Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon ZR60 MiniDV Digital Camcorder with 2.5" LCD, 18x Optical Zoom and Image Stabilization

I don't understand all the universal negative feedback from customers about this camera revolving around the two issues:
(a) Abysmal low-light performance: video comes up pixelated/grained.
(b) In low ambient noise situations, a high-pitched sound in the background.

I have used this unit for over 3 months now, in many situations, and have never had either of the above problems.

If you care to head over to some serious websites such as camcorderinfo.com or such, you'll notice that this camera is being used by professionals with good success in a variety of lighting conditions. If you insist on being a point and shoot person, and don't want to spend the 10-15 minutes it takes to breeze through the manuals, well you have to live with the default factory settings -- which are NEVER ideal, for ANY brand.

If on the other hand you don't mind fiddling and experimenting a little with your device -- which is almost a necessity for good stills or videos -- then the ZR60 is a very charming, almost an addictive, gadget.

Below I offer some of my comments about this camera, and some suggestions on how you can get the best out of this brilliant device:

NOTEWORTHIES & HOW TO GET THE BEST OUT OF IT:

(1) The accessory shoe allows for an extra boom-light or boom-mic. All of the cam's supposed lighting "issues" can be handled with these simple accessories. (P.S. A good boom light can be had off eBay for under $40.)
(2) Aside from that, the camera's indoor/outdoor/auto white balance is right on and the in-camera mic is of decent quality (although serious videographers may wish to consider a wireless lapel/boom set.)
(3) For indoor shooting, you can try tweaking the Auto Exposure (AE) of the lens: lower it to about -1.0 for low light footage.
(4) The camera's steadying function is awesome -- ideal for handheld situations.
(5) Installs for PC and a Mac with equal lack of difficulty.
(6) Long battery life with the big battery.
(7) An often unnoticed fact: this recorder comes with an 18x *optical* zoom (as opposed to a digital zoom.)
(8) With Windows XP, you can use this piece as a webcam.
(9) Quite miniscule compared to other cameras, notably Sony's DCRs or the entry-level JVCs.
(10) The colors are so much more vivid than almost any other brands I have seen. Especially scenes of nature show up with the same beauty that you get from Canon's lens in their digicams!

QUIBBLES & IMPROVEMENT POSSIBILITIES:

(1) Bottom loading tape. This sucks when you have the cam mounted on a tripod for instance.
(2) Digital effects buttons could have and should have been located on the outside of the camera body so you don't have to open the swivel viewfinder if you don't want to.
(3) Flimsy connector cover for s-video out/ firewire out.
(4) The buttons do not light up in the dark (minor quibble.)
(5) No timelapse function (although I may still have to RTFM.)

SUMMARY:

In short, for a sub-400 camcorder I get Canon's topnotch lens technology without punching a hole in my wallet, and I have a DV camera with superb results that has me thinking very strategically about video -- being aware of lighting, noise, steadiness, etc. Planning your shots and editing afterwards will go farther to improve your videos than shelling out the extra hundreds dollars for competing cameras. This is quite easily my no.1 recommendation to friends just starting out with video.

I've just bought this camera less than 2 weeks ago and i'm already in love with it. Very easy to learn and get used to, consumer friendly. Nice picture quality on the computer and you get the same if not better resolution when hooking it up to the tv. The battery life isn't very long but you can easily live with it unless you need to tape a sporting event which carries on for more than an hour or so. Recharger works fine, the viewfinder has very nice quality. Not recommended for pictures but you can freeze any frame you shoot during filming and export the photo on the computer but the quality isn't anything like a digital photo from a nice camera but it's acceptable. But for filming it is exellent quality, I've had zero problems with the computer compatibility and I have a macintosh so it should work on most other computers without a hitch hopefully. Has extra shooting modes for the more experienced person like sports, low light, night, etc ... which offers better shooting under those surroundings. I very much enjoy this camera and can't wait to see what is next. The only accessories needed are a firewire cable to the computer and a mini dv tape or so and if you wish a long battery

I bought this camcorder to replace my old Hi-8 Sony TRV65. I was a little hesitatant about buying it despite the very attractive price because of the complains here on Amazon about (a) poor low light sensitivity and high noise level, and (b) audible motor sound. Ultimately, other factors (about them later) convinced me to buy this camcorder. Let me first address the noise issues first.

