Customer Reviews

Canon ZR300 MiniDV Camcorder w/22x Optical Zoom (High Metal)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After reading other reviews and about the features I decided to purchase one of these, rather than a Sony brand. The big selling point is the widescreen recording. The night mode shooting on this model could use some improvement. Even with the built in light on, in darkness you can see no further than 10 feet away. For me this was the biggest downside. The only advantage is you still have full color. Auto focus doesn't work so well in low light either. The viewer gets jerky in night mode as well. Personally I prefer the green nightvision Sony camera's have, just put it in black & white mode and it's fine. Connecting this camera to a PC couldn't be easier. You just need to buy a IEEE 1394 cable (sold seperaltly) for about $30. If you don't have any special software you can use Windows Movie Maker to capture the video. I see people complaining about the batter life. Battery lasts about 50-80 minutes depending on what your doing, which seems pretty reasonable to me. Again, if you want super-long batter life, go with a Sony. Camera is small, takes sharp still photos, even for such low res (1024x768). Has some rather advanced features, like setting the shutter speed, auto/manual focus, image stabilization, etc. The image stabilization isn't so great, but effective. So overall, if widescreen is a must, and shooting in pitch blackness is not, this is a great camera. Otherwise check out a Sony, they have great image stabilizers, can shoot in the pitch blackness and long battery life, but no true widescreen or other handy features Canon's do.

overall i think this camera is very nice. I like the wide lens attatchment becaus i skate and like to get close and have everything in the shot. i also like this product because it has high quality picture and awsome sound. some people said after filming, during the playback you could hear the sound of the motor. those people are idiots. the only reason for that is becasue they were filming videos on to the memory card witch has a purpose of still images. when you are recording video on to a mini dv tape, that noise will not show up at all. the battery life could be better but you can just pick up an extra at walmart for 20 bucks which isnt bad. the night vision isnt that high quality, i mean it works fine and all its just that it is a light and i would prefer an infared system such as in the sony hc21 for about the same price. but i think this camera is a better choice. my only other complaint is that the whole purpose i bought this product was to get my skate footy on to my computer to make a video but this camera only comes with a usb cable that is only good for putting pictures on to your computer. the usb isnt fast enough for transfering video content so you need to go out and buy a 1EEE 1394 firewire cable for around 25 bucks and if your computer dosent have a firewire cable than you will either have to buy a firewire hub or a pci card for your computer. the pci card goes for about 30 bucks and the hub is around 50. so to sum it all up the canon zr300 is most deffinatly worth the buy pretty much everything that the manufactuer description is accurate and its is a very high quality camera. if you buy it you will not be dissapointed. don't listen to the people who say it records the sound of the motor because it dosent unless you are recording with the memory card witch is just plain stupid. also dont listent to people who say it doesnt work good indoors because they are also wrong.

I got this camcorder only a few weeks ago, but I am in love! It works great and is everything it is sold as. The low Lux is great. The batteries (extra batteries) are very expensive, but are light and quick to charge. Image quality is sharp/crisp. It is just a fun little camera.

I saw a lot of reviews about the background audio noise. I thought people may be too picky, and then bought one myself. How stupid I am. Now I have to return it immediately and pay the shipping fee. I don't want to punish my ears when watching the playback.

I was upgrading from the ZR65MC. I was hoping the battery would be the same so I didn't have to purchase any more. I like to have a few on hand so that I'm not forced to stay connected to the wall when I am recording. Unfortunately, the battery on this model is different. The product is very user-friendly. I mainly use it for home use: ballet, gymnastics, outdoor play, life, etc. It works well for our family. Sound and picture quality are good. The digital images are what you should expect with low megapixel images. Overall, I'm satisfied with my purchase.

No problems so far. Nice quality, small, but not to small. I recomend this product.

If you want to know how good this POS from CaNOT is, just do a google on Canon ZR-300 "remove the cassette". This message will appear after very light use and the tape will constantly eject. Lots of other people have had the same issue. Have missed 2 very important occasions because of this problem. My last digital camera which was also a Canon stunk too, I will never again support the Canon team as they try to pedal worthless overengineered under QC'd pieces of junk to the American market. They also have a proprietary software system in their copiers that you have to pay 5k and be a dealer to do anything with. Here's hoping Canon's sales drop and they go bankrupt.

Nice picture quality, nice zoom. It would also be nice if this camcorder functioned half of the time. Does "remove cassette" mean anything to you?
My advice: Never buy Canon. I've used GL1's and GL2's that have also had this problem.

I have had little problems with this product at all.
only complaints:
-poor battery life (even with upgraded)
-no frame record mode on camera ( if there is can someone please reply on this)
thanks

I bought this camera more than a year ago, but I was updating some reviews when I realized I never wrote one for this product. Well, I just have to say that it's a wonderful camera that shoots high quality film. I do some video editing as a hobby, and I am happy to have the Mini-DV's available for transfer to my PC. If you are going to do any editing, always get Mini-DV, it'll make your life much easier. The only complaint I have is shooting under low light situations where the picture becomes pixelated and could use improvement. All in all, a great camera at a great price!