Canon ZR85 MiniDV Camcorder w/20x Optical Zoom
By: Canon Average Rating: 3.0 Total Reviews: 24
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 On: 2006-11-12
I bought the ZR90 about 2 year back when I had my first kid as I wanted to keep home videos of the kids. Frankly I am terribly dissappointed at at the quality of the pictures in the house with all the lights on in the house. My sons first birthday videos are all so dissapointingly dark. One mistake I did is not going to stored and checkign out the camera before I ordered it online. I suggest goin to a retailer and checking out the picture quality indoors before ordering it online.
Outside pictures in bright sunlight are okay. I am not a phony reviewer trying to trash the product. If you click on my name you will see all the other products I have reviewed.
 On: 2006-10-29
I bought this camera about 21 months ago; I have only used it a couple of times but without a problem. When I tried to used it the other day I was able to record sound but no picture. I was prepared to buy a new camera, until I found that Canon has a repair notice on it for this problem. They will fix it free of charge even if out of warranty; I could not ask for more!
On: 2006-10-28
I bought this camera about 21 months ago; I have only used it a couple of times but without a problem. When I tried to used it the other day I was able to record sound but no picture. I was prepared to buy a new camera, until I found that Canon has a repair notice on it for this problem. They will fix it free of charge even if out of warranty; I could not ask for more!
On: 2006-10-12
2 star rating-BUT I dont have this particular item. I have a ZR60 and LCD screen suddenly went black. We have not used this camcorder that much over the last 3 years (have about 6-7 complete tapes) and it would cost over 200.00 to repair so the ZR85 was recommended for close to the cost of repair(the batteries and tapes would fit the same, etc). THANKS for the info on this camcorder! I think we will continue to look (maybe Sony?). Consumer reports says repairs are higher on the Canons than any other camcorder....
 On: 2006-09-03
This cam works great and never had any problems with mine. Great deal even contains a microchip for color etc that only high end camcorders have but itsnt really mentioned.
 On: 2006-06-20
I bought this recorder, and used it here and there for special occations, now the camera stopped working. Just a white screen to look at. I hear the camera just stop working, it shows on the lcd for about 10 secs then white. Worthless piece of equipment. Should of bought the exteneded warrenty, would of made my money back on that one. This baby is going to the bottom of the trach can. GO SONY
On: 2006-02-01
I bought the ZR85 about 10 months ago. Im happy with the way it works. It has more features on it then I will ever use. The Basic features work perfect.
The factory battery died after about 5 months and would no longer take charge. That was a bummer.
I have would recomend this video camera.
 On: 2005-12-30
Bought this camera for my son about 1 1/2 years ago. Worked well for a year. Right before our vacation we experienced a problem where the camera would not connect with the computer. Canons tech support determined it was a hardware problem with the camera. They charged me $200 for the repair. When I got the camera back, the rewind wouldnt work. I returned it to them and they fixed that free of charge. It is now 6 months later and the camera will not connect to the computer again. I plan to call them, but will not repair the camera if they charge me. I also will never buy another canon product if they charge me.
On: 2005-12-17
I loved my ZR85, until a two months ago when it basically started a slow death. It would play tapes, but when in record mode, it was like gray and black infared video (just gray and black, weaving around, not static). I took it to Best Buy to the Geek Squad. Paid $24.95 to have it looked at. They call me a week later to say it will be $252 to fix it. Unfortunately, the new camcorders out there are about $250-$400 for a new mini-dv. So with tax time coming up, I guess I will have to decide on a new one. Im afraid that if I fix the ZR85, that something else will go wrong. I already have $500 in this camcorder, plus the cost of a spare battery (battery life is iffy on ZR85), and 6 mini-dv tapes, and adding a $50 firewire port to my computer, which created videos that had warped sounding audio when trying to create the cool videos that Canon promised I could make..ugh.
So here comes Christmas, my daughters first one, and her birthday is next month. We will miss having both on video because of this, and It just makes me sick. I loved this camera, but a $500 investment should last longer than 22 months.
On: 2005-12-16
I bought this camera for Xmas 2004, worked fine for about 3 months (used it maybe 3-4 times). When I hooked it up to my TV, the play back would freeze. I sent it back for repairs, took about 2 months. When I got it back it would then freeze while recording. My tape was stuck inside, the camera would not respond, the red charge light would remain on. I called Canon and they suggested I send it back in. I didnt want to send it in with the tape so I kept trying to get it to work. I finally got it to turn back on and removed my tape. I didnt bother sending it back because it was working fine. I find that whenever there is only 1 bar of power in the battery it freezes. I just bought an after market battery from Ebay, if this problem persists Ill just buy a Sony.