I videotaped a test footage by both Canon ZR60 and my old analog Sony TRV65 (which used to be a relatively high end consumer-grade camcorder back in 1998), and burned them side by side to a DVD. I found the following: (1) The video noise level of the Canon in poor light condition is exactly the same as that of the analog Sony; (2) the Sony measures the light intensity differently - it tends to bring up the details in the shadows while overexposing the bright spots, whereas the Canon adjusts the exposure for the bright spots, while the shadow come out quite dark in the picture - hence the wrong impression that the Sony has a better light sensitivity (3) Canon has a selection of several color temperatures through the menus (such as artificial light and sunlight), which makes the overall results better - Sony tends to make outside colors bluish and the insight shots reddish (4) the analog Sony has a better microphone with a better sensitivity - the voice of a person who speaks in a quite room 6-8 feet from the cameras comes out louder in the Sony's footage (5) The motor noise in the Canon is indeed somewhat louder than in the Sony, and it sounds like a high-pitch tone whereas the sony's motor sounds as quite hummering in the background. This noise is audible when you videotape in a quite room with little or no background sounds and is a little annoying, but it is not untolerably bad. Hence, I can say that the Canon, while is much smaller, is overall not any worse than the 6-year old high-end Hi-8 analog camcorder. Of course the technology has developed in 6 years, but for this rockbottom price the Canon shows a very decent performance.

Now for the features. A great advantage of ZR60 is that it has a built-in analog-to-digital converter which allows one to connect any analog video source (a VCR or an analog camcorder) and use the Canon as a capture device to convert analog video into digital. This feature was a primary reason why I decided to buy this camcorder as I have some 25+ analog videotapes and want to convert all of them to DVD. Converting and editing home videos is a slow process, but I already converted 8 hours of home videos to DVDs with the excellent image quality, and none of the problems which video capture boards (which are typically priced over hundred dollars) are known for (such as poor audio/video synchronization). Sony also includes this feature in some of its digital camcorders, but those are usually priced over eight hundered dollars.

Additionally, for those for whom the motor noise is a serious issue, there is a microphone jack on the camcorder (a feature usually found only in high-end camcorders). Plug in any stereo microphone, and all motor-related noices in the video will be gone.

A compact size and relatively easy operation is also a great plus.

I have only a few minor complaints. There is no "record while the button is pressed" mode which I got used to in the past - you always have to press the button once to start the recording, and press it again to stop the recording. Image stabilizer is not very efficient. There is no built-in title generator to add the date or location to the video (this can be done later on a computer, but you have to remember the dates and the names of the places). Finally, the only software enclosed with the camcorder is a totally useless program for videoconferencing - nothing at all for image editing (fortunately, there are free Windows Movie Maker in WinXP and iMovie on the Mac which are good enough for the first experiments with digital video editing).

Overall, while this camcorder is not the most advanced piece of video technology, it is a very decent camera which gives you a lot for the money and helps a lot in a transition from analog to digital video. If you are shopping for a camcorder in this price range and cannot afford or do not want to go for a $800+ camera, this Canon is a great deal.

There are a couple of other modifications of Canon, ZR65 and ZR70, which cost more, but differ mostly in features which in my opinion are not very valuable or practical.

Props go to all the people that decided to change the shutter speed and turn a few more lights to get a good picture, and give this camera the good review it deserves.

DIRECT FROM CALLING CANON TECH SUPPORT, NOT SALES:
The ZR-80 DOES NOT have... an external mic input or an s-video out

I called Canon tech support to get a comparison between the 2 models ZR-60 and ZR-80, and the tech said honestly that if I like the option to plug in an external mic, then definately keep the ZR-60. He also went on to say, that the low-light settings haven't changed much and that the battery life is slightly longer with the ZR-80, which comes with the exact same battery as the ZR-60.

Compare the power comsumption of the two cameras-

ZR-80: 2.3 W (using viewfinder), 3.3 W (using LCD screen)
or the
ZR-60: 2.9 W (using viewfinder), 3.8 W (using LCD screen)

It's not that big of a difference, but he did say is that the main reason for the difference in power consumption was because the buttons on the side of the ZR-80 do not light up like on the outside of the ZR-60 (these lighted buttons can be convient for night filming, since the ZR-60 has no backlight, neither does the ZR-80).

The ZR-80 has no added features aside from the "Skin Detail" function, which is supposed to smooth close up's of people. Although changing the default settings on the ZR-60 would do the same thing.

Although, the ZR-80 will be a newer camera package, weighing less and is smaller (how small can you get?), it will be the same price as the ZR-60 currently is. Mainly, Canon took out some features to keep the price low, since they said a lot of "home-video" type consumer's weren't using them. But for a budding film maker, quality sound (external mic input) and the ability to view footage more clearly on a TV (s-video) by using regular RCA jacks is vital.

Your best bet if you want the features listed above, go out before the ZR-80's come out and buy a ZR-60, you'll get more bang for your buck if you are willing to change some default settings for light and buy a few extra accessories (mic, bigger battery, s-video cable) you will get some great footage. Get the specs and features for yourself at canon's site and tech support line.

In my opinion, this is the best all around camcorder money at a great price. I used this camcorder every day for almost a year and the results were always fantastic. There werent ever any glitches or issues I had. This camcorder is small enough that you can take it practically anywhere. The quality is a huge step up from analog and Hi-8. I have absolutely no complaints.