Rating: 
Summary: excellent family camcorder
Review: I bought this camcorder to use for family and work purposes. It is very easy to use, and the picture quality is good. It was simple to connect to my tv for viewing. I haven't tried to connect it to my computer yet, but I will have to get a firewire adapter for my desktop first. No video editing program was included, so I will have to get one of those, too. Although basic, the ease of use and small size make this an ideal camcorder for my needs.
Rating:
Summary: excellent family camcorder
Review: I bought this camcorder to use for family and work purposes. It is very easy to use, and the picture quality is good. It was simple to connect to my tv for viewing. I haven't tried to connect it to my computer yet, but I will have to get a firewire adapter for my desktop first. No video editing program was included, so I will have to get one of those, too. Although basic, the ease of use and small size make this an ideal camcorder for my needs.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor Video Quality in Low Light
Review: I ended up returning this camera because I was not happy with the quality of video in low light. If you are going to shoot decent looking video indoors you would need to light the setting in some way -- I know because I experimented with a number of light sources including consumer halogen. I had to use at least 2 50W halogen light sources directed at the subject in a room with two windows to get reasonable detail/resolution. Clearly, this is not the indoor environment the average user is going to encounter.
Rating:
Summary: Poor Video Quality in Low Light
Review: I ended up returning this camera because I was not happy with the quality of video in low light. If you are going to shoot decent looking video indoors you would need to light the setting in some way -- I know because I experimented with a number of light sources including consumer halogen. I had to use at least 2 50W halogen light sources directed at the subject in a room with two windows to get reasonable detail/resolution. Clearly, this is not the indoor environment the average user is going to encounter.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent, So Far......
Review: I would like to take this time and give my input about the Canon ZR 20 MiniDV. First off let me say that the size of this thing amazes me enabling me to fit it in my pants pocket (compared to my old vhs). There aren't that many high end features on this but for the basic everyday recording this is an excellent camera. Be aware that this DOES NOT have NIGHT VISION if you want it purchase the ZR-40 series. I purchased this at the [store] that sells mac computers. It cost me [money] and for [the same amount] at [a different store] i could have got the ZR-40 but they were out :(. Overall i really do like this camera not overpowered with features but does the job well (my first canon camera). From now on i'll stick with them in the future (Much better than JVC and SONY). Down the road I'll upgrade my pc to firewire for video editing, that looks pretty fun. But if yourlooking for a good quality camera with a GLASS lens not plastic like the others and something stylish and small than go with any of the Canon ZR Series (10,20,25mc,30mc,40,45mc,50,50mc) Hope this Helped in your camera buying experience!
Rating:
Summary: Best quality for the price
Review: I've looked for a good DV camcorder to replace my old Hi8 camcorder. We need it to be compact to fit into one palm, and have image stablization. We also need it to have analog input to transfer old video. Some of the higher-end model have low-resolution digital camera capability, which is useless to us since we already had high-resolution digital camera. We tried to avoid spending extra money to pay features we don't need, and it leads us to Canon ZR20. Well, what a great buy! We spend less than our old Hi8 camcorder, and got a 3X better camcorder! The picture quality is super, the sound is great! ( I don't have the issue described by another reviewer.) Right after recording, we can also playback the video with sound on this tiny camcorder. All my families just enjoy playing with this new toy and have a wonderful time together. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Best quality for the price
Review: I've looked for a good DV camcorder to replace my old Hi8 camcorder. We need it to be compact to fit into one palm, and have image stablization. We also need it to have analog input to transfer old video. Some of the higher-end model have low-resolution digital camera capability, which is useless to us since we already had high-resolution digital camera. We tried to avoid spending extra money to pay features we don't need, and it leads us to Canon ZR20. Well, what a great buy! We spend less than our old Hi8 camcorder, and got a 3X better camcorder! The picture quality is super, the sound is great! ( I don't have the issue described by another reviewer.) Right after recording, we can also playback the video with sound on this tiny camcorder. All my families just enjoy playing with this new toy and have a wonderful time together. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: What I expected - good base camera to start with
