Rating: 
Summary: Most features for the money
Review: ...we use the camera with digital editing software on the PC and Mac and have had no problems with the computers communicating with or controlling the camera. Makes it incredibly simple to shoot a short training video or video for the internet. Picture and sound are professional grade. Tape transport mechanism is much more reliable than the JVC we replaced. The analog input is convenient to take existing analog (S-VHS) footage in and convert to digital for use in our latest projects.
Rating:
Summary: No need to worry.
Review: After placing the order for this camcorder, I immediately began second guessing myself. I was particuarly worried about all the posts I had seen about the picture being "grainy in low light". I worried myself to the point of wishing I had just gone with a Sony Hi8. My camera arrived and the first thing I did when I took it out of the box (the battery was already charged and a 3 year old child can learn to operate it in 7 seconds) was to turn off all the lights but a table lamp and begin filming. Man did I feel silly for worrying. The people writing those comments must be used to watching HDTV movies, because I found the picture fine. It wasn't as good as if I was outside in sunlight (WOW does the camera do well outside), but that's because I wasn't in the sunlight, I was in a poorly lit room that was too dark to read a magazine. The image (my Jack Russell, Murphy) was clear and I could easily distinguish her facial features (in fact the camera picked up more light in the room than my "nekkid" eye could). You simply can't expect the same quality picture in poor lighting as in perfect lighting for less than 500 dollars. And unless you are fanatical about high definition, the quality is as good as one would expect. The camera is so small. Any doubts you have about this camera will disappear once you slide your palm around this beauty. Also, the image stabilizer worked nicely. Ultra tight zooms produced some shake (this was almost unoticable if I braced with both hands). No shake was noticable on wide shots. I also looked at the other ZR models, but the best I could tell the main differences revolved around the "digital camera" aspects of the camcorder. I wouldn't suggest the ZR-10 if you are looking for a "digital camera/camcorder combo". The ZR-10 just saves the picture to tape at 6 second increments (basically the same effect as pressing pause). This function is for the most part useless if you have a computer capable of video editing, in which case I would say never use the "photo" button and just capture frames from your video. The ZR-10 has been out for a couple of years and is kind of hard to find new, but if you do find one or are thinking about buying a used one, I would highly reccomend it. I bought mine for just under 500 dollars and am VERY glad I didn't pay the extra dough for any of the newer models (the "extras" were to minimal for the difference in price for me).
Rating: 
Summary: Just wait yours will eat tapes too
Review: All those that wrote great reviews about the camera will be back extolling how their camcorder now eats tapes. I've had my ZR-10 since Dec 2000 and now just in the last couple of weeks of Nov 2003 it is eating tapes and will not accept a brand new tape. Luckily (maybe) I did buy the extended warranty that the retailer offered and it is still under some sort of warranty. We'll see. Note: When I peeked inside it appears that the two fingers/rods that wrap the tape around the head are barely holding on. They move back and forth as you rock the camera in your palm. Based on the other avalanche of reviews I will not ever buy another Canon product.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: Canon has a reputation for excellent optics, but my recent experience with manufacturing or design problems is causing me to have serious doubt about Canon's quality. I have a 35 mm Elan IIE that has a well documented defect with the battery compartment. This ZR10 has an excellent feature set and input/output ports for the price. While the camcorder was still very new, I experienced intermittent problems with mosaic patterns occurring over part of the picture. It did not always occur in the same place, so I don't believe it was tape damage. Canon recognizes this problem in their FAQs, but they blame it on recording over a used tape. The camcorder was out of warranty but relatively lightly used when the worst problem occurred. It pulled out and chewed up two tapes. Searches on the internet reveal that this is a common problem. A local independent repair shop spent hours on it and was unable to repair it. I'm not sure if I want to throw any more money at a camcorder that I was never fully satisfied with. This camcorder received very good reviews as a new product when the reliability was unknown. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: Canon has a reputation for excellent optics, but my recent experience with manufacturing or design problems is causing me to have serious doubt about Canon's quality. I have a 35 mm Elan IIE that has a well documented defect with the battery compartment. This ZR10 has an excellent feature set and input/output ports for the price. While the camcorder was still very new, I experienced intermittent problems with mosaic patterns occurring over part of the picture. It did not always occur in the same place, so I don't believe it was tape damage. Canon recognizes this problem in their FAQs, but they blame it on recording over a used tape. The camcorder was out of warranty but relatively lightly used when the worst problem occurred. It pulled out and chewed up two tapes. Searches on the internet reveal that this is a common problem. A local independent repair shop spent hours on it and was unable to repair it. I'm not sure if I want to throw any more money at a camcorder that I was never fully satisfied with. This camcorder received very good reviews as a new product when the reliability was unknown. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Achtung
Review: Compact, light, user friendly, easy menu, but playback stopped working after 3 hours of filming (showed grey lines) and had to be returned.
