Customer Reviews

Canon ZR25MC Digital Camcorder with Built-in Digital Still Mode

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

First I want to say I'm not very knowledgeable at all about Mini-DV, and as this being my first camera as such any opinions I express are only very amateurish and I cannot compare this camera to others as I have not had the experience of using any other DV devices, and I have not had alot of time lately to play with it. But I'll say my first impressions here of it for what they are worth.

First, I'll have to say my impressions about the Image Stabilisation, as far as I can tell. It's not much to be desired. If I don't hold the camera very steady in my hands or use a tripod the "shakes" are very noticeable. I have been using the camera to take footage of rural Alaska, on trails and mountains, and as you can probably guess it's rather hard to climb a rough trail without considerable shaking. It's not horrendous, but I really don't see any help from it. Again, I don't really know what to expect from it either, but so far, it's not been what I expected. But, it's also not the more desireable optical stabilisation as opposed to this cameras digital, and it is also better to just turn this feature completely off anyway when using zoom in extended ranges.

Also, the low light feature does work, but is very grainy when taking indoor shots especially. It seems the camera does best in bright outdoor light, and to take decent footage of indoor scenes your lighting better be good. The various options for lighting adjustment in the menu for outdoor/indoor lighting however work great, and adjust for the different conditions well.

The camera seems VERY well built. I have knocked it around considerably on the trails, thrown it in a bag and out without overdue care, and subjected it to high winds, mist, and rough handling. No problems. It feels very solid in the hands and does'nt give me any impression of fragileness. The LCD door clicks open and shut with certainty, as does the battery. The covers for the DC jack and S/DV in-out jacks are'nt though, they are made of rubber and do not seem to be very reliable, and hang by a thin rubber strip when open. They also don't seem to want to stay closed alot, and I'm always afraid of ripping them off when opening them for access. Otherwise, the cam seems very solid and able to withstand abuse. The camera fits snugly and comfortably in the right hand using the supplied strap, and it also comes with a neck strap for additional security. The controls are easily accessible considering this cameras very small size, though the main power switch is hard to move due to it's extremely small center lock button. The footage/shutter stop/start button is very nicely located and can be quickly found with the thumb. Same is true for the zoom rocker with the index finger.

The Optical zoom (10X) is superb. No degradation in image quality whatsoever either all the way up to 40X in the digital zoom. This thing is like a telescope, I can zoom in on things the naked eye could never pick up even past the 40X. However......past the 40X, the image gets grainy, and is practically worthless past 100X. It gets so pixelated past 100 that I turned the option off and only use the 40X digital zoom option. Again, it is best to turn stabilisation off when using zoom past 10X optical.

The image quality so far is excellent. Very clear, the colors are accurate and vibrant, and noticeably improved over Hi-8 when dubbed to a VHS tape. The zoom is smooth, and very fast/slow according to how much pressure you place on the rocker swith.

The DV out/in works flawlessly with my firewire terminal, and I've been using MGI Videowave 3 for editing and compression. BTW, I can also highly recommend that program, very user friendly and works great. I may someday want to graduate to a more robust application, but for now it's awesome. I also called their tech support for a question I had regarding capture (I was being an idiot, enough said of that!) and the support person was very friendly, patient and helpful.

The ZR25's battery life seems excellent. I have not yet ever completely depleted it using the included Li-ion BP-512 pack, even using the LCD constantly. Canon has available a higher capacity pack as an accessory, but I see no need for it for my uses.

The LCD quality is not what I expected. According to specs, it's 2.5 inch LCD is approximately 112,000 pixels. I'm not sure how that compares to other screens in it's class but I'm sure it's low. I always have to keep in mind that my footage is going to look 3X better than what I'm previewing on it. It's also terrible in sunlight (I imagine this may be common with most DVcams, but the LCD on my Kodak digicam spanks it big time). The viewfinder however is more than adequate. Nice color, and seems to be accurate according to the actual footage taken. It also swings up and away from the battery pack for easy replacement of the battery, and it's angle is good for comfort of use when extended.