Review: Since I've only had the camera for less than one week, this is just my first impression: I researched around and finally went with the ZR20 for the following reasons: Price, Compactness, and base features. The ZR20 has a great price after rebate if you shop around. It is very small (palm size for my hand), although it's not as small as the Elura. The size is very important to me up to a point. It has to be small enough so that I will end up using it instead of debating if it's too big to lug along because I wanted a camera for everyday videos-around the house and on trips. Between the ZR and other cameras in this base range, the ZR definitely wins. Other important features I wanted were analog video IN and hot shoe. The ZR has S-Video as well as composite video IN which means I can easily transfer my video from my 8mm and VHS tapes. It also has a hot shoe (which the smaller camera seems to lack) for a video light if needed. The closest competitor for me on the ZR decision was the Panasonic PV51, but it was just too big and did not have the analog video IN like the ZR. After I received the camera, I started to tape within 5 minutes. It was very easy to use and the firewire connection worked right off the bat. I was able to capture the videos to Premiere quite easily. Premiere even had the ZR10 controls build in-the ZR20 and ZR10 is virtually identical for this purpose. So far the camera is exactly what I had expected. There are a few issues that are worth mentioning. The tape transport mechanism (loading and removing tapes) seems to be very fragile. Loading an older DV tape that I had required a slight nudge to get the transport to load. This has happened twice in the beginning, but has not happened again. Canon specifically says in the manual to remove the tape when you are not using the camera. I am not sure if this is true for all DVs, but seems cumbersome. I left the tape in the camera for a couple of days and the next time I turned it on to shoot again, it gave me a HEAD CLEANING warning. I took the tape out and turn the camera off and back on, put the tape back in and started to shoot. The message did not appear again. I shot quite a bit of indoor footage in dim and average light. It was OK for what I expected-note, I shot in the automatic mode, not the programmed indoor mode. I don't really have any thing to compare with either. Assuming the tape transport is not going to be a continuous issue, I am very happy with the camera at this time. As for recommendations, I would recommend if you are looking for a base DV to play with. Look over the features and go to the local store to "handle" the models you are interested in. No matter what "great" features any camera has, if it's not comfortable to use, you will end up not using it. Since I have not had the camera long enough, I have no idea of it's quality, so can not recommend based on that.
Rating:
Summary: Canon ZR20 MiniDV Digital Camcorder
Review: The Canon ZR20 is a Digital MiniDV camcorder with a 2.5" LCD and a color viewfinder. Zoom And Image Stabilizer The camcorder has 10x optical zoom and 200x digital zoom. The image is not shaky at high magnification levels, since the camera is equipped with a digital stabilizer. Picture The camcorder records video and still pictures. The still pictures can be recorded on a MiniDV tape and one tape can hold around 700 still pictures. The picture quality (the CCD has 460,000 pixels) in the video mode is very good with low noise level. Sound The camcorder has a stereo microphone and a built-in speaker. The microphone input allows you connect an external microphone. You can select between 12- and 16-bit recording. Features The camcorder comes with a Li-Ion battery, A/V cable, S-Video cable, power adapter, battery, remote and a shoulder strap. There are several AE modes, including fully automatic "Easy Recording". But in addition to automatic settings (focus, white balance, etc.), you can manually adjust focus, white balance, shutter speed, exposure (AE Shift). The camcorder allows you apply faders and digital effects and has widescreen mode. It also features FireWire (i.Link, IEEE1394) jack, so you can connect it to another digital camcorder, MiniDV VCR or a computer for editing or making a copy. The remote control allows you search for still pictures on the tape using Data Code recorded during the shooting. The camcorder features both composite and an S-Video inputs/outs and LANC editing terminal. The timer allows to perform recordings at predefined time. There is a Low Light recording capability (low shutter speed and high exposure time). Remote Unlike entry-level digital camcorders from Panasonic, the wireless remote control is included here. Bottom Line The ZR20 is a nice camcorder with good feature set. But the menu system is unnecessary complicated and the Canon camcorders are not among the most reliable (unlike Panasonic ones).
Rating: 
Summary: Has Serious Audio Drawbacks
Review: The small size of the ZR20 left everything compact...however Canon chose to place the microphone directly in front of the misplaced video heads (the tapes load from the bottom of the camcorder...a difficult task if you use a tripod). The result...a 'humming' noise so loud that you wont hear your daughter's piano recital from the back of the room, but just the buzzing of your camera. For users who want audio they can hear, skip the ZR20 until Canon fixes the problem.
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