Canon ZR70MC Mini DV Camcorder

Pros: Zoom, image stabilization, audio dubbing, analog conversion
Cons: None yet.

First let me say I think this camera has an undeserved bad reputation for being noisy. I wanted thi ...

Pros: Features, Looks, Friendly, Digital
Cons: Battery Time, No Built-In Light

I have spent a lot of time working with this camcorder. I used it to film a documentary-type video I had to present. I was thrilled with the extraordinary abilities of the Cannon MiniDV but a little disappointed in some things. I would recommend this to ...

Pros: Many features at a low price. Compact size. Ease of Use.
Cons: Poor night shots. Battery life could be longer.

This is my 3rd camcorder and my 1st digital camcorder. When trying to decide which one to buy, I considered several things. Price, features, ease of use, and video quality were my primary considerations. First, the price. It is hard to talk about the pri ...

Pros: Price, Zoom, Image Stabilization, Size and Weight, Ease of use
Cons: Motor noise, Grainy in dim illumination

This is my first camcorder purchase. I was looking for a sub-$450 MiniDV camcorder with good image quality and features. Based on the reviews on this site, I chose the Canon ZR70MC. I have had it a few days now, only enough to just get started, and I ...

Pros: outdoor quality excellent,analog digital conversion, Mac easy plug play capture, good point and shoot
Cons: lowlight grainy choppy, night super night modes choppy,

I just purchased the Canon ZR70 and got a decent deal on the home shopping channel. In no ways am I an expert when it comes to digital camcorders but know enough to point out some things to those who are considering buying this camcorder. For point ...

Pros: Decent consumer camcorder. Easy to use controls. Included wide angle lens.
Cons: Still photos are unusable. Built-in light is not good.

I have used Canon digital camcorders before, and was happy with their performance, so I bought this ...

Pros: Too many to list
Cons: None.

Ok, I've read every review I could get my hands on regarding this camcorder and I am incredibly skeptical of anything negative anyone may have to say about the Canon ZR-70MC. I have owned this camcorder since July 1, 2003 and wanted to get some ...

Pros: Compact size, 22x optical zoom, uses MMC/SD cards.
Cons: Grainy video under low-light conditions, loud humming sound in recordings.

After extensive online research, I bought this little piece of equipment for an upcoming trip. Thankfully, I decided to do some testing before leaving. While the design and features of this camera seem excellent, it leaves a lot to be desired in ...

Pros: Although of absolutely no functional value, colored buttons will entertain very small children
Cons: Poor picture, focus, color saturation and hue, non-existent customer service. cumbersome recording interface.

I owned a digital-8 for a long time and finally figured it was time to make the transition to Mini-DV. I had heard good things about the ZR series and was especially intrigued by the 22x optical zoom of the ZR70MC. Also, transferring my old digital-8 and ...

Pros: Great Zoom Capabilities 22X, Above average sound, Great compact size, dual recording format.
Cons: picture a little dull in low light situations, need to buy the add on light.

This is a great buy for a mid-level digital camcorder or for someone who is looking to buy their first. I've owned the ZR70 for a little over 6months now and absolutely love it. I didn't want to spend a lot of money, but also didn't want to scrimp on ...

Pros: It has a nice feature set and is very inexpensive
Cons: Broke 4 times in one year. They won't repair it even under warranty.

Mine broke four times in one year. Trying to get Canon to honor the warranty is like pulling teeth. ...

Pros: Small, easy to use, large LCD panel
Cons: Poor workmanship/quality, non working and requiring expensive repair after a short time.

I feel both fortunate that I wasn't the one who spent the money for this camera, but at the same time disappointed for my mother who purchased it for travel. Luckily (or unluckily) decided she didn't want to be bothered with taking video and so handed it ...

Pros: Beautiful video, easy connection to PC, good battery life
Cons: low light pictures and video are not that great. Need FireWire for transfering video

My wife and I purchased this camcorder about a year ago as a settlement to an argument. I wanted a decent digital camera for taking quick pictures, nothing too fancy. She wanted a good camcorder for vacations and such. We settled on this camcorder as ...

Pros: Easy to set up and use. Features make this an attractive camera.
Cons: Very grainy picture unless outdoors in sunlight.

I've had this camera for 3 weeks and despite its ease of use and handsome appearance, the picture qu ...

Pros: Excellent zoom, outdoor picture quality, many features
Cons: POOR indoor picture quality

Pros: Excellent 22x Optical Zoom, 440x Digital Zoom Great Outdoor Picture Quality Easy to ...

Pros: Convenient size, easy to use
Cons: Poor compatibility with Mac OS X & iMovie, poor durability

The ZR70MC produces good video quality when used under strong, even lighting conditions. It has difficulty with high contrast lighting (bright sun and shade). It produces flat colors and graininess (digital noise) when used in low light conditions (indoors).

The ZR70MC was unable to transfer video into iMovie (or Final Cut Pro) running with Mac OS X - the camera would disconnect within 3 minutes. It transferred video okay into iMovie running with Mac OS 9.2.2. An Apple service bulletin states that some models of Canon ZR camcorders have FireWire compatibility issues with Macintosh computers.

The video sensor in my ZR70MC failed after recording 15 tapes (15 hours of recording). The failed video sensor and the FireWire incompatibility issues led me to conclude that the ZR70 wasn't worth repairing. End of story!

Pros: Easy to use, light weight, crisp clean picture, it's a Canon
Cons: Battery life is short

After using the camera for a year, there was no image. The sensor went bad like a lot of the other reviews stated. I went on the canon website and there was an important message regarding the camera. They were aware of the problem and were offering to fix it for free. They will even pay for shipping the product back to them. Canon backs up their products and that's why I will only buy Canon. All our camera equipment is Canon from my point and shoot to our 1D Mark II. This camera is back to brand new condition. GO CANON!!!