On: 2005-07-22
I was reading the prior review and am mad. I have a ZR 30 and have continual problems with the cassette sticking and eating up my dv tapes. I have just lost a lot of footage which I hoped to make into a program for our art group.We are having a big show soon.
There are really no good options. I can get my camcorder serviced, but that costs $150. Or they will give me this machine the ZR 85, which also sounds horrible. Since customers report sticking on it too, I dont see any options. Why cant they fix such a simple thing - its not rocket science.
On: 2005-04-27
So it is my sons first birthday. Have we used the camcorder since Christmas? Of course not. Cassette is stuck. No pictures of first birthday :( Do a little online research to troubleshoot, turns out this is a known problem with many of the Canon camcorders. This camera has literaly been used three times and of course, the warrenty expired about a week ago. Canon charges minimum of $145 for service plus shipping, so why bother. Get a Sony!
On: 2005-02-07
Have this brand new Canon ZR85 for about 3 weeks. All satisfaction so far except 1 serious mechanical feature. Explain below:
This camcorder is for making movie, that means "move" (not still). The tape is for 1 hour, that means need to mount on something that move rather than to hold steady by hand and move arround to capture movie for that whole hour.
I mount the camcorder on a swivel head from Bogen-Manfrotto, and the swivel head mount on my bicycle. I ride the bike on fairly good pave road with little road vibration to record scenery for several hours.
Turn out that the camcorder mounting base is made out of non-metal (plastic) can not take vibration and the thread become damage. Is this considered that users abusing or manufacturer false to not design carefully for the "mov"ie device?
I have to turn myself to become a "tripod" now since my ZR85 has no longer usable mounting base.
On: 2005-01-22
I got this as christmas gift, and used it mostly indoors, sometime at night, for the past month. The still pictures came out very bad. That doesnt bother me much since I have digital cameras. However, this camera is very poor indoors, even with the night mode, the video came with very high background, color granules everywhere. it is much worse than the old miniDV I have, a Sharp model I got in 2001, which is very bulky but has been very reliable. I made two DVD side by side, and the one with Canon looks horrible. Outdoor shots are fair, but many occasions I have to take shots indoor or at night. I would go with other models if possible.
by: andersnt On: 2005-01-01
The camera is very easy to use, and is small and handy. It has more functions than youd really want in such a camera -- if you are ever going to do something with the footage you will be using a computer and an editing program, so you dont really need the editing modes on the camera. Still, theres no complaint here, and its flexible enough for most users.
My only complaint is that for some reason on my camera when I flipped the lcd viewer around to see from the front the image didnt rotate. I know its supposed to do this, and it did it with the model at the store. Or: when I closed the lcd viewer with it flipped around the image shut off and I couldnt see it anymore. Im assuming this had to do with a bad wire. But, I had no problem returning it to get a new one, so this wasnt a huge problem, only inconvenient.
All in all I would say that this is a solid entry-level camcorder, that is fairly priced and easy to use.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-12-31
This cam does it all. Your sheach for a camcorder has ended. It has 2 hours of battery life with the veiwfinder , 1 with the lcd screen. Thats good. The digtal effects are cool.And you are able to connect to the computer for buring dvds and more digital effects
On: 2004-09-18
I am really surprised by these other reviews on lighting. When shooting in the dark I used the night mode button and it allowed me to take great footage in the dark. I also found the DV Messager software to be extremely user-friendly. It allowed me to import my footage for editing (gotta love Final Cut Pro). Overall I think it is a great buy for the buck.
On: 2004-09-17
I am really surprised by these other reviews on lighting. When shooting in the dark I used the night mode button and it allowed me to take great footage in the dark. I also found the DV Messager software to be extremely user-friendly. It allowed me to import my footage for editing (gotta love Final Cut Pro). Overall I think it is a great buy for the buck.
On: 2004-09-02
ZR80 + (less than 1M camera(meaning useless)+USB cable) = ZR85
Dont pay for the poor camera in ZR85 that youll never use!
Buy ZR80 instead of ZR85. Use a digicam more than 3.2M pixels to take good pictures, use ZR80 to take good video.
IEEE1394 (also called firewire cable) is the one to transfer video to PC or Mac.
On: 2004-09-01
ZR80 + (less than 1M camera(meaning useless)+USB cable) = ZR85
Dont pay for the poor camera in ZR85 that youll never use!
Buy ZR80 instead of ZR85. Use a digicam more than 3.2M pixels to take good pictures, use ZR80 to take good video.
