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

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1) Solution from Canon's online tech supt website: CanonDv

Q. In quiet situations, I can hear the noise of the motor being recorded. What can I do about this?

A. Automatic audio gain will set the volume to capture any available noise. In a very quiet setting, this may be the sound of the camcorder motor. To correct for this, provide some 'white' background noise, such as a radio or television.

2) Solution from another user:
Open the mic housing and stuff sound dampening material b/w the mic and the motor. This user said that it works great.

3) Solution from yet another user:
Buy a generic external mic, or Canon's DM-50 Microphone. This completely eliminates the motor noice and improves audio recording, but adds size to the camcorder.

Hope this helps.

I love this camcorder. First of all, I am going to start this review by telling you about the biggest concern I had when I bought this camera. Many people say that there was a lot of motor hum, this may be the case when the room is TOTALLY silent, however an external mic fixes this. ALL MINIDV CAMERAS HAVE THIS PROBLEM!! People complain that the mic adds extra size, but if you want to spend the same amount of money on a digital 8, with less resolution, much bigger, and heavier, than get a Mic for your MiniDV, then you have some problems. However since I usually overlap music onto my videos, its not such a big probelm for me. The size is great (any bigger and it wouldn't be comfortable, and any smaller it would be difficult to hold). I had the Sony TRV-340 Digital 8 Camera and then returned for only one reason, it was heavy and big (it cut off circulation in my hand when I was filming, and would have to take it out every 5 minutes or it would become numb). The picture quality is pretty much the same as all other minidv's which are better than digital 8's but not enough to make a big difference. Pretty much, this is a good camera at a great price. If you want a MiniDV, go with this no doubt, however if you have hi 8 or 8mm tapes you should probably go with a digital 8. They are pretty good for the price, but big and bulky.

So many of the reviews I've read about this camera complained about motor noise. After purchasing this camera and using it in mulitiple settings, I haven't had a bad experience. While there is indeed a small level of motor noise, I found that using the Wind Screen shooting mode reduced what little noise there was to nearly 0 detectable db. If you're an amateur home movie maker, the features and ease of use make this camera well worth the money.

I am a first-time camcorder buyer, so I've been researching these for the past couple months. I had my choices narrowed down to the Canon ZR45 and the Sony TRV18. The Canon was smaller, lighter, cheaper, and fit better in my hand than the Sony. Canon wins, right? Well, the one thing that bothered me was reading the reviews about the 'motor whine' during playback. I knew this is one thing that would really bother me. Well, since we are taking a trip to Mexico in a few weeks I had to make my choice. I went ahead and took my chances with the Canon. I went to [...] to select a highly rated(and cheap) online seller. I ended up buying from [...]and had the camcorder within a week. After a few weeks of use, I am extremly happy with my decision. It is very easy to use, and best of all, the motor whine is a non-issue. Yeah, it's there when watching recordings in quiet settings, but I don't really notice it. As a test, I never mentioned the noise to my wife prior to buying the camcorder. I wanted to see if she would notice it not having not previously known about it. Well, she's probably used it more than I have over the past couple weeks and hasn't mentioned a word about the motor noise. Maybe some units are worse than others, but I'm not sure I would even have noticed it either if I wouldn't have read the reviews talking about it. I'm definitely glad I made the purchase. One recommendation - buy an extra battery. The one that comes with the camcorder only lasts about 45 minutes using the LCD. I bought a Lenmar LIC-511 that gives you about 2 hours.

I bought this camera a few months ago and can only say it has met all my expectations. The quality of the video a normal person can shoot with this little gem is unbelievable. The only option I would change if I could do it over would be to purchase a wide angle lens. If you are lucky enough to have Windows XP loaded on your computer then you are all set. Add a Firewire Card to your PC, plug the camera into the card and you are ready. XP recognizes the camera and a few clicks of the mouse later you are cutting and editing like a pro. Other than this I would consider a DVD burner. It makes distributing the finished product easier as I found getting the edited video onto normal tape was a little complex.