Pros: DV/SDmemory, Zoom, ergonomics, compact size, supplied 0.6x attachment, photo/video feature
Cons: a little heavy (negligible), no flash (camera does well despite this)

I work at a youth center and we've had it for about a month now and I must say I'm impressed. The zoom is helpful in capturing kids from a distance when they are most natural and not "hammed" up from close photography. The photo/vid cam features work very well. Camera comes across as a great hybrid between video and digital camera. Funny for me as I was shopping a few months ago for just this kind of device!
I just love the switchability between dv and SD memory. SD memory, of course, is limited to the size of the card. I'm not sure of the resolution photos but I find them very satisfactory, especially for lack of a flash unit! I heard some compaints about the battery - hello? LCD screen uses a lot of juice.
Great camera at a very reasonable price.

Pros: Came Highly recommended
Cons: Screen went blank after only 6 months of use. Waste of $.

After only 6 months of use the Canon ZR 70MC went belly up blank screen on us. Called various repair shops and was told $225 to fix it. They also said this condition is very common in the Canon product. We all feel we were ripped off. Do not buy the ZR 79MC if you want a camera that last. Had to go back to using my 8 year old sharp. Guess which brand we are buying again.

Pros: Small, great outdoor clarity, incredible zoom, price!!
Cons: Indoor picture grainy w/o ample lighting, weak Mic

Great camera for the price. Inside picture quality is fairly poor without ample lighting. Mic pics up sound right around the camera, but not to good at anything over 6 or 7 feet away. I ordered an optional mic and had great luck thus far. Can definately hear the motor noise on playback thru the camera, but if you play it through a TV, you don't hear it at all. Incredible zoom and picture clarity overall. People are too quick to judge this camera, without playing with it for a while. Those who say they sent or took it back after a day, didn't have time to really see what this little camera can do. If your an average joe who doesn't need all the bells and whistles, or a new camera every year, then I would recommend this little camera.

Pros: Light to carry around and looks good.
Cons: Its been a big disappointment over a short period of use.

I bought the product because it was compact; the product name and the features. I could say that I used the camcorder over ten or fifteen times within the two year period. I found out that the viewfinder turned black; I mean no image can be seen.

I got in touch with Canon and was advised to take the camcorder to an approved repair center. Of course, I have to pay for them for diagnoses and hopefully get it repaired before going back to Canon.

I have since checked on the web and found out this was a common problem with this model of camcorders. Hopefully I will get this repaired but never buy another Canon product again.

Its a shame that even with less use; the camcorder can still develop such a general problem. Canon should have done more quality testing before selling to the public.

Pros: Ease of recording, light weight, compact, nice attachments
Cons: Terrible downloading on W2K Pro, TWAIN driver conflicts with many applications

The camera itself is great. It functions quite well, is easy to use, and has some nice features. Now for the tough part ... getting those digital images to your computer.

In my case, I am running Windows 2000 Professional on 3 separate machines. All 3 machines were unable to connect with Canon's TWAIN driver. The driver causes all of my imaging applications (Imaging, Photoshop, Scansoft, Paperport, and a couple of others) to crash.

I went through the usual routine of searching the web, browsing their FAQs, running through Canon's troubleshooter, and eventually contacting support. Supports answer (after 1 month of inquiries with no assistance) was to tell me that it was a software issue and they don't produce the software. They then gave me a link to the software page ... waddya know ... its a known issue. No answer though.

So, use caution if you intend on actually getting the data to disc.

My solution was to purchase a piece of software (Power Producer) that allows me to capture the video. Unfortunately, it doesn't do still images, but at least I can download the video.

Pros: Enough interfaces to link to almost any device. Great Movies
Cons: Does not include DV tape and Firewire cable in package

Great value for price. Loved the movies I shot, as well as the ease of operation. Transfers to the computer were good too.
This was very light and compact. I just love the ZOOOOOOM...

Pros: Price, features, handling
Cons: Lousy stills, low-light is OK with tweaking, but don't expect point and shoot.

Nice little camera - and with the 2004 ZR80-90s coming out, there are good prices on this. I tried the 2004 models and I like the 2003s better anyway. The ZR-70 has most every feature you'd want in a consumer camcorder. The buttons and menus are much better than the new Sony touch-screens in my opinion. Stills aren't very good as with most moderately priced camcorders, and shooting indoors requires some tweaking for good results: Spotlight Mode works great half the time, shutter of 1/60 and AE of -1.0 works OK the other half. Low-light performance doesn't compare to my old Handycam "Lo-8", but that's what you get with a smaller camera and lens. I would recommend getting an extended warranty (shop around on the web - don't limit yourself to the retailer) as I've had another Canon break and heard of others.

Pros: Easy to use, and beatiful shooting capabilites
Cons: Too much noise

This camera is definetly the nicest camera I have ever used. I have to be honest though, I do not own one. My friend owns it, but I keep it at my house :) I think I've used it more than he has! The picture quality is excellent for a personal video recorder, and the sound quality is also adequate. That is the one problem I have found though, sound quality. There is a substantial amount of noise in the background in most filming locations. Other than that, I highly recommend this wonderful piece of recording technology!

Pros: Price
Cons: Picture quality in average to low light

I bought the ZR80 and I couldn't return it fast enough. The biggest problem is the picture quality in low light -- unwatchable. I'm guessing the entire ZR50-ZR90 series has similar problems. Don't waste your time.

I ended up with a Sony TRV-33, after some intense research on this price range. It's a beaut! The extra $60 was WELL worth it!

Overall it's a great camcorder for anyone, with great extra features and simple menus. But in sound quality, it can get very jerky sometimes and the small lens isn't always good for most advanced users. it's still an awesome first-time camcorder!