Overall, though the CCD is admittedly of lower resolution compared to the Allura's, (1/4 inch CCD, approx. 460,000 pixels, approx. 290,000 effective) but the quality of footage is so far excellent and more than satisfactory to me as long as the lighting is adequate. I have not yet tried the still image mode, but I did not buy this camera for that feature as I have two digital cameras for that purpose (Kodak DC-4800's, which, by the way, I can personally highly vouch for, they take superb images, have a full range of manual exposure settings, and offered with optional lenses with lens adapter accessory). I'm pleased with it more than not.

I'll write more on this camera as I gain more experience with it, and I hope this somewhat helps others who might be considering purchasing this model.

I ended up returning this camcorder because of poor low light performance.

I looked long and hard at many digital camcorders. I did a couple weeks research and narrowed it down to about six choices, then my wife and I spent an entire day going to all the local camera shops and playing with the cameras and we narrowed it down to three, the Canon ZR-25, the Sony DRC-PC9, and the Sony DCR-TRV30.

We liked the size of the small Sony DRC-PC9, but it was too awkward to hold and the buttons were hard to reach while filming. The Sony DCR-TRV30 seems like an awesome camera, the resolution was obviously better than any of the others (we did a lot of A/B testing on video monitors), however it's nearly as big as our 10 year old 8mm Sony (...).

The Canon was nifty to hold, ergonomically it felt the best in our hands (...). So as far as low light, we did some testing in a relatively dark store and aimed the cameras into a dark corner painted black and spent time focusing on some dark camera bags that were in the corners. All the cameras seemed to do just fine. Of course the night vision was cool on the Sony's, but we weren't sure how useful that would be for us. And this was a dark store, a mellow upper end audio/video store, not a brightly lit super store. So for the cost and ergonomics, we bought the Canon ZR-25MC. We choose it over the ZR-10 for the multimedia card. We liked the idea of snapping quick low-res pictures of the kids that we could send as emails, plus the ZR-25MC hasprogressive scan.

OK, so we get it home and start to take pictures that night. It was in our living room and we had two bright lights on and a Christmas tree lit, also this room is painted white. So I took about 10 minutes of video and snapped a bunch of photos. First gripe, you have to switch between the video tape and the multimedia card via a toggle switch. So if you hit the picture button while you are using the video tape "mode" the camera will send the picture to the tape for 5 seconds, instead of just sending it to the card! How stupid! I bought the camera to send video to the video tape and pictures to the multimedia card. True, we should have noticed this before we bought it, but we didn't. There is no way to change this,it should at least be a set-up option. I could understand capturing pictures to the tape if the card was full, but I don't want to have to flip a toggle switch that I have to stop and look for when I want to snap picture. I think that was a poor design on Canon's part. I don't know if the Sony's behave the same way. OK, second gripe, and the reason we returned the camera, the low light is terrible. I had read user reviews on every web site I could find (a lot of them) and had read about this issue, but some reviews said the low light was OK. So I figured it would be OK for taking pictures of my kids. But these indoor videos were shockingly grainy. I'm not a resolution or quality freak, I'm a casual video user and these indoor shoots were un-usable. I had expected this camera to do at least as well as our 10 year old Sony 8mm camcorder and it was no where near as good, the 10 year old Sony ROCKS side-by-side to this brand new digital camcorder in low light. OK, so we decided to reserve judgment until the daytime. I took about another 10 minutes of video in our house during the daytime. All the dark areas (not in direct light) had grain and even the shadowed areas in a room with four skylights had grain (at was a cloudy/rainy day - without direct sunlight). We were flabbergasted. This was exactly what we bought the camera for, to take pictures of our kids playing (at least 50% of the time indoors) and the camera was virtually useless. There aren't many times we can film outside in the sunshine here in the Pacific Northwest! We decided to return the camera. Believe me, I hate returning things and it was a big deal for us to decide this. So after about an hour of badgering the salesman that we bought it from, he agreed to return our money without the restocking fee. He actually took me aside and said all the digital cameras did this. He picked up a three CCD (...) JVC camera and said it too was bad. He said that some of the three CCD Sony's (big $$) were pretty good, but basically that consumer digital cameras aren't as good as they should be yet.

Wow, I was surprised by this. I guess they can't use that as a sales pitch before you buy the camera. Well that's our MiniDV camcorder tale. We are still using our 10 year Sony 8mm camcorder.

I've recorded about 20 minutes with my brand new ZR25 and have already had to send it back to Canon twice for repairs for an identical issue.

