I'm previewing on it. It's also terrible in sunlight (I imagine this may be common with most DVcams, but the LCD on my Kodak digicam spanks it big time). The viewfinder however is more than adequate. Nice color, and seems to be accurate according to the actual footage taken. It also swings up and away from the battery pack for easy replacement of the battery, and it's angle is good for comfort of use when extended.

Overall, though the CCD is admittedly of lower resolution compared to the Allura's, (1/4 inch CCD, approx. 460,000 pixels, approx. 290,000 effective) but the quality of footage is so far excellent and more than satisfactory to me as long as the lighting is adequate. I have not yet tried the still image mode, but I did not buy this camera for that feature as I have two digital cameras for that purpose (Kodak DC-4800's, which, by the way, I can personally highly vouch for, they take superb images, have a full range of manual exposure settings, and offered with optional lenses with lens adapter accessory). I'm pleased with it more than not.

I'll write more on this camera as I gain more experience with it, and I hope this somewhat helps others who might be considering purchasing this model.

The Canon ZR20 is a Digital MiniDV camcorder with a 2.5" LCD and a color viewfinder.

Zoom And Image Stabilizer

The camcorder has 10x optical zoom and 200x digital zoom. The image is not shaky at high magnification levels, since the camera is equipped with a digital stabilizer.

Picture

The camcorder records video and still pictures. The still pictures can be recorded on a MiniDV tape and one tape can hold around 700 still pictures. The picture quality (the CCD has 460,000 pixels) in the video mode is very good with low noise level.

Sound

The camcorder has a stereo microphone and a built-in speaker. The microphone input allows you connect an external microphone. You can select between 12- and 16-bit recording.

Features

The camcorder comes with a Li-Ion battery, A/V cable, S-Video cable, power adapter, battery, remote and a shoulder strap. There are several AE modes, including fully automatic "Easy Recording".

But in addition to automatic settings (focus, white balance, etc.), you can manually adjust focus, white balance, shutter speed, exposure (AE Shift). The camcorder allows you apply faders and digital effects and has widescreen mode.

It also features FireWire (i.Link, IEEE1394) jack, so you can connect it to another digital camcorder, MiniDV VCR or a computer for editing or making a copy. The remote control allows you search for still pictures on the tape using Data Code recorded during the shooting.

The camcorder features both composite and an S-Video inputs/outs and LANC editing terminal. The timer allows to perform recordings at predefined time. There is a Low Light recording capability (low shutter speed and high exposure time).

Remote

Unlike entry-level digital camcorders from Panasonic, the wireless remote control is included here.

Bottom Line

The ZR20 is a nice camcorder with good feature set. But the menu system is unnecessary complicated and the Canon camcorders are not among the most reliable (unlike Panasonic ones).

I would like to take this time and give my input about the Canon ZR 20 MiniDV. First off let me say that the size of this thing amazes me enabling me to fit it in my pants pocket (compared to my old vhs). There aren't that many high end features on this but for the basic everyday recording this is an excellent camera. Be aware that this DOES NOT have NIGHT VISION if you want it purchase the ZR-40 series. I purchased this at the [store] that sells mac computers. It cost me [money] and for [the same amount] at [a different store] i could have got the ZR-40 but they were out :(. Overall i really do like this camera not overpowered with features but does the job well (my first canon camera). From now on i'll stick with them in the future (Much better than JVC and SONY). Down the road I'll upgrade my pc to firewire for video editing, that looks pretty fun. But if yourlooking for a good quality camera with a GLASS lens not plastic like the others and something stylish and small than go with any of the Canon ZR Series (10,20,25mc,30mc,40,45mc,50,50mc)

Hope this Helped in your camera buying experience!

I've looked for a good DV camcorder to replace my old Hi8 camcorder. We need it to be compact to fit into one palm, and have image stablization. We also need it to have analog input to transfer old video. Some of the higher-end model have low-resolution digital camera capability, which is useless to us since we already had high-resolution digital camera. We tried to avoid spending extra money to pay features we don't need, and it leads us to Canon ZR20. Well, what a great buy! We spend less than our old Hi8 camcorder, and got a 3X better camcorder! The picture quality is super, the sound is great! ( I don't have the issue described by another reviewer.) Right after recording, we can also playback the video with sound on this tiny camcorder. All my families just enjoy playing with this new toy and have a wonderful time together. Highly recommended!

We bought this camera in 2002 and now it has started eating and rejecting tapes. At first it would only eat the expensive tapes and worked fine with the cheap ones. Now, it does not work at all. I paid close to 700$ for this and now it is useless.
It is obvious that Canon goofed up big time on this one. They should read these reviews and do something about it instead of hiding.

Just like thousands of others, I too now own this expensive paperweight. I BARELY EVERY used it in the last year, but now it has destroyed several tapes. IT EATS TAPES. DO NOT BUY! DO NOT BUY!DO NOT BUY!DO NOT BUY!DO NOT BUY!DO NOT BUY!DO NOT BUY!DO NOT BUY!DO NOT BUY!DO NOT BUY!DO NOT BUY!DO NOT BUY!DO NOT BUY!DO NOT BUY!DO NOT BUY!

I bought mine to replace a 5 year old Sony Hi-8. I was very impressed with the small size, recording quality, and the amount of bells and whistles that came with it. I was a little displeased with the zoom range of the lens. It dose not wide enough and shooting in tight spaces is difficult. It does however zoom to 200 with pretty good quality. Other complants are:

*The 2" viewing screen in not brigh enough to be seen clearly in daylight.
*The steady shot feature was barely works at all- If you are the type with shaky hands, this camera is not for you.
*The built in humidity sensor alarm is constantly going off. When this happenes you must shut off the camera, eject the tape and reinsert/ restart. This process takes nearly a minute and has caused me to miss several shots.
Besides the complaits I found it to be a very nice camera with dependable battery life- the supplied manufactures battery has never left me stranded, and cameras small compact size makes it easy to record in forbidon places- like rollercoasters.

I hooked up this camera to my iMac DV, connected it to the Firewire conneciton, turned on the computer and everything worked great the first time out. I was able to create, edit, and produce a Web film in less than a day.

I've owned the ultura since late January and so far have been completely satisfied with it.. is has a great range of features and turns out incredible quality footage. I also bought a DV Capture card for my computer, and the ultura allows for easy editing of videos. The digital zoom works up to about 64x, and some of the "modes" are not very useful, but all around, it's great!

We went into the store prepared to buy the sony TR 103 and ended up with this canon. It is alot smaller than the sony and the lens is supposed to be better. One thing about these camcorders is to get the smallest one you can afford because it is so easy to take with you. As far as options, it has just about everything you need. We just turn it on and shoot.