Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon ZR50MC MiniDV Digital Camcorder with 2.5" LCD, Digital Still Mode & MMC Card Slot

First of all I called Canon on August 14th, 2002 about the motor hum you get during recording and the Tech guy says that shouldn't be happening. He then proceeded to tell me I need to ship it in to the Canon Repair Center. He denied ever hearing anything about this problem. Anyway I like this camera alot. I couldn't afford the GL1 or XL1 so I chose the ZR50. It does alot more Professional Standard ENG tasks than a Sony camcorder I've used recently. For its size it packs in alot. The motor hum does bother me a little bit but I'll see what I can do. The other negative is that you can't use the DM50 mic and a light at the same time unless you get the VL10 light and velcro or a video bracket that SIMA corporation sells on their web site.
Anyway for the everyday enthusiast I would read the manual thoroughly before casting doubt. Those people who used it for a week then got rid of it never gave the camera a chance. I would definitely recommend this camera and look forward to expanding and buying additional accessories to go with it. Canon by far makes the best lenses for any and every camera.

This was my first camcorder, purchased at Henry's in Toronto for C$1089. I had it for 5 days and tried everything, even loading the software.

We loved it. As other reviewers mentioned, it's a really cool camera. It looks cute, the features and zoom are amazing, and it's easy to use.

But unfortunately we realized the motor whines all the time and it's really annoying on playback. You can even hear it when you play back somewhat "noisy" situations, like riding around in a car or being outside. I thought it was unusual, but it turns out there are quieter models available.

I took it back to Henry's and traded it for a Sony DCRTRV18 for C$1199, which after a quick test is definitely quieter. Only drawback is the zoom is only 10x and it's not as cute, but the rest of the features are the same.

At first, Henry's tried to tell me the Canon was normal, but I guess when they realized I was interested in the Sony and we were writing up the new order, they admitted that they have had many Canons returned because of the noise.

Sorry Canon. I hope you read this. Great camera, but I didn't want to spend the next 30 years introducing all my home videos apologetically with "uh... here's junior's first steps... sorry about the motor noise in the background."

For all you Canadians out there, don't hesitate to buy from Henry's. Not only were they were ready to give me a full refund, I get 15 more days to try the new Sony and I can still get a refund. They're even keeping my old camera in the box for 15 days in case I change my mind! Not gonna happen though...

Bottom line, the camera is too noisy. Don't waste your time and get something else.

I bought this tiny cute ZR50mc on August, 2002. I am truly love its size and performance. I used sony pc-101 before, it's smaller but I like this one better.
I saw many reviews talked about motor humming... Yes, it does as I found that really bother when I use it and play it directly on my TV. However, when I use video editor to record it from mini Dv tape to my PC and export it out to TV or burn it as DVD disk. Its pictures and sound turns perfect. All humming sound were gone. So I think the humming must be only come from the machine itself and not record into the tape. So when I play it from PC which show no noisy on the background at all. I think people can try it again to play it on PC or cd-rom. You will find out it turns quality well not only the picture itself also the clean sound.

I recently got this camcorder and am extremely frustrated at the motor buzz captured on tape. I have recorded three tapes worth of stuff, both indoors and outside. The whine of the motor is not perceptible on the outdoors shots but that's explainable by the background noise being loud enough to mask it. It's the indoor settings where the motor sound is very evident on playback.

That said, this camcorder creates a pretty good picture and the optics are great. It is very compact and fits your hand nicely. The swing-out screen is a little hard to see in sunlight. But the motor whine is preventing me from giving more than 2 stars. It's distracting enough to take away from any viewing pleasure.

I have recently noticed postings on other camcorder user websites complaining about the motor buzz on this model so it seems like a common problem.

I will probably return this camcorder for another brand/model that doesn't record the motor, if such a thing exists. It's too bad because this machine looks and feels very cool.

I actually haven't bought the zr50mc yet but have done a lot of research on it. I read serveral reviews complaining about the motor noise so called Canon and talked to the tech department. The man said when things are really quite, the automatic gain turns up and therefore the motor can be heard in the back ground. He said if you plug into the aux mic so that the internal mic is cut out, that that will clear up the noise problem. I see Canon offers a directional mic off of the hot shoe so that seems like a good item to buy to clear up the problem or else use the remote mic like the tech recommends.