When the camera was brand new, I had recorded 15 minutes worth of tape when the recording and playback became distorted. While playing tapes back, four horizontal, pixelated lines would scroll down the screen and render the image unwatchable. The sound playback was also garbled beyond comprehension.

I called Canon and they said to try a head cleaner. A $16 head cleaning tape later, the problem persisted. I called back and Canon said to try a new tape. I bought two brand new tapes ($14) and neither made a difference.

Then I called Canon back and asked them if they would replace the camera and reimburse me for the cost of the head cleaning tape, which did not solve the problem. They refused on both counts. Though I had used it for a mere 15 minutes, Canon insisted I send the camera in for repair--and they would not reimburse me for the cost of shipping, thank you very much.

$25 worth of shipping and insurance (and related hassle) later, I got the camera back from Canon. For the first 6.5 minutes of recording, the problem seemed resolved...and then the garble came back. Once again, the images have pixelated distorted bars running across the screen. Canon says I have to send the camera back yet again--shipping at my expense--for a second round of "repairs."

Considering that I bought this camera when our child was born three months ago, and that the camera has not allowed me to record more than 10 minutes of our baby without 4 giant stripes perforating his body, I'm not satisfied. The camera's low reliability, failure to serve me in recording my child's infancy, and Canon's unwillingness to replace the camera or pick up shipping costs show a surprising Canon unwillingness to do right by their customers.

I'd pass on this model and go with one of the other brands and models available on Amazon.

When used as a camcorder, the image quality is quite good. And overall, it's quite easy to use. The following drawbacks, however, are noteworthy: 1. The built-in microphone sits too close to the tape deck and unless you use an external microphone, you will record into your video a constant annoying whirl/winding/humming noise that is *very* noticeable -- the whirling of the tape deck. 2. Digital still image quality is simply bad. Very bad. Furthermore, unless you have a separate MultiMedia Card reader, there is no way to transfer your digital still images to your computer as an image file. You would have to "playback" the digital still via the IEEE 1394 "FireWire" interface and capture it there. This product is very unsuitable for use as a digital camera. The strengths of this product: (a) relatively compact design, (b) light weight, (c) comparatively cheap. Bottom line: I will not choose to buy this product again nor recommend it to others.

The only positive thing I can say about this video camera is that it is small and easy to use. The outdoor picture quality is mediocre and the indoor quality is awful. One of the biggest problems is the fact that the auto focus takes far too long to activate and even when activated, the picture is not as sharp and in focus as I would expect from a digital video camera. This problem is even worse indoors. In average to bright indoor light, the picture is grainy and out of focus. My old Sony Hi-8 Handycam took much better videos. Unfortunately, it broke. While I would not recommend the Canon ZR25, I didn't see any other digital video cameras in the stores that looked any better. The Sony pictures looked even worse than the Canon, as the reviews here on ...(the website)support. Perhaps the consumer digital video cameras are not "ready for prime time." I would recommend sticking with Hi-8.

The ZR25MC is a great camcorder and camera. The pictures do not have the resolution that you would find on your digital cameras. It only supports still pictures up to something like 640 X 480 (this is true with most DV camcorders). Everything is absolutely great about this camera except for indoor recording. It's VERY grainy and doesn't have near the quality that it could have. Outdoor shots are awesome. You can tweak so many settings on this thing it's unreal. Manual focus is a bit bogus because it is done with a small scroller thingy on the left side of the camera. This should be done with the lens or somewhere where your right hand (which is already on the camera) can reach it. You can fit about 50+ pictures on the memory that comes with the camera (8 mb). Taking pictures is SLOW. Once a picture is taken, you must wait 5+ seconds for the camcorder to do something about it (i.e. Save it). To transfer the pictures from your card to your computer, you must do one of two things.
1. Buy a Multimedia card reader
2. copy the images from the card to the tape and capture the tape onto your computer. Once it is captured on your computer, you'll have to grab the frame and save it.

I know that most of the things I've mentioned here are negative, but I must emphasize that this is a good camera otherwise! Now, I just need some creative people around so that I can make some movies!

