Customer Reviews

Canon ZR930 1.07MP MiniDV Camcorder with 37x Optical Zoom

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

 

 

I got this camera because it has an external microphone input (the ZR-950 does not) and a 1 megapixel pickup. The picture quality is excellent. The 48x zoom lens is a major plus. I had no problem having either my Toshiba XP or HP Vista PCs recognize it so I could edit the tape. ...and, the price is nice.

There is a down side. Despite claims, the camera has no built in light. You supposedly can flip the monitor and use it as a light, but a cell phone is about as bright and you then lose the monitor for monitoring! For some reason Canon designed the camera with no accessory shoe, so there is no place to mount a real light, or the shotgun microphone that you might otherwise want to plug into the camera.

I recently purchased the zr830 and found a number of issues with it. If you wish to compare that review you can read it on my profile rather than me re-hashing it here.

The zr930 is a step forward though and is certainly worth the price quoted here. They changed the interior configuration to a more box like shape allowing them to maximize the space and fit as much technology inside as possible. Due to this not only have they included a mic port but they have been able to adjust the AV output to double as a headphone jack so you can monitor sound. Both of these features are necessary as they have failed to fix the sound problem that has dogged this line of cameras for a number of years. The motor noise can still be heard on playback if you use the built in mic and thats really the only area that this camera loses a star. The 35x zoom of last year has been increased to 48x and the picture quality is sharper and brighter than previous models.

I've never had any issues with connecting it to my PC. I did not use any of the software that was included as its usually junk they just want to force you to use. I hooked it up to my PC, my computer immediately recognized it and then I used one of my other programs to start it up.

Extra info:
If you are new to camcorders there are some things you should take into consideration.

Name brand BATTERIES are expensive. While there are cheap ones that you can get for around $10 online these are cheaply made chinese generic versions. They take A LOT longer to recharge and generally only last about 6 - 10 months. The name brand usually lasts around 18 months but as I found out the other week can cost $100. There's is no reason that the battery on an item like this should cost nearly half of the original item price. I would expect a battery to cost $30 at most.

Another unexpected experience you'll come across is the sheer amount of space that will be taken up on your computers hard drive by a video transfer. Only yesterday I went to transfer 20 minutes of tape and it used up 5 gigs yes thats GIGS of space. If you are like me and you need to have all of your video accessible and on your computer then make sure you have a hard drive with the necessary capacity or at least prepare to invest in a new external one for video storage.

In conclusion. This is a great budget cam and if you invest in a good external mic I don't think you could do much better.

4 out of 5 Satisfied.

I got this camcorder for my birthday last month, and I have to say that it is great. It takes awesome video, and has multiple setting for every situation. I took this camcorder skiing and the snow setting keeps the snow from being blow out, which really pleased me. The other settings also work great, including the automatic setting which is great to just film something quickly.

The internal microphone works well, but if you want you can also use an external microphone. This camcorder has a microphone jack which is becoming an increasingly rare feature on budget camcorders. While it doesn't have an accessory shoe which would be nice you can use a cheap flash bracket to mount a mic.
As an all around camcorder this one is great. I am using it as a secondary camcorder with my Sony VX2000, and the video is comparable. It is hard to tell between cuts which video came from which camera.

Overall, I would recommend this camcorder if your looking for a good all around camcorder that takes great video!

Pro's:
Light
Cheap
Great Video
External Microphone Jack
Multiple Settings
Works Great with my Mac

Con's
Slight Motor Noise but only in very quiet situations.
And I can't think of anything else.

I bought this camera a few weeks ago and I am very pleased with it so far. First, it's very light to hold and easy to use. Video quality is good in average light. Low light is so-so but that is true with most consumer level camcorders. Audio is fine with the built in microphone but great with an external mic plugged in (which is the main reason I bought this model from Canon). My Windows Vista computer's firewire port recognized the camera and had no problem at all importing video from it. You can control the camera via the firewire connection and import the parts you want too, etc. Only complaint is the battery is very weak and runs out after about 30 minutes or so of record time. Buy an extra battery and you will be very happy with this nice little camcorder.

zr930 decent camera. dont have any other camcorder to compare it against. video captured to computer using firewire. somewhat grainy in darker environments but that might be typical of most camcorders. autofocus seems pretty accurate. too much tape motor noise on audio when filming in quiet environments -- will probably need to use an external mic in those situations. hopefully, that will take care of the motor noise. no dv cable included. shoots in widescreen 16:9 format. battery life lasted about one hour with the included battery. lcd screen is adequate. video quality similar to canon a570is digital camera in preliminary testing.

Great camera. I shopped around for months and went with the new model over the 800 series. I have had no problems at all connecting it to my computer with firewire using Nero capture software (express?) and a cheap no name firewire card with XP. I haven't noticed any motor noise, and it takes crisp high quality video. I got this one becuase of the mic jack, and I plan on buying a bracket to mount a mic and a light. They have brackets that mount to the bottom, you do not need an upper shoe.

The only problem I have noticed is with the 48x zoom you need a really steady hand (or a tripod) or else it will get jumpy.

I bought this specifically so my wife and I could tape horse riding clinics and our practice exercises. Quality zoom was important to us, and the ZR930 has it. Video quality is fine for playback on a home TV, with settings for regular or wide-screen.
Firewire download to a PC with XP works well, but mind you, it happens in real time, so half an hour of video takes half an hour to download. Downloaded files are massive, and our PC's external hard drive is going to get some work. While I chose this model for the external mic input, the built-in mic picks up voices from a considerable distance, so the point-and-shoot approach works well for us. The little joystick on the LCD panel looks dainty, but a gentle touch is all you need, and the response is good.
One minor annoyance: there's a slider switch to focus the eyepiece, but it's in a tiny nook between the eyepiece and the battery where an ordinary finger doesn't fit easily. It's a problem if people with different visual acuity share the camera.
Add-ons and accessories you may find useful:
Spare battery or two (large size)
Firewire cable (4-pin on the camera, 4 or 6 pins at other end, depending on what you're plugging into)
Tripod (zoom is excellent, but requires a very steady hand)
Stand-alone battery charger (for when you need to be shooting and recharging simultaneously)

This the best video camera I've seen for under $500. Well made and pretty good image quality. You won't want to be shooting for big screen HDTV, but for the web and viewing on the computer this is the best you can get for the money. The plug-in for an external mic is very useful. So useful in fact that I'm still surprised so few cameras offer it. You'll get _much_ better sound quality with a good external mic, so it's a good thing to have. The only reason I didn't give this camera five stars is that it could really use a mount for an external mic or a light. That would make this camera perfect for the price. The lack of a mount is annoying, but the only negative to an otherwise fine camera.

I bought this Camcorder 2 months ago from Amazon. I use it to record family events, starting with my daughter's High School marching band competition at the KSU stadium in Manhattan, KS. Even though I was way up in the stands, the 48X zoom made it look like I was on the field with them. The video and audio quality was awesome! I especially liked the 16:9 wide format output that looked great on our Samsung LCD HDTV! I have recorded several other family events in different lighting conditions with great results. Transferring the output to a DVD Recorder using its firewire output and a firewire cable (not included) was easy. I would highly recommend this Camcorder!

I've bought a second ZR930 for a family member because we really like ours and it is perfect for newbies. Very simple to operate and just as easy to download from the tapes to a Firewire'd PC (I have Vista and it was easier than I expected, must buy firewire cable though). Only difference between 930 and 950 is that 950 has SD slot for still shots (930 doesn't), and the 930 has an external mic jack (950 doesn't). I'm not interested in taking stills with my video camera, so the 930 was the better choice for me and cheaper!