Canon ZR100 MiniDV Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom (Pearl Silver)

There may be "better" camcorders out there. Better in terms of more features. But it is unlikely the video or sound quality is much better than this one (in some cases actually worse). A 720X480 video frame (Mini DV standard resolution) can only accomodate approx 340 K pixels therefore a mega or multi mega pixel camcorder will not improve your video performance one bit. And they cost least twice as much.

I was looking for something really basic. I go for features (and use them) in a Camera not a Camcorder. When was the last time you used the fancy video functions? Do you even know where they reside on the menu? This camcorder has all the functions you will use and some that you probably won't. Its sufficiently loaded in that regard.

Performance I faced NO noise issues. In a very quiet room, there is faint noise (when the auto gain circuit increases the mic sensitivity). However, under all my shooting conditions (when the auto-gain ramps down the mic sensitivity), this has not been a problem. My unit was "Made in Japan" I don't know if this has anything to do with the "noiselessness" of the unit. The sound clarity is awesome the mic is quite high quality much better than my old sony 8mm.

Video WoW very impressed. Clear and colorful very close to what my eye sees. Very sharp as well. One can easily read text, see the veins on the leaves, the hair on the eyebrow on closeups. No problem regarding sharpness and overall color fidelity. Reds tended slightly towards pinkish sometimes (minor). On a dark overcast day video came out looking just fantastic. It wowed me/wife/dad everybody.

Low Light performance On par with other camcorders out there. If you keep the lights in the room on (reasonably well lit), you can capture excellent video (great white balance) with little to no noise. None of the blue tinge that I observed with another brand under the same conditions. In a dim room, the video is noisy, but still quite viewable. It is important to note that this camcorder has no worse performance than the others in its price range when it comes to low light performance.

Ergonomics easily fits in your jacket/pant pocket and the controls are well placed. I have no problem with the location of the menu button as a matter of fact that is where I think it needs to be! Very easy to manual focus but haven't done so yet. Autofocus is snappy no hunting. I don't care how tapes are loaded from the top or bottom. How many of you shoot using a Tripod and need to change tapes halfway?

The zoom speed depends on how far you press the zoom button simply great feature. Not just one or two steps. You can go from very slow to very fast zooms.

The unit can work as an analog to digital converter something I plan to use to convert my 8mm tapes to digital.

The eyepiece viewfinder is color, does not flip, but very good otherwise. I use it a lot. The flip out display is apparently not the best out there, but I find it to be adequate if not downright good.

Batteries are charged "in camera". You don't have to take the battery in and out for charging purposes. On the other hand, charging a spare battery ties up the camera (unless you purchase an external charger). The supplied battery seems to last for an hours worth of shooting works for me.

One last thing I have not seen mentioned in other reviews and I don't know how other brands perform in this regard. The image stabilization was just too good. While shooting video going through Golden Gate Bridge in a car(no zoom), the shots were almost professional in their stability. The exact same shots taken with an earlier camcorder without image stabilization are unwatchable. Note added later Compared to a PV-GS150, the image stabilization on the Canon was definitely better. I'll cross compare other aspects with my friends PV-GS150 and report back!

BTW I don't miss it not having photo taking abilities. All camcorder still pics are horrible when compared to my digicam. Why bother?

It does record hi-res 16:9 images (instead of the cropped ones). Maybe that'll be good for the future.

One purchase that exceeded my expectations.

Capturing Using a cheap firewire card and included cable (together less than ten dollars), video capture using Ulead software and Win Xp was a breeze. Other software (Pinnacle 9) worked equally well at capturing. Camera could be controlled from the software interface. The file size was approx 12 Gig (DV compression) for 45 min worth of shooting. Video looks very good on computer monitor and on TV. Now to MPEG 2 compress and author a DVD..

I bought this and owned it for two days. Its a decent MiniDV but you can do better at this price!

Noise was a major issue. The motor is just loud and it gets picked up in quiet scenes pretty bad.

Other than that the video recorded was of real good quality. But there was an issue with something going on when inserting a tape. It wasn't ejecting properly for some odd reason. I took it back after finding a deal on a Sony HC20 (that works a lot better/smoother than the Canon).

The only reason why I got this was because it was recommended by an Apple rep... well this isn't the best MiniDV out there at this price. Panasonic has a fantastic MiniDV for almost the same price... I'd pass on this one guys...

Buy Canon ZR100 MiniDV Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom (Pearl Silver) Now

I recently purchased the Zr100...I'm pretty camera literate and knew Canon to be a good brand. Brought the camera home and was playing with...when I was watching what I had recorded I noticed a "white noise" in the background...even when people were talking. The motor/fan on this camera is so loud that it really distorts and videos you take...it sounds like an old reel to reel is running 5 feet away. I called Canon about it and they suggested that I play background sound while recording to drown out the sound of the motor...well that doesn't work for video taping school plays etc...I'm returning this camera...hopefully not all MiniDVs have this problem.

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Me and my wife decided to get a digital camcorder since our old-fashion vhs camcorder finally bit the dust. Yes, I bought this camcorder because it was one of least expensive digital camcorders out there. I briefly reviewed the instructions, explained them to my college age daughter, and we were on our way to the beach with her 7 yr old sister. She immediately started recording me and my daughter. Very, Very, Very easy to use. (I recorded a little bit too.)We got back home, hooked up the canon to the TV, pressed the play button, and presto, we had a good recording of us on the beach. Awesome, Digital High Quality video. Quality of the picture was definitely better than expected for a inexpensive little machine. Sound quality was really good too. I don't have the best hearing in the world, but I didn't think there was much (if any,) motor or other unusual noise.

If you want something easy to use without paying a lot I really don't see anything wrong with this. Although for the most part you get what you pay for, the quality of this DVC sure beats the old vhs camcorders. Hook this up to a VCR or DVD-R to record your picture to your preffered format.

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I am curious to find out if anyone has this model and the noise is not audible? If you use the LCD it gets worse!

The picture is okay, and the price is not bad I wish I read the reviews before I purchased!