Canon ZR50MC MiniDV Digital Camcorder with 2.5" LCD, Digital Still Mode & MMC Card Slot

by Canon

Product Details

Product Manual [5.89mb PDF]

• Item Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00005YX4Q
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,883 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 Review

The ZR50MC is on Canon's high-end of MiniDV camcorders, but still sells for a reasonable price. Its 22x optical zoom out focuses the ZR50MC's siblings and much of the competition, letting you get extremely close to a subject without any of the degradation associated with digital zoom.

Its bright 2.5-inch LCD can be swiveled around, letting you record from a variety of angles. And if you opt for using the viewfinder, you'll see in color instead of the black and white many other camcorders use.

You can enhance your ZR50MC via the advanced accessory shoe, which allows you to connect a directional microphone or video light. And the camera comes with an 8 MB Secure Digital card to capture still images, although the quality is only fair--typical of digital camcorders.

The quality of captured video, on the other hand, proved quite excellent. Our video was sharp and bright, even when viewed at high resolution on our PC. The camera's night mode, while not a true IR darkness mode, did record well in low-light situations. You can also take advantage of the ZR50MC's extended recording feature, which let us capture over four hours of video on a single tape.

We did sometimes hear a slight hum from the camera's motor when watching recorded video, but it wasn't obtrusive and often wasn't noticeable.

The ZR50MC also functions as an analog-to-digital converter, letting you take the analog contents of your VHS or 8mm tapes and convert them to digital, either recording them on the ZR50MC's tape or saving them to your PC.

For all the features that are packed into the compact, lightweight body of the ZR50MC, its price tag makes it a perfect fit for a digital video enthusiast looking for a powerful camera at a still reasonable price. --J. Curtis

Pros:

• Analog-to-digital conversion
• Extended recording function
• High optical zoom

Cons:

• No true night mode
• Motor hum sometimes recorded

Amazon.com Product Description

Improving on an original can be a daunting task. Canon has succeeded quite well, thank you. The ZR50MC is the successor to the ZR30MC. Canon increased the optical zoom to 22x--the digital now sits at 440x--and added an analog pass-through port. Although the ZR line featured analog-in for dubbing your movies to MiniDV, the new pass-through port allows you to go straight to the computer, eliminating a possibly cumbersome step.

The ZR50MC also has a lot of the same features that made the original a lot of fun. A 2.5-inch LCD is swivel-mounted, permitting the shooter to use the camera at odd angles. Various digital effects and autoexposure modes help ensure your footage turns out well. The digital still mode makes a return, letting you capture 640 x 480 stills onto an included 8 MB MMC.

Finally, there are a couple of new features that Canon threw in to make the ZR50MC just a little bit more appealing: an accessory shoe that fits a light or zoom mic (both sold separately), an extended recording function that increases recording time by 2x to 3x, and a low-light color-shooting mode.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

195 of 196 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most Matured Consumer Camcorder, September 13, 2002

By 

Tobias Hust "TobInMuc" (München) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canon ZR50MC MiniDV Digital Camcorder with 2.5" LCD, Digital Still Mode & MMC Card Slot (Electronics)

I work with camcorders since 1988 - S-VHSC, Hi8, etc. No question, no matter what kind of digital camcorder you compare with an analog one, it is superior. However, I found this camcorder particularly interesting and bought it since I left the `semi-professional' field (and being now an electrical engineer in software development). Here are my findings:
Pro:

1) Awesome workmanship: The high-grade plastic case pieces precisely fit and give the camcorder a valuable finish, the buttons have a well defined 'ignition' point and the connectors for FireWire, USB, Analog Video etc. are 'cemented' into the case.
2) Excellent cost / feature ratio: Although following the hype of marrying video with stills, this camcorder emphasizes on video (please, do buy a digital camera if you need digital stills). The outstanding optical unit with a real 22x zoom and one of the most effective image stabilizer in the market, combined with a friendly user-interface including illuminated buttons and a clean menu, this camcorder is a bargain.
The picture quality is excellent. One note here: please remember that the miniDV standard builds on 5.7 Mhz video bandwidth. In other words, no matter what the (multi) colored CCD ship is capable of a resolution, it comes down to a maximum of 370,000 effective pixels needed for NTSC video. The 460,000 pixels of this camcorder seem more than enough.
3) Accessories: Just in case you really care about the somewhat whining recorder server motors, please do buy the optional microphone - it's an awesome addition if you do semi-professional sound-recordings. Also, Canon offers wide and tele-converters specialized for the ZR series. Not a novelty in camcording in general, but a serious affordable consumer expansion if needed.
4) Internationality: Yes, there are other electrical power systems out there: the Canon switching power supply is not only very light, it also connects to almost every wall-outlet in the world with the right (optional) plug-adapter.
5) Ergonomics: Oh yes, I thought about a palm-ready camcorder, too. But think about it: the optical unit including the lenses and the CCD has to fit into half the length of a regular camcorder like the ZR 50 (Palm recorders do not have more than 10x zoom, the ZR 50 has 22x). The camcorder fits right into my hand, the zoom button can be accessed naturally without shifting the camcorder in your hand (try Sony!) and the zoom button is depth sensitive - the deeper you zoom, the less sensitive is the camcorder zoom-button. Additionally, beside so many other brands out there, the digital zoom is even useable to a certain degree. It becomes affective once the optical zoom is exhausted to a 22x. However, if you want quality video, turn it off.
6) Video Modes: Select one of the predefined video modes. One of the most impressive mode is the night-mode - if the moon strikes you, your ZR 50 will catch it. However, don't expect wonders, every serious video-grapher recommends at least 100 lux (a unit of measuring light-intensity).

