Rating: 
Summary: Versatile
Review: First of all I called Canon on August 14th, 2002 about the motor hum you get during recording and the Tech guy says that shouldn't be happening. He then proceeded to tell me I need to ship it in to the Canon Repair Center. He denied ever hearing anything about this problem. Anyway I like this camera alot. I couldn't afford the GL1 or XL1 so I chose the ZR50. It does alot more Professional Standard ENG tasks than a Sony camcorder I've used recently. For its size it packs in alot. The motor hum does bother me a little bit but I'll see what I can do. The other negative is that you can't use the DM50 mic and a light at the same time unless you get the VL10 light and velcro or a video bracket that SIMA corporation sells on their web site.
Anyway for the everyday enthusiast I would read the manual thoroughly before casting doubt. Those people who used it for a week then got rid of it never gave the camera a chance. I would definitely recommend this camera and look forward to expanding and buying additional accessories to go with it. Canon by far makes the best lenses for any and every camera.
Rating: 
Summary: How to get rid of the motor hum
Review: I actually haven't bought the zr50mc yet but have done a lot of research on it. I read serveral reviews complaining about the motor noise so called Canon and talked to the tech department. The man said when things are really quite, the automatic gain turns up and therefore the motor can be heard in the back ground. He said if you plug into the aux mic so that the internal mic is cut out, that that will clear up the noise problem. I see Canon offers a directional mic off of the hot shoe so that seems like a good item to buy to clear up the problem or else use the remote mic like the tech recommends.
Rating:
Summary: the sensible camera
Review: I actually own a zr25mc, but I had a run in with a cup of coffee and the thing is all done. Just ordered the ZR50MC because of the 22x optical and the success I had with the ZR25MC. I hear a lot of complaints about the motor noise. yes it is there, and yes you can work around it by using an aux mic. The camera is so compact that the tape mech sits very close to the audio. To me, the size outweighs the noise. You can tuck this thing in a pocket. One of the best things about this camcorder, is the placement of zoom. I looked at some of the vertical style camcorders out there, and was disapointed/confused by there placement of zoom. Camcorder functions are very intuitive, as oppose to like a sony, where everything is done by hunting around in menus (like I feel like using an operating system when filming). Image quality is superb. For those of you that whine about its low pixel count (460K is a bit low), you should realize that this is not even noticable on standard TVs, unless your some kind of cyborg that can distinguish those things. I'd even say its not noticable on an HDTV, but thats beyond my knowledge. Personally, I would recommend Canon over Sony. Although Sony has tremendous extra features, I'd imagine you would use them about 5% of the time. I hardly even use the features on the Canon, opting to do that kind of stuff with adobe premiere/after affects. I'd say, the only negative about the ZR50MC is the plastic housing, it can and will get scuffed up.
Rating: 
Summary: Looks can be deceiving
Review: I bought the Canon Zr-50 in February and I am fairly satisfied with it's functions. Good points: Stylish, small, compact, and comfortable to hold. Bad points: Digital Stills are only 640x480, when hooked up to tv it is sort of grainy which makes me mad. I am hoping it is my ignorance of DV camcorders and I hope there is somehow I can make the picture clearer. If there is please email me and inform me. The recording in the day time is great, but recording in the night time can use a little work. I like this camera and am waiting to do wonders with it. For the price I paid, I am satisfied. If you like a stylish mediocre camera for under 800, buy this camera.
Rating:
Summary: Great Deal!
Review: I bought this camcorder just before Christmas. I've read all the reviews before decided to buy it, they are really helpful. This machine is perfect to me, having all the great features described by previous customers. And I had a real good deal having a free carring bag and free software from Cannon and even a rebate. So, before you pay your credit card, go to check whether there is a rebate or discount offer from Manufacture. Sometimes, you have to browse some where else to find it, I don't trust other retailers, although they do seem to offer better price (they have very high shipping fee!!!).
Rating:
Summary: amazing tool
Review: I bought this tiny cute ZR50mc on August, 2002. I am truly love its size and performance. I used sony pc-101 before, it's smaller but I like this one better.
I saw many reviews talked about motor humming... Yes, it does as I found that really bother when I use it and play it directly on my TV. However, when I use video editor to record it from mini Dv tape to my PC and export it out to TV or burn it as DVD disk. Its pictures and sound turns perfect. All humming sound were gone. So I think the humming must be only come from the machine itself and not record into the tape. So when I play it from PC which show no noisy on the background at all. I think people can try it again to play it on PC or cd-rom. You will find out it turns quality well not only the picture itself also the clean sound.
Rating:
Summary: amazing tool
Review: I bought this tiny cute ZR50mc on August, 2002. I am truly love its size and performance. I used sony pc-101 before, it's smaller but I like this one better.
I saw many reviews talked about motor humming... Yes, it does as I found that really bother when I use it and play it directly on my TV. However, when I use video editor to record it from mini Dv tape to my PC and export it out to TV or burn it as DVD disk. Its pictures and sound turns perfect. All humming sound were gone. So I think the humming must be only come from the machine itself and not record into the tape. So when I play it from PC which show no noisy on the background at all. I think people can try it again to play it on PC or cd-rom. You will find out it turns quality well not only the picture itself also the clean sound.
Rating:
Summary: Very Nice
Review: I got the ZR40 (same camera but ZR50 has more options) about a week ago and I'm very pleased. I have had none of the problems mentioned in other reviews. The off white color when recording inside can be fixed by setting the white balance manually or setting it to outdoors. I have not noticed any motor sounds at all. The quality of the image is excellent and it's very easy to use.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to use
Review: I had read the other reviews before buying the ZR50MC. I have
to agree with them all - the motor hum does exist and is very
real, especially if there is only one person speaking in a
quiet background. In a noisy background, it doesn't matter.
However, it is very easy to use and very good looking, so I would
still recommend it highly. One of these days, I should probably
get the optional microphone to see if the hum does go away. For anyone contemplating buying the ZR series,my advice is to buy
the ZR45MC. The extended recording modes in ZR50MC have so many
limitations, that it is just not worth the extra money.
Rating: 
Summary: Video Quality is not very good
Review: I have compared this model with some simular models, and the video/still quality is not very good. I have since returned this model since indoors it turned white to a dirty white, and blue to gray. On the same tape with a different camcorder the image looked great. I tried all of the settings on the canon and nothing worked for me. Quality is not were it should be for a digitial camcorder.
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