Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon ZR65MC MiniDV Digital Camcorder

Compact and a proved model of Canon technology, allows you to take digital photos in the Multimedia Card and record video in a mini DV cassette. The memory has a low capacity 8Mb aproximately 12 or 13 photos in good quality. Good Price. Free software. and the very important Firewire conexion. (bv2p)

This camcorder has a lot going for it: it's small and lightweight and very easy to use. It has one of the best digitial zooms of any camcorder on the market (20X) and is loaded with lots of special effects. The quality of the video in good lighting conditions or outdoor filming is excellent...very clear and sharp. It also converts analog to digital which is a major plus. And the price is pretty reasonable for all that you get.

That being said, I have to mention the cons: the qulaity of the video in low light situations is very poor...the video is fuzzy and blurrry (just like most of the reviews say). And using the "night mode" or "low light mode" does brighten the picture a bit but the quality is still not acceptable. And there is a constant motor noise when you turn the camcorder on. However, when I play the video back on my TV you do NOT hear the motor noise (so I can overlook that).

Overall, it's a good camcorder for the price and I would recommend it. It has a lot more pros than cons. Just don't buy it if most of your recording will be in low light.

I didn't listen to the other reviewers - but I should have. I liked the size of the camera, the price, the plugins - but the picture was REALLY grainy without natural light. Outdoors was picture perfect, and indoors in the kitchen in the daytime is great - but if you don't have natural light you won't be happy. Also, software is relatively useless. I'm taking it back and trying the SONY TRV...

I knew little about camcorders when I bought this. It got mixed reviews, but I've been extremely happy with it. It's simple to use and the video quality is very good. The 20x zoom is a nice feature, as well as the ability to store video on the MiniDV or a SmartCard. I would recommend it to anyone.

It is very light and easy to hold. Great colors, ease of use much better than what I have read. As with all digital camcorders, make sure you black stripe the tapes before using for video editing. Take the camcorder in a dark quiet room, put the blank tape in, lens cap on. Press record and let it do its thing. What you have is a predetermined timeline on the tape that will be there for your DV software to use. Much easier to deal with video edits in this format.

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