Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon ZR45MC MiniDV Digital Camcorder with 2.5" LCD, Digital Still Mode & MMC Card Slot

The good: Compact, easy to carry, lots of good features (too many to list; read the specifications), excellent playback picture, works great with my iMac, excellent sound reproduction, and straightforward instructions.

The bad (kind of): Yes, in an absolutely silent environment you can hear the motor running, but in our first two hours of taping there was only one time, and that was only for less than a minute, where you could hear the motor running. So, I wouldn't call that bad because there is usually enough ambient noise to cancel it out. The wide angle isn't very wide angle, but you do get a lot of great non-digital zoom. The digital zoom gets pixelated pretty quickly but would you expect otherwise? You can only access some of the features with the viewing screen open and in bright outside light the picture is washed out and you can't really see the menus very easily. The fade in and out features were fun but somewhat cumbersome to use.
The ugly: Do not buy this camera if you intend on using it to take still pictures to the MMC. There are two problems. Check out the specifications and you will see that the CCD chip has only about 250,000 or so effective pixels. But, the real killer is the 8-bit color. There are two resolution modes, fine and normal. The instruction manual says the fine mode can be used for taking pictures for printing out and the normal for sending over the Internet. In the fine mode, a perfectly blue sky comes out mottled shades of blue, pink, and purple. For other, less uniform colors, the effect is worse. With the low number of pixels and 8-bit color, this feature is pretty much useless if you are used to using a good film SLR camera or a high pixel digital camera.

Overall: I gave it four stars because it's a really good minicam with great Canon optics, many useful features, and ease of use, but I was really disappointed with the still picture feature. I can't believe Canon would even include such a poor quality feature. If you want both good digital video and pictures, you probably need to look at different brands with megapixel CCDs, which are available for a comparable price.

I got this camcorder for a few reasons. First, Consumer Reports loved it in their 2002 buying guide, and second, the size and capabilities.

The zoom lens on this is incredible, but obviously shouldn't be moved too quickly if you are zoomed in on something. I took it to an airshow and was able to zoom in on things other people were missing, and the digital recording allowed us to clearly pick out details when we paused a recording that were surprisingly sharp. The camera is easy to use, and having the LCD screen and onboard speaker is heplful when playing back.

The still camera will do the job, but it isn't as sharp as a normal digital camera, although the memory card in this camcorder is separate (the newer, smaller type) from the tapes used to record the movies. Also, the lower resolution still images can be stored in greater numbers, though, with an estimated 300 pictures possible on my 36 MB card.

The included software, USB cables, and cables to attach the camera to the VCR/TV are all easy to use, and I have had no problems. Those folks who have seen my videos thus far have been very impressed, and I have been very happy.

After an extensive market review, I decided to buy this one. Recording quality is excellent when you have appropriate light conditions, and it works ok with poor light. Excellent zoom, and very good stabilization features. The digital still camera feature takes average pictures (640*480), good enough if you are just sending them to friends/family and the software included is quite easy to use. In order to download your movies, you must have a firewire connection in your PC. Consider to buy an extra battery.

The major problem I found is the fact that the microphone records the camera noises, making your movies have an annoying background sound. This is really unacceptable if you want to have good quality audio. If you are concerned about the sound, I would suggest you either to try another camcorder or wait until Canon fix this model or release a new one. Or, if you have the expertise (I don't have it) edit the film with your PC.

Just got the zr45 and am amazed at the quality of the video. My kids just had a talent show in a large auditorium and we had seats in the very back of the room (about 23 rows back). It was dark except for the stage lights, but the zoom worked great. I was worried that it only looked good on the LCD screen, but when we hooked it up to the TV for playback, the quality was sharp.

First off, this is my first digital camcorder/camera. I purchased this camera only 3 days ago and I'm already having too much fun with downloading pictures to and from the cam. It's capable of doing all this (and pretty easy I may add) to do all this even if you're a first timer. It comes with a CD with the necessary software and also a manual on how to install the software and how to use it for downloading/uploading pix. Very easy and informative. The MMC card can take as many as 100 pictures at a time, so it's more than enough for me.

As for the quality of the camcorder for "regular filming", I'm impressed. It has 7 or 8 different settings for different filming situations such as "sports", "portrait", "night mode", and others. Also, the buttons in this camera don't look as intimidating as some of the others I've seen/used. All buttons are nicely placed on the camera and I have no problems with any of them. Plus, this camera is pretty small for this price. The only ones that I've seen that are this small (or smaller) are the ones in the [price range](and above) range. I got this one for [price], and I'm more than happy with it's $ize ;-)

So far, I think I'll be enjoying this camera for a long time. I'm very happy with it and I recommend this for anyone who is just getting into digital cams/camera. It has more than enough features for someone who is just getting into the world of digital camcorders/cameras. The quality of the pictures are not excellent, but I think it's nice enough to even impress some people. I highly recommend this cam/camera.

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