IEEE1394 (also called firewire cable) is the one to transfer video to PC or Mac.
On: 2004-07-20
I agree with the 12 year old. I have used this camera for three weeks and think it is just great. I have been to two birthday parties indoors and the lighting was great,I used video and still pictures. I love that it is so quick and easy to go back and forth between the two.I have also used it in a Butterfly Museum and the pictures were so true to color that my friends want copies sent to thier computers.When I first bought this I was just looking for a plan digital camera and Im so pleased that I chose this instead.When I bought it my children and I (ages 12 and 15)took a tape and the book and learned how to use it and tried every feature indoors and out and had such a good time and now we know how to use it.I suggest to the people who didnt read the book to go and open it and learn something.We think it great and will let our friends that are looking to buy a camera to give it a try. Also a great price for the features.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-07-15
Why is everybody so upset that it doesnt make indoors look like outside???
It doesnt make anything darker on the video filmed inside, it just gives an accurate depiction of what the lighting is really like. Its not going to make the scene look like you have 1000 watt bulbs everywhere, but that is realistic. Those people claiming that having the the video resembling the actual envirenent that is was shot in is bad, is a bunch of crap. Film in a dark area and the footage will dark. Shouldnt that be obvious??
On: 2004-06-04
I was looking to upgrade from my VHS-C to the Mini DV format since it is supposed to be much better, but believe that it was a big mistake getting this camcorder. To me the quality isnt much better than older formats and nothing to gawk about in awe as some may have you think. I will probably be using my VHS-C until it breaks now that I have seen this Mini DV format in action and how horrible it can be. In this review I would like to talk about why this camcorder is so bad.PROBLEM #1: VIDEO QUALITY IN LOW LIGHT AND INDOORS This camcorder records video that is absolutely horrendous in low light and indoors. My 3 year old Panasonic VHS-C is absolutely leaps and bounds above this camcorder indoors and outside at night time as far as quality is concerned. The picture quality is so bad that it is not even worth trying to watch unless you want a headache. The night mode that the camcorder has does absolutely nothing except slow the shutter speed down to the point where everything looks like distorted robot movement. As another reviewer stated I can not stress how bad the quality of low light and indoor video is on this camcorder but heres some comparisons. Old 8mm camcorders (the kind you view with a projector remember these) look 100 times better than the ZR85 as far as quality is concerned in these situations. My digital camera and VHS-C camcorder look like a Hollywood film production compared to the ZR85. Basically think in youre worst imagination what it can look like and then multiply those bad thoughts by 1000 to get a clear picture of how bad it is. This was not the fault of the lighting in my house or outdoors where I was recording, I tried using streetlights, LED flashlights, a 2.25million candlepower spotlight, halogen flashlights, my backyard 500 watt floodlight, all the lights in the house on, all the lights in the house off, etc and in every situation the video quality was pure garbage. I tried changing settings on the camcorder to improve it such as the low light setting, night mode, changing the white balance, shutter speed, etc, no improvement there either. I even went to the store and bought the light that mounts to the top of the camcorder and tried with that on and no improvement there either. The picture is so dark that even under any of these lighting conditions you cant see anything with clarity. I did have two other people with me at the same time recording with my digital camera and VHS-C and both of those were hugely better than the ZR85. PROBLEM #2: OUTDOOR PICTURE QUALITY I wasnt too impressed with the outdoor picture quality of this camcorder either. This was my first attempt at a Mini DV camcorder and I was expecting a big improvement over VHS-C but as it turns out they look about the same to me on a 36" tv. The outdoor quality is much much better than indoor however. PROBLEM #3: BATTERY LIFE Im not sure how canon rates its battery life or how others got more than me but the battery life is unacceptable on this camcorder. Using the LCD I got around 30 minutes before the thing was dead, with the viewfinder about 40 minutes, that is ridiculous.