Con:
I couldn't find a con so far - maybe the sound-quality the integrated microphone produces? Hm, given the size of the case, it seems reasonable...

Yeah, I am enjoying this camcorder. Canon showed once again that a camcorder design can meet almost all of a consumer-customer's needs:
Rich functionality, lightweight design, extensible through optional accessories including lenses, robust workmanship.

Recommended!

103 of 104 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ZR-50MC Report With DM-50 Mike and VL-3 Light, May 22, 2002

By 

AWM (Baltimore, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Canon ZR50MC MiniDV Digital Camcorder with 2.5" LCD, Digital Still Mode & MMC Card Slot (Electronics)

I purchased the ZR50 6 weeks ago. The ZR50 is my fourth Canon Camcorder (the most recent one a Hi8 with optical image stabilization). My goal with the ZR50 was to be able to get into digital editing, especially since I recently upgraded computers to a 1.8GHz P4 with 512M RAM and firewire ports. Here are the results so far-

1) Motor noise pickup- Yes, it is there. It is a somewhat higher-pitched whine that you can hear if your ear is close to the camera while recording. I bought the DM-50 mike and have now used the mike extensively, including taping my daughter's cello recital as well as a MS&HS spring concert which included vocals and a full Vivaldi concerto by a 15 member string ensemble. The DM-50 mike completely takes care of the motor whine. In addition, with the camera set at 16-bit recording, the recorded sound is CD quality. The DM-50 has three settings: boom, 1, and 2 (latter 2 are stereo). The best setting is the "1" setting.
2) General Impression- The video is great. It is the sharpest of all the cameras I've owned so far. The camera is surprisingly small (half the size of the Hi8mm), but fits well in the hand. The outside buttons are very handy. The LCD viewer is easy to read and has true colors. The manual is comprehensive. The remote is multifunctional. The digital image stabilization works very well (as well as the optical stabilization of my older camcorder). The 22x optical zoom is excellent (I turned off the digital zoom). I was able to take good close-ups of the students at the spring concert (using a tripod). The auto focus is very fast and stable, better than previous camcorders. The camera is clearly not perfect, but for the price, it has a lot of highly desirable features.
3) Low Light Performance- This is not a strong point. The shutter speed for both low light and nightlight causes the images to be jerky when panning. I purchased the VL-3 light since it is powered by the camera battery. At 3 watts, it is not so obtrusive/intense as to be a huge problem for people looking at it. The light is very small, so it is easy to carry. The light is most effective within 6 feet or so. Outdoor video of spring flowers taken at night was fine.
4) Batteries- I purchased the BP-535 battery which is quite large (in a relative scale sense). I used it to power the ZR50 during the 1 hr taping of the spring concert (and it powered the mike as well). When I was done, the indicator was showing 2/3 battery power still left.
5) Bonuses- A) The ZR50 uses the same power adapter/charger (CA-560) as the G2 digital camera- less to carry. B) The remote will also work on my other Canon camcorders which can be a problem if you're using both together. However, you can program the ZR50 remote to setting "2" to avoid this issue. Very thoughtful.
6) Still Images- Have not tried- have excellent digital camera for that.
Finally, due to the small size, I can fit both the ZR50 camcorder and G2 digital camera with mike, light, flash unit, extra batteries, cables, etc. in a fairly small case. This is good.

55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very usable camera, I love it despite the motor hum, April 29, 2002

By 

C. Coln (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Canon ZR50MC MiniDV Digital Camcorder with 2.5" LCD, Digital Still Mode & MMC Card Slot (Electronics)

I read about the motor hum being recorded on Amazon and other review sites. I didn't want that... so I could afford one of the Sony camera like the new Micro-MV.

Thing is, try as I might, I couldn't make myself like the Sony cameras. I study usability and some industrial design and I still wonder what the Sony engineers were thinking when they designed their digital camcorder line. They're hard to hold, the buttons are in unnatural places, and the camera doesn't mold into your hand. The salesperson actually told me to hold it "with two hands" and it'd be fine. Have you ever tried to push a stroller around Disney World and keep track of a running four year old while filming him with a video camera? Two hands for the camera?!? Give me a break!

I tested every single Sony digital camcorder, and I still kept coming back to this Canon. Yes, it has the motor hum - but the controls are within reach and I'm not being forced to try and focus with my pinky using a button that's smaller than a pea (like the Sony Micro-MV). The picture is great.

I took my new camera to Disney for a week....it fit in my small fanny pack, and with the digital photo options, I didn't need to take a regular camera. So much easier and made the trip much more enjoyable. It's not as great with still photos as a dedicated digital camera, but it's been great for sending photos directly to relatives via the Internet and making photo CDs.

I love this camera!!!!! I'd give it five stars, but I'm taking one off for the motor hum. They should fix that. I still recommend everyone go to a local store and actually hold the Sony cameras and try to focus and fit them comfortably in their hand, and then try the same thing with the Canon. That experience will speak for itself.