I purchased this camcorder in November and have successfully used 4 tapes. Very easy to use and compact. Most still pictures ended up being dark, but in regular daylight most video was of good quality. Last month, I inserted a brand new tape and it ended up jammed. I couldn't eject it and the camera wouldn't perform any other function. I returned it to the place of purchase (where I had an extended warranty) and all they could do was send it back to Canon for repair. I figured this was no big deal, until I did some research. Seems that the tape jamming problem is a reoccurring problem. A friend has the same model and they have sent it to the factory twice and it still isn't working. If you surf the review boards on different sites you will see others reporting the same problem. I hope Canon can fix our camcorder, but if this is a known problem that can't be fixed, they should recall this model. I encourage anyone else who encounters this problem to post a review and pressure Canon to address the issue.

This was my first video camera, and I spent several weeks of researching before I purchased it. I wanted a general-purpose camera that I could use for vacation shots, family events, etc. The main features I was looking for were portability and price. The ZR25MC seemed to be the best alternative. I have used it for several months now and am totally satisfied. After reading some of the other reviews, I just wanted to add my two cents on a couple points...

* Low-light. The low-light recording of this camera is not bad, but it's not great either. I primarily use the camera in the Auto mode, though there are manual settings for shutter speed and white balance. The "Low-Light" mode is pretty effective, but it slows down the shutter speed which gives the video a pseudo slow-motion effect. This may not always be suitable for what you're filming. The auto-focus sometimes has trouble if things really get dark, but once it gets dialed in at a certain distance, it's ok. I have gotten acceptable recordings in a dimly lit church and on a city street at night. They looked a little dark the first time I viewed them through the LCD, but after I dubbed over to a VHS tape the picture was pretty good. Nevertheless, if low-light quality is critical, you'll want to look elsewhere (or at least invest in a light).

* Image stabilization. This has always worked pretty good for me. I've had it on the back of a motorcycle zipping through downtown Hanoi and cruising over the waves of Lake Minnetonka in a 15 foot boat. Both videos turned out great.

* Zoom. My brother's Sony Digital8 has a 450x zoom that really seemed to work good. The ZR25MC gets pixelized bad past about 80x. I've locked the zoom at 40x max and I have not yet had a reason to go past that. If you KNOW that the zoom is a critical feature, look elsewhere.

* Stills. The ZR25MC takes e-mail quality stills (I got a free MMC reader with my camera). They also look good in 'slideshow' mode when the camera's hooked up to a TV. This is typical of all camcorders I've looked at. If you need hi-res stills, you'll need a dedicated digital camera.

* Battery life. You'll get more than a tape's worth if you're using the viewfinder. Constant use of the LCD will suck the standard battery dry in about 30-40 minutes.

* Portability! As I mentioned earlier, this was the main reason I purchased this camera. I had hefted around the company's Floppy Disk Mavica on several business trips to take stills. Now I can get digital video and sound, PLUS decent-quality stills in about the same footprint. In fact, I carry it with me in a regular camera bag. My opinion is.. what good is a camera with a million features if it's so big you don't want to take it anywhere?

BOTTOM LINE: If you're an average Joe looking for a compact camera that you can record good quality video, sound, and stills, you will not be disappointed with the ZR25MC.

A friend let me see this unit when she was over in Belfast from the States a few weeks ago. I was very impressed with its capabilities and thought it great value and to be solidly put together. It's also a very handy size.

A lot of other reviewers have commented on the poor low-light performance of this unit, claiming that it's not even as good as their old Hi8 machines. The mistake here is that Hi8 doesn't suffer from the black crushing* that DV's high compression codec imposes on the picture to be recovered from tape. Any DV machine will have this problem, except for three chip units, which will be slightly less compromised. The only way around this is to make sure that the scene to be captured is reasonably evenly and brightly lit.

*Black crushing occurs when a scene has many details tending towards dark grey to black, the DV process causing nearly black tones to be treated as black.

I purchased this Camcorder after reading every review I could find. I have to say that I love the size and function of the camera. The pictures are great and its solidly built. BUT.....and this is a BIG but, the humming on the audio is absolutely maddening. I have read maybe 5 reviewers that mentioned the Mic picking up the motor noise. Other reviewers stated that the heard no such noise. So believing that maybe it was an anomaly I went ahead and bought the camera. After watching the recording I cant believe that every single reviewer would not hear that humming. In fact, I have not read about the hum in any professional review of this camera. I cant imagine that all the models of this type do not have this problem. Im totally torn over this camera. If I had known that the problem was so noticable I would have looked at another model.