Canon ZR60 Mini DV Camcorder

I wanted to upgrade my 1995 Panasonic VHS C. The viewfinder was starting to act up and I decided I wanted something smaller, lighter and newer. I was looking to spend $400 - $600 price range. I looked at the Canon ZR60, Panasonic PV-DV203 and Sony TRV19. I initially opted for the Canon ZR60 based the Canon name, the number of features and the price. Note the Canon ZR60/65/70 are essentially the same the only major difference being the zoom and the ability to store pictures on a card rather than the tape. Let me state right off the bat that taking photographs with this thing was never an option for me as the 1/2 mega pixel quality was not going to produce a print quality photo. If you do a lot of emailing of pictures though, the ZR65/70 would be a better bet for you as they are geared to more easily port your photos to a PC. Personally, for photographs, you are better off buying a separate digital camera.

Back to the camcorder I found the instruction manual lacking a bit though I was able to figure out how to set up the camera and use it. Basically there is a menu button and a little wheel you use to select options desired such as the numerous time, date, fade in / fade out options or digital effects. By the way, it would have been nice to be able to declare a default fade in / fade out setting and be able to engage it by simply hitting a devoted single button on the top of the camera. Not quite so easy on the Canon. The Canon gives you many features though I am unsure how often (if ever) I would use them. Note that the camera has the ability to record analog data via its analog inputs. The Sony does not---not sure about the Panasonic. This means you could take your old VHSC or 8mm tape and convert it to the digital format. I am unsure why you would want to do this other than for purposes of getting the old tapes onto your PC (which this camcorder can do if you have a REAL powerful pc) for editing them or copying to DVD. Me, I'll just wait until those new DVD recorders are cheaper in price for this purpose. The camera also has a feature that allows you to overdub the audio track. This sounded like a great feature since it might be nice to go back and narrate the video that was shot. There are a slew of other feature for this camera...just check the Canon website. This camera has more features then the equivalent Panasonic PV-DV203 or Sony TRV19, which are in the same price range.
Most notably the Panasonic and Sony only have a 10X optical zoom where as the Canon ZR60 has an 18X. Once you start to use the Digital Zoom the picture degrades so forget the fact that the Canon has a 720X digital zoom unless you like looking at jumbled garbage.

So far so good, the Canon was the best bang for the buck and that is why I initially bought it. Sadly after familiarizing myself with all the features for an hour or so it took a scant 2 minutes for me to realize the camera would need to be returned. I filmed 2 minutes of evening hour indoor footage, in our home, with table lamps turned on. The camera was set in SP mode (the best recording mode) The resulting footage was grainy and washed out---believe me it looked horrible. In fact I pulled out my VHSC and filmed the exact same footage in SLP(which I always used so I could fit more on a tape) mode and the quality was leaps and bounds better than the Canon. Perhaps if I had not owned a camcorder before I would not have known better and accepted this poor quality but to be honest my initial reaction was that some thing wrong with the Canon camcorder. I called Canon the next day and got through to tech support immediately. They guy had me make sum adjusting features explaining that the default mode (Auto) may not have been suitable for my room conditions. Low light mode was a bit better but you can not move the camcorder around quickly in this mode as you see the picture becomes distorted. Ditto Night mode. Adjusting the White out feature made little difference as well. Still, after trying all this I just figured/hoped I got a bum camcorder. I took the thing outside the next day. It did a beautiful job of recording in the bright daylight. I was really hoping the picture would have been grainy---then I would have assumed a defect and exchanged it for another unit---yet it worked perfectly outside in the daylight. Next I though that perhaps all these mini dv camcorders simply do not perform indoors as well as their VHSC/8mm ancestors. I picked up a Sony TRV19 at Best Buy and tried it that night under the same low light conditions. The Sony filmed a crisp clear picture. Alas I concluded the Canon was simply not up to snuff for low light indoor situations. To bad because it was otherwise the best over all value.

As I stated I returned the Canon and will likely keep the Sony. It is about $70 more but worth it. I would have liked to try the Panasonic but Best Buy did stock the exact model I wanted and though Circuit City did (PV-DV103 $499) I wanted a service contract and CC's are the same price as BB's but for only 3 years instead of 4. Note that unless you buy the Panasonic you will likely want to buy a Video Light---though it may not be necessary with the Sony, it is an absolute for the Canon though I doubt it will make a big difference anyway. The Pany comes with a built in light but it has no remote control---go figure. You'll probably want to buy a separate battery and charger as well. I think the Pany comes with a separate charger but the Canon and Sony require that that battery be in the camcorder and plugged into the wall to charge...BOOOO! The batteries that come with all 3 models are shameful as well. They last only 40 - 60 minutes. Name brand batteries are EXPENSIVE too. Personally I would look on Ebay for a generic brand though a salesman told me the generics do not work with the Sony....not sure I believe it. I did find Canon accessories at good prices on Ebay.

Finally, irregardless of what you choose to buy figure on purchasing a second battery, separate charger, case, light, mini tapes (which are almost twice as expensive as VHSC or 8MM) and a tape rewinder to reduce wear and tear on your new unit! Suddenly the $450 - $600 camcorders are more like $600 - $800 though you need not by these accessories all at once and if upgrading you may have some already

Once I have used the Sony TRV19 for a while I'll try to post a review. All I can say is it blows away the Canon in terms of indoor picture quality. It also comes with a touch screen menu...which I guess could be good or bad; easy to use but I worry about the technology. After reading some of the Canon reviews for ZR65/70 I see others complaining about the indoor recording quality as well. Heed the warnings or at least try your camcorder right after purchase in case you need to return it. Generally you get only 14 days to return it without a restocking fee.