Canon ZR60 Mini DV Camcorder
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- Recording System: NTSC
- Camcorder Type: Digital
- Recording Media: Mini DV
- Optical Zoom: 18x
- Weight: 1.2 lb.
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Nice entry camcorder
Pros
Very easy to handle and use; great value for the street price (as of 4/04).
Cons
Noisy internal mic; problems in low light
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
An easy-to-use camcorder for the budget-conscious.
I purchased the Canon ZR60 from a Gateway store that was closing in April 2004, for approximately half the list price. What a steal! The ZR60 is no longer being sold in many places, but it can still be had on-line, and it's definitely worth some serious consideration.
I had been considering a camcorder but assumed I'd want to wait a year or two to get the right features in a camcorder at a reasonable price. This was definitely an impulse purchase, but as a result I've had to scour the manual to see what I actually purchased. The ZR60 is part of Canon's entry-level consumer line of mini-DV camcorders. There are a number of interesting features the ZR60 has --
. external mic input (via a mini-plug)
. digital effects
. programmed modes
. optional manual focus
. 18x optical zoom
. Canon's image stabilization
as well as a few features that the ZR60 does not have --
. the ability to take stills on a flash memory card
. more than 1 megapixels
. great low-light capacity
. Sony's image stabilization
. a utility shoe that will take Canon's own boom microphone
I've used a prosumer camcorder for work, and there's no doubt that the recording by a ZR60 here suffers by comparison, because the CCD has lower resolution, because the lens is not as good, and because I could use a remote external mic for work. Of those, the most irritating to me is the internal machine noise picked up by the ZR60's built-in stereo mic. I suspect I could get some software to filter out the persistent hum, but I suspect an inexpensive external mic will solve much of the problem easily. If you want great audio with your camcorder, you'll need a remote lavalier mic on a subject or a fabulous gunshot boom mic, preferably with unbalanced output for a camcorder that can take it. This is clearly out of the league of consumer camcorders.
But the video quality, except for low-light situations, is incredible compared to analog tape camcorders of a few years ago or my parents' old 16mm cameras. With a tiny lens and CCD, the ZR60 can still capture much of the world (and family) around you.
I had been considering a camcorder but assumed I'd want to wait a year or two to get the right features in a camcorder at a reasonable price. This was definitely an impulse purchase, but as a result I've had to scour the manual to see what I actually purchased. The ZR60 is part of Canon's entry-level consumer line of mini-DV camcorders. There are a number of interesting features the ZR60 has --
. external mic input (via a mini-plug)
. digital effects
. programmed modes
. optional manual focus
. 18x optical zoom
. Canon's image stabilization
as well as a few features that the ZR60 does not have --
. the ability to take stills on a flash memory card
. more than 1 megapixels
. great low-light capacity
. Sony's image stabilization
. a utility shoe that will take Canon's own boom microphone
I've used a prosumer camcorder for work, and there's no doubt that the recording by a ZR60 here suffers by comparison, because the CCD has lower resolution, because the lens is not as good, and because I could use a remote external mic for work. Of those, the most irritating to me is the internal machine noise picked up by the ZR60's built-in stereo mic. I suspect I could get some software to filter out the persistent hum, but I suspect an inexpensive external mic will solve much of the problem easily. If you want great audio with your camcorder, you'll need a remote lavalier mic on a subject or a fabulous gunshot boom mic, preferably with unbalanced output for a camcorder that can take it. This is clearly out of the league of consumer camcorders.
But the video quality, except for low-light situations, is incredible compared to analog tape camcorders of a few years ago or my parents' old 16mm cameras. With a tiny lens and CCD, the ZR60 can still capture much of the world (and family) around you.
