Customer Reviews

Canon ZR45MC MiniDV Digital Camcorder with 2.5" LCD, Digital Still Mode & MMC Card Slot

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

The good: Compact, easy to carry, lots of good features (too many to list; read the specifications), excellent playback picture, works great with my iMac, excellent sound reproduction, and straightforward instructions.

The bad (kind of): Yes, in an absolutely silent environment you can hear the motor running, but in our first two hours of taping there was only one time, and that was only for less than a minute, where you could hear the motor running. So, I wouldn't call that bad because there is usually enough ambient noise to cancel it out. The wide angle isn't very wide angle, but you do get a lot of great non-digital zoom. The digital zoom gets pixelated pretty quickly but would you expect otherwise? You can only access some of the features with the viewing screen open and in bright outside light the picture is washed out and you can't really see the menus very easily. The fade in and out features were fun but somewhat cumbersome to use.
The ugly: Do not buy this camera if you intend on using it to take still pictures to the MMC. There are two problems. Check out the specifications and you will see that the CCD chip has only about 250,000 or so effective pixels. But, the real killer is the 8-bit color. There are two resolution modes, fine and normal. The instruction manual says the fine mode can be used for taking pictures for printing out and the normal for sending over the Internet. In the fine mode, a perfectly blue sky comes out mottled shades of blue, pink, and purple. For other, less uniform colors, the effect is worse. With the low number of pixels and 8-bit color, this feature is pretty much useless if you are used to using a good film SLR camera or a high pixel digital camera.

Overall: I gave it four stars because it's a really good minicam with great Canon optics, many useful features, and ease of use, but I was really disappointed with the still picture feature. I can't believe Canon would even include such a poor quality feature. If you want both good digital video and pictures, you probably need to look at different brands with megapixel CCDs, which are available for a comparable price.

After an extensive market review, I decided to buy this one. Recording quality is excellent when you have appropriate light conditions, and it works ok with poor light. Excellent zoom, and very good stabilization features. The digital still camera feature takes average pictures (640*480), good enough if you are just sending them to friends/family and the software included is quite easy to use. In order to download your movies, you must have a firewire connection in your PC. Consider to buy an extra battery.

The major problem I found is the fact that the microphone records the camera noises, making your movies have an annoying background sound. This is really unacceptable if you want to have good quality audio. If you are concerned about the sound, I would suggest you either to try another camcorder or wait until Canon fix this model or release a new one. Or, if you have the expertise (I don't have it) edit the film with your PC.

I got this camcorder for a few reasons. First, Consumer Reports loved it in their 2002 buying guide, and second, the size and capabilities.

The zoom lens on this is incredible, but obviously shouldn't be moved too quickly if you are zoomed in on something. I took it to an airshow and was able to zoom in on things other people were missing, and the digital recording allowed us to clearly pick out details when we paused a recording that were surprisingly sharp. The camera is easy to use, and having the LCD screen and onboard speaker is heplful when playing back.

The still camera will do the job, but it isn't as sharp as a normal digital camera, although the memory card in this camcorder is separate (the newer, smaller type) from the tapes used to record the movies. Also, the lower resolution still images can be stored in greater numbers, though, with an estimated 300 pictures possible on my 36 MB card.

The included software, USB cables, and cables to attach the camera to the VCR/TV are all easy to use, and I have had no problems. Those folks who have seen my videos thus far have been very impressed, and I have been very happy.

Just got the zr45 and am amazed at the quality of the video. My kids just had a talent show in a large auditorium and we had seats in the very back of the room (about 23 rows back). It was dark except for the stage lights, but the zoom worked great. I was worried that it only looked good on the LCD screen, but when we hooked it up to the TV for playback, the quality was sharp.

First off, this is my first digital camcorder/camera. I purchased this camera only 3 days ago and I'm already having too much fun with downloading pictures to and from the cam. It's capable of doing all this (and pretty easy I may add) to do all this even if you're a first timer. It comes with a CD with the necessary software and also a manual on how to install the software and how to use it for downloading/uploading pix. Very easy and informative. The MMC card can take as many as 100 pictures at a time, so it's more than enough for me.

