Canon ZR

For my first MiniDV based Camcorder,the Zr has done everything I expected. transfer to computer is easy. picture quality is great, but best with high light or outside use. The battery life seems short, but the price on batteries has dropped and if you have 2or3, it is more than enough recording time. Still pictures are ok but not great. The style and design of the camcorder allow it to be taken in places where a video camera is not allowed. If you can find a used one, especially with all accessories, it is worth looking into to purchase.P.S. I have also used it for underwater video and was very happy with results

Ease of use, camera styling, computer interface, picture quality.

Battery life, camera noise sometimes picked up by microphone, no flash.

Have not used

All the bells and whistles on this camera

Small

Battery life sucks. You guys are doing well if you are getting 15 minutes from a battery

Sony

No problems so far

Big mistake to purchase it! Looks good! Feels good! Easy to Handle! Even takes good movies! But, get a loan to buy a truck load of batteries to film. Very short life. 90 dollars per one and I get 12 to 15 min of use, don''t even dare of zooming. I wish someone would tell me my next step, maybe 1000 feet of ext. cord would help!

Feels good, looks good

POOR BATTERIE LIFE!!!!

They said they fixed it. But I just keep on buying batteries!

I have had this Camcorder for almost three years. I must have been one of the first persons to purchase it. It is relatively EZ to use, however when I first purchased it Canon customer service was not very helpful in explaining how to use it with a PC. I finally ended up getting the Firewire link and Moto DV software. Again this was a while ago, but the software was EZ for photo use, but very difficult for editing movies. As a result I basically use this as a very expensive digital camera! I am sure editing solutions have gotten a lot easier and cheaper in the last three years. I think Canon discontinued this model recently, so you may not be able to find it anyway. Finally, my ZR is at Canon service department right now, it mysteriously stopped recording, (but strangely it still played back my tapes.) My final recommendation: Batteries TOO expensive, Batteries run down quickly, and the editing solutions to a PC just do not make this camera worth the $1200 I paid for it back in 1998. Anyone serious about good home movies or even amateur filmmaking is better off with a different camera, and probably should stick with MAC and QuickTime editing software.

Small size, look, and relative Ease of use

Film Editing solutions limited, costly and difficult to use.

None

Weak on information. Still waiting to hear if they can fix my camera.

We bought this camcorder to take on our honeymoon to mexico. It took great pictures and was easy to use. I have it hooked up to my PC to download stills. The picutres lose a lot of quality in the transfer.

Size, picture quality

Poor battery life (20 minutes if you use the zoom) This makes it very difficult and frustrating to use and why I can't recommend this camcorder.Also the batteries are $80-$90.

None