RECOMMENDATION As far as good things there really were none that I can think of about this camcorder compared to others I looked at in the store, and Im hoping the store I bought it from will let me return it or exchange it even if I have to pay a restocking fee its worth it to me. If you are looking for a Mini DV camcorder and want to occasionally shoot video indoors or at night I would recommend straying far away from this POS. I havent tried any other models yet but I dont believe that any of them can be as bad as this thing. I may try one of the other brands with night vision before sticking to VHS-C but as of yet I havent been convinced that Mini DV is worth changing to.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-05-31
We purchased this camcorder yesterday and have been extremely dissapointed in the quality of video. So much so, we will be returning it as soon as possible. When filming indoors, both at night with typical lighting in our living room, and during the day with typical lighting from the windows on a sunny day. The quality of the video is extremely bad, very grainy. It is so bad that it is not even worth watching. Had I received this camera for free, I would not waste my time filming anything inside. Maybe there are settings to improve this, or maybe our house has strange poor lights - but in any case - I do not have the time nor knowledge to mess with settings, nor am I going to buy a new house that has better lighting. Maybe my standards are too high. But I can not tell you how bad the indoor video was. However, I went outside today in bright sunshine and made some recordings. I was very impressed with the quality of video in these circumstances. The optical zoom is very good, colors are great and sharp. Knowing that I will be filming alot of video insdoors this camera is not acceptable. In fact, we also bought a regular Canon digital camera and the video it takes (only 30 seconds at a time) is actually much better than the ZR85. Not great, but alot better than the camcorder. If you are looking for a home video camera, are not an expert videographer, looking for an inexpensive camera to film some videos indoors - than this is NOT the camera for you.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-04-29
First when I got the camera (I purchased from online), I kind of like it. Very compact. It does not come with DV tape and I purchased one from local store. Once I load the tape and I heard the noise that the tape is rotating even without making any videos. I called Canon customer support and described the noise and was told it is like that and nothing particularly wrong with the one I got. When I told the custmoer representative that the camcorder my friend purchased from Sony does not seem have such problem and that guy simply replies OK. Make me feel that since you chose Canon, you have to live with our problem. By the way, before I made the purchase, I read quite a few reviews about Canon poor customer services. Now I understood.Regarding the SD card loaded with a lot of wallpaper-like pictured as decscribed by the first reviewer, you can delete them. Thoese pictures are just protected, You can unprotect the pictures first and it will allow you to delete. But I suggest that you copy those pictures to your computer first before you do anything. Those are very nice background and you can use them as a frame, background for your pictures when you edit later on.
On: 2004-03-19
My husband and I purchased the Canon ZR85 MiniDV Camcorder about a week ago in preperation for the birth of our first child in April. We were either going to go with this camcorder, or purchase a Sony camcorder. We thought long and hard in the store, and we really believe that this is a much better camera. Not to say bad things about Sony, but their camcorder only had a 10x optical zoom, while the Canon ZR85 has a 20x optical zoom. The picture quality also seemed to look better on the Canon camcorder. When you are moving the camera from side-to-side the image on the LCD display kind of floats. It was much more jerky with the Sony. We absolutley love this camera. We had fun taking pictures with the still shot last night and I e-mailed them to a friend of mine that I havent seen in years. The quality of the pictures is excellent. But as with any digital camera, printing the images out on a photo printer might not look as good as on the LCD display or on your computer screen. I do not know, because we do not have a photo printer or plan to get one. But for e-mailing pictures to friends on the computer, I can testify that this camcorder takes beautiful pictures. I even saved one of the pictures to the desktop on my computer, and I swear it looks like a magazine photo. My husband and I were surprised how good the pictures look. We didnt buy the camcorder for the still shot feature, but we love it now and are so happy this camcorder can take digital pictures. The video quality is excellent as well. We havent done much filming yet, just playing around the house with it. But we have hooked it up to the TV to watch what we have recorded and it looks even better on TV than on the LCD screen when you were taping. The image is very steady, clear, and crisp. Colors look amazing. My old maroon/auburn couch really came to life when taping. It looks better recorded than it does in person. I love the zoom, it is amazing how far away you can see with this thing. I also love how it self-adjusts. You can look at a bright window and the camera will focus and adjust the lighting, then you can turn away from that window and look at a dark corner and it will quickly re-adjust. Its really awesome. We are very pleased with this camcorder. The only thing we are unhappy about is the memory card that was included with the camera is very small and canon put a lot of trash pictures that look like wrapping-paper on it that you cannot delete. This takes up almost all of the memory space on the card, only leaving you with enough room for about 10 or 15 pictures. But no biggie. That is the only complaint that we have, and that is such a nothing-problem. We plan to buy a bigger memory card anyway, so that we can take more still pictures. This camcorder is really great. Make sure you purchase a bigger battery, but that goes for any camcorder. You will love this camcorder.
On: 2004-02-23
I had my concers at first about this cam. Ive read in several places that the stil pic quality wasnt good, and that the quality of the film was poor in low light. Well Im glad to say that I have not had those problems at all. There are all sorts of tweaks that you can do with the cam that will make it look great in most places. Ive had the cam for about a week now and both the Wife and I find it very easy to use!
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