As for the quality of the camcorder for "regular filming", I'm impressed. It has 7 or 8 different settings for different filming situations such as "sports", "portrait", "night mode", and others. Also, the buttons in this camera don't look as intimidating as some of the others I've seen/used. All buttons are nicely placed on the camera and I have no problems with any of them. Plus, this camera is pretty small for this price. The only ones that I've seen that are this small (or smaller) are the ones in the [price range](and above) range. I got this one for [price], and I'm more than happy with it's $ize ;-)

So far, I think I'll be enjoying this camera for a long time. I'm very happy with it and I recommend this for anyone who is just getting into digital cams/camera. It has more than enough features for someone who is just getting into the world of digital camcorders/cameras. The quality of the pictures are not excellent, but I think it's nice enough to even impress some people. I highly recommend this cam/camera.

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1) Solution from Canon's online tech supt website: CanonDv

Q. In quiet situations, I can hear the noise of the motor being recorded. What can I do about this?

A. Automatic audio gain will set the volume to capture any available noise. In a very quiet setting, this may be the sound of the camcorder motor. To correct for this, provide some 'white' background noise, such as a radio or television.

2) Solution from another user:
Open the mic housing and stuff sound dampening material b/w the mic and the motor. This user said that it works great.

3) Solution from yet another user:
Buy a generic external mic, or Canon's DM-50 Microphone. This completely eliminates the motor noice and improves audio recording, but adds size to the camcorder.

Hope this helps.

I love this camcorder. First of all, I am going to start this review by telling you about the biggest concern I had when I bought this camera. Many people say that there was a lot of motor hum, this may be the case when the room is TOTALLY silent, however an external mic fixes this. ALL MINIDV CAMERAS HAVE THIS PROBLEM!! People complain that the mic adds extra size, but if you want to spend the same amount of money on a digital 8, with less resolution, much bigger, and heavier, than get a Mic for your MiniDV, then you have some problems. However since I usually overlap music onto my videos, its not such a big probelm for me. The size is great (any bigger and it wouldn't be comfortable, and any smaller it would be difficult to hold). I had the Sony TRV-340 Digital 8 Camera and then returned for only one reason, it was heavy and big (it cut off circulation in my hand when I was filming, and would have to take it out every 5 minutes or it would become numb). The picture quality is pretty much the same as all other minidv's which are better than digital 8's but not enough to make a big difference. Pretty much, this is a good camera at a great price. If you want a MiniDV, go with this no doubt, however if you have hi 8 or 8mm tapes you should probably go with a digital 8. They are pretty good for the price, but big and bulky.

So many of the reviews I've read about this camera complained about motor noise. After purchasing this camera and using it in mulitiple settings, I haven't had a bad experience. While there is indeed a small level of motor noise, I found that using the Wind Screen shooting mode reduced what little noise there was to nearly 0 detectable db. If you're an amateur home movie maker, the features and ease of use make this camera well worth the money.

I am a first-time camcorder buyer, so I've been researching these for the past couple months. I had my choices narrowed down to the Canon ZR45 and the Sony TRV18. The Canon was smaller, lighter, cheaper, and fit better in my hand than the Sony. Canon wins, right? Well, the one thing that bothered me was reading the reviews about the 'motor whine' during playback. I knew this is one thing that would really bother me. Well, since we are taking a trip to Mexico in a few weeks I had to make my choice. I went ahead and took my chances with the Canon. I went to [...] to select a highly rated(and cheap) online seller. I ended up buying from [...]and had the camcorder within a week. After a few weeks of use, I am extremly happy with my decision. It is very easy to use, and best of all, the motor whine is a non-issue. Yeah, it's there when watching recordings in quiet settings, but I don't really notice it. As a test, I never mentioned the noise to my wife prior to buying the camcorder. I wanted to see if she would notice it not having not previously known about it. Well, she's probably used it more than I have over the past couple weeks and hasn't mentioned a word about the motor noise. Maybe some units are worse than others, but I'm not sure I would even have noticed it either if I wouldn't have read the reviews talking about it. I'm definitely glad I made the purchase. One recommendation - buy an extra battery. The one that comes with the camcorder only lasts about 45 minutes using the LCD. I bought a Lenmar LIC-511 that gives you about 2 hours.

I bought this camera a few months ago and can only say it has met all my expectations. The quality of the video a normal person can shoot with this little gem is unbelievable. The only option I would change if I could do it over would be to purchase a wide angle lens. If you are lucky enough to have Windows XP loaded on your computer then you are all set. Add a Firewire Card to your PC, plug the camera into the card and you are ready. XP recognizes the camera and a few clicks of the mouse later you are cutting and editing like a pro. Other than this I would consider a DVD burner. It makes distributing the finished product easier as I found getting the edited video onto normal tape was a little complex.