Rating:
Summary: Great MiniDV CAMCORDER ---- Forget those BAD REVIEWS!
Review: Hello people! I know that you must wondering about all the BAD reviews about this camcorder. I just got the camera today and it was great. The resolution is OK for the price (...). I know it's not as great as other ZR series but this is actually OK. I like CANON products. I've been using their Powershot A20 digicam and Rebel2000 SLR camera. The function is easy to understand, nothing hard to learn. Just press this and you're OK. The SOUND is great. It takes 16-bit or 12-bit sound mode. It has 40 or 200x zoom capability. You can actually control the brightness of a dark room just using their jog-dial kind of feature. They make it brighter or darker. The image stab. is great too. The size is small and fits perfectly on any hands. I know it's been one day, but I'm planning to use this tomorow to take outdoor pics. Gor the price (...), it's a great camera. I don't about you, but I don't want to spend (a lot) for a camcorder. I'm thankful enough to have this camera. Think about it.....how often you take this camera to record something, i would imagine only only once every 3 months. It's not like I'm a cameraman in entertainment biz. I'm just a casual user. THis is a perfect one for me. Budget yourself too to buy a camcorder. OK guys.....get this small and stylish camcorder. I know you'll love it because I know I do.
Rating:
Summary: Tape eater!
Review: I bought a ZR-10 in Dec. 2000. It won't eject a brand new tape which
I just inserted.
Rating:
Summary: Problems with Servo
Review: I bought mine in May or June 2000. I and many other ZR-10 owners are having the same problem. The problem is that not only will this thing not eject tape. It ripples the tape while recording, and [damages] your existing tape during playback.Just found out today. Unfortunatly I only found out about this problem after this camera [damaged] several tapes that I taped on my new born baby. My wife and I are very disappointed. We though we will have some great memories that we can share with my baby after she grows up. I never expected this 900.00 [item] will fail after I only gone through about 10 tapes. ... Ranging from 150 to 250 dollars to fix. Canon is [taking advantage of] us by on recognizing it as a manufacture defect. ... I will not repair this junk and I will never buy another Canon product again. ... Not only will this thing not eject tape. I never have a near 1000.00 equipment fail after couple of uses. This is insane!!! I will give this camera a big "0".
Rating:
Summary: Piece of Junk
Review: I bought mine in May or June 2000. I and many other ZR-10 owners are having the same problem. The problem is that not only will this thing not eject tape. It ripples the tape while recording, and [messes] up your existing tape during playback.Just found out today. Unfortunatly I only found out about this problem after this camera [ruined] up several tapes that I taped on my new born baby. My wife and I are very disappointed. We though we will have some great memories that we can share with my baby after she grows up. I never expected this [camera] will fail after I only gone through about 10 tapes. I found three forums with people having the same... problem... Canon is totally screwing us by on recognizing it as a manufacture defect...I will not repair this junk and I will never buy another Canon product again. Other are saying going to BBB. I don\'t know what BBB will do. We will need more people to prove that this is a defective product and we want our money back or give us a new product. Not only will this thing not eject tape.insane... I will give this camera a big "0".
| 
