Canon ZR-45 is excellent digital camcorder with minor issues...
Written: Jun 08 '03
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Pros: Compact and easily held/carried, Easy to use, Very good movies
Cons: Poor still shots, Battery life acceptable at best, Zoom controls not great
The Bottom Line: Excellent entry-level digital camcorder for fun/home/family use.
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| mikegraham77's Full Review: Canon ZR45MC Mini DV Camcorder |
I have had this camcorder for 4 months, and have used it mainly for filming family events with digital editing, and wanted something very portable. Overall, it has been excellent in my first 5-6 hours of filming! Other reviews I have read complain about the "motor noise". There is some noise on playback by the camcorder itself, but the audio is fine (not really high quality or anything) without any motor noise when the tape is watched through the TV, or digitally downloaded.
This camcorder is very compact and I have found it very easy to use. The movie images are excellent. The still images are rather poor, so you will definitely need a digital camera if you plan to do more than just quick shots. It interfaces without problem with my mac, but does require additional purchase of a firewire cable if you are going to edit movies on computer. Battery life is ok, about an hour or so of heavy use per charge - so far I haven't needed a second battery, but I do need to remember to recharge it regularly.
The zoom is powerful enough, but does get a bit shaky at high end, also it is easy to zoom to fast or the wrong way (I assume this improves with more use).
Canon has updated the line, but I'm not sure what has changed. If you can get this one cheaper, it is probably worth it, unless there has been a significant change in the way the zoom is arranged.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 438
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Epinions.com ID: mikegraham77
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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