Canon ZR65MC MiniDV Digital Camcorder

Of course, this camera has a 'low light' setting a ...

Strengths: Easy to use and easy to learn. The 20x optical zoom is excellent. As a rule, digital zoom is worthless (a flaw in all digital cameras in my opinion... just gets too pixellated).

Weaknesses: The still photo function is great for quick shots or screen viewing. Forget it if you want to print them. No light on this camera makes indoor *still* shooting worthless.

Summary: Of course, this camera has a 'low light' setting and it works pretty good, but you can find new 20-watt video lights for this camcorder (mounts on the unpowered accessory shoe) for about $15... Or you can buy the ZR70 model which includes a built-in 3-watt light.

The color quality is a bit washed out, but the image clarity is outstanding. Replay on my television using the RCA cable is easy and looks great (and a slight color bump on the TV corrected the camera's color deficiency). The little remote control works well for instant viewing (and is small enough to carry with you in your camera bag). I've never heard sound reproduction on a camcorder as good as this one.

Video transfer via firewire cable is easy. If you have windows XP, then Windows Movie Maker is great and very easy for video editing (get WMM 2.0 from microsoft's website for free).

Suggest buying an extra battery. The supplied battery only gives you about 60-70 min. of power.

The digital effects (such as faders) are a little clumsy to use. If you plan on editing using your PC, I would simply forget about using them on this camera cuz you can do it all later (and easier) on the PC anyway.

The pre-programmed settings (sports, portrait, low-light, etc) for video and still shooting are very easy and quick to access... easy to change on the fly. The Auto setting will choose one for you, too.

Good value overall for amateur videography.

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I like the features this camera has, especially th ...

Strengths: Ease of use, excellent documentation, good features, fair-to-good stills (XGA 1024x768).

Weaknesses: Very poor quality indoor video.

Summary: I like the features this camera has, especially the digital still images this camera takes, though it will not replace a digital camera for quality shots. The analog to digital pass through is another great feature: simply hook up your older analog camcorder or VCR to the AV port and connect the firewire cable to your PC and you can digitize those VHS tapes. And the online price for this camcorder is quite reasonable at under $450. The only down side to this otherwise great camcorder is the really awful low-light video. I did an indoor shoot on an older VHS camcorder that looked better than the Canon's! If you plan to do a lot of "on-the-fly" indoor shooting I would not recommend this camera, but if you do indoor shoots you will need to set up professional lights in order to get good results, which can add considerably to your budget. You can also make manual adjustments to compensate for low light conditions, improving the video somewhat. Otherwise, the video under normal light is good and crystal clear with good color.

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For the individual who wrote about the poor low li ...

Strengths: Easy learning curve. My eleven year old daughter uses the camera. Usefull digital effects which can add a touch of professionalism to your video.

Weaknesses: Forget about using the digital still picture capability for important shots.

Summary: For the individual who wrote about the poor low light quality, I suggest switching the camera to "Low Light", which will improve the quality of your video significantly.

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This is a great camcorder; I would buy it again. H ...

Strengths: I love this as a camcorder... it takes great movies, and has lots of fun options, including b&w and sepia. It's user-friendly, and it's also easy to load and organize the photos onto the computer.

Weaknesses: I wouldn't recommend this as your only digital camera... the quality's pretty bad unless you're in a lot of light. However, it's better than nothing. The memory card is also quite small.

Summary: This is a great camcorder; I would buy it again. However, we haven't been able to figure out how to get the date/time stamped on the tape, so whenever we're recording (usually of our baby), we have to say the day while we're recording. I would also recommend getting a bigger memory card.

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After have had the heads cleaned several times, th ...

Strengths: Ease of use

Weaknesses: Poor Playback- I have had serious problems with the playback quality of this camera. The playback is very pixelated and at time I lose audio. See summary

Summary: After have had the heads cleaned several times, there has been no improvement in playback quality. Replaced tapes, cleaned heads and no improvement.Very pixelated as if the heads are dirty. Now the tape will not eject completely. Contacted Canon support, and told to send in for repairs, again. Will post update.

Would be careful when buying a copier mfg's video camera. Next time I will stick with Sony!

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