Canon ZR30MC Digital Camcorder with Built-in Digital Still Mode

by Canon

Product Details

Product Manual [3.40mb PDF]

• Item Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005AUJB
• Item model number: 6690A001
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,594 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1973

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Canon's sleek and compact ZR30 MC camcorder provides almost everything you need to shoot both beautiful footage and digital stills. Small enough to fit in your pocket, the ZR30 MC is equipped with a color LCD view screen and a color eyecup viewfinder, a digital image stabilization system to steady the jittery hand, and a digital zoom that magnifies up to 200 times.

To help ensure that you get the quality footage you want, Canon has included a number of preset shooting modes. These modes will automatically adjust the settings of your camcorder for a variety of shooting situations. There is also an additional set of special effects available during both recording and playback that will help add a little flavor to your movies. These effects include black-and-white, sepia, and mosaic, among others.

Also, using the ZR30 MC's photo mode, you can take over 700 still photos with an 80-minute MiniDV tape or store it onto the portable 8 MB MultiMediaCard. The ZR30 MC also comes with customizable light-up VCR buttons: choose from blue, turquoise, and green. You have your choice of four recording speeds, which allow you to record at up to three times the normal recording time on a standard MiniDV cassette. Additionally, with the advanced accessory shoe, you can easily add a shotgun microphone or video light. With the IEEE 1394 port you can connect the ZR30 MC to a DV-ready personal computer to edit video or e- mail photos. Included in the package are an A/V cable, power adapter, shoulder strap, and battery pack.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars this is a wonderful camera!!, November 7, 2001

By 

Robin Lauezzari "chandos60" (New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canon ZR30MC Digital Camcorder with Built-in Digital Still Mode (Electronics)

As a novice to the camcorder world I was very concerned and confused about the wide range of features and prices available in the market so, unusually for me, I took a little time and did my research.

Boy am I glad I did, and I am especialy pleased with the result. The Canon is perfect and does everything I want. It's easy to use and the results have been extremely good, especially considering that I am really new to all this.

It seems from the reviews I have read that most camcorders with built still photography features lack the quality of purpose built digital cameras, and while this is also true of my Canon, its not really an issue as I have several still cameras in 35mm and digital formats that I like to use.

The quality of the video on the Canon is really very good. I do not have the needs of a serious hobbyist or professional but I still want something that gives good quality and I am very pleased.

I am also very happy with the overall ergonimics of the camera and its ease of use. One of my first outings was a car trip out of NY city and I shot a lot of city shots from the car. The results were very satisfying.

I have only used a few of the special features and have not done any editing yet but on first glance I found the instructions a little confusing but I put that down to my lackof experience.
I really have no negative comments, my only small niggle is the hinge on the little door that covers the DC power seems very flimsy and I sense it may snap one of these days but apart from that the camera is really sturdy

In terms of value, after much research I feel I got a very good product at a fair price. I compared it to Sony and JVC products and felt that I bought a lot of quality and flexibility and saved over 200 dollars over the Sony without losing any features that I needed.

So this has been a very gratifying experience and I look forward to using the camera for a very long time. I strongly recommend it.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Small Camera - Perfect Design, July 24, 2001

By 

Vic (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Canon ZR30MC Digital Camcorder with Built-in Digital Still Mode (Electronics)

I recently purchased a ZR30MC and am thrilled with the output and the design of the Camcorder. I read many reviews on the net on the ZR10 and have heard many complaints about filming in low light conditions. The quality in low light is just fine - maybe they fixed the problem with the ZR30mc. I do have a friend who has a Sony TRV20 that handles low light significantly better but it is almost double the price. On outside video I cant imagine the quality being any better.

As for design - Canon has a real Gem with this one. It is small and ergonomically designed. The quality of the Still photos leave something to be desired - But I have a regular Digital Camera for that purpose.

All in all Canon has made an excellent small Digital Camcorder with a nearly perfect design !!! Would definatley recommend the whole ZR20,25,30 series.

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ups and Downs, October 3, 2001

By 

SC artist (HIlton Head, SC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Canon ZR30MC Digital Camcorder with Built-in Digital Still Mode (Electronics)

My original goal in purchasing this camcorder was to record a festival in Russia where I would need a reliable battery between charges, good low light shooting,and plenty of space on tapes so I wouldn't run out.

In my first week of shooting, I tried various scenarios. I interviewed a friend in low light conditions. I was very impressed by the quality of the sound - both hers and mine as I was interviewing. The picture quality was good - better than I had been led to believe by reading other customer reviews.

I agree with others that the digital zoom is useless. I tried to film deer in a pasture that I could clearly see, but since it was out of range of the analog zoom, all I got was jitters and smeared video. Evidently the image stabilizer does not work above 10 power or with the digital zoom. Wish I had known this before I purchased the camera.

My other complaint was that I never got accurate readings on battery life. So I could never tell when to re-charge. The battery symbol was always empty, even though the camera was clearly full and worked. I assumed that this is a defect in the camera, called Canon Tech support who confirmed this, and am now getting a replacement.Question for other users...Do you remove the battery every time you stop shooting? It does say to do this in the manual. Just asking.

My final goal is to edit digital video and make a movie, saving it on a CD. This is because, as some of you may know, our video ( NTSC) is incompatable with European video standards (PAL). By editing the video and saving it to a CD it should be playable in Russia and elsewhere.