Canon ZR80 MiniDV Camcorder w/18x Optical Zoom
By: Canon Average Rating: 3.0 Total Reviews: 24
More Information
 On: 2008-07-02
I purchesed this camcorder 5 years ago. Havent used it a lot but when I have I have bee happy with it. The only thing is the batterry. It only last 25-30 minutes. It sopose to last an hour. The tapes are 1 hour so you have to find a plug that you can use and are not in the way while shouting. The quality is great.
 On: 2007-09-05
I bought a ZR80 about 3 years ago. It really seemed the perfect camera for me, new mommy who wants to record all the baby stuff. I got lovely videos and everything worked perfectly for almost 2 years. Suddenly, the screen started to appear black. It would record only the sound but not the image. It worked randomly, sometimes it would record the image, sometimes it just wouldnt..... very frustrating and disappointing! I have read other reviews stating similar problems. I will never get another Canon camera, as I dont plan to replace it every 2 years!!
On: 2007-08-30
We got this camera 3-years ago as a baby shower gift. The camera does not have high quality video indoors, the battery life is really short (lasts only about 30 minutes after being fully charged), and we ended up with the black screen of death (see reviews for Samsung SCD23 MiniDV Camcorder with 2.5 LCD). I would expect a video camera to last much longer than 3-years. Im very disapointed with this camera and would not recommend it to anyone.
On: 2007-08-19
Canon recalled this item for a faulty CCD, the symptoms of which are static or no image at all recording to the tape. After about 15 hours of use I ran into this problem and was pretty bummed out, but after checking the Canon website I noticed that they had recalled the product and were offering free repairs (and free shipping). So, if it breaks, check the site, and send it in!
Ive used this camcorder for home movies, school projects, and short video profiles. I now use a more professional 3CCD camcorder for my projects, but I keep this little one around as a backup, or use it for situations where portability is important. It has served me very well in the 4+ years I have owned it, but does have a few drawbacks.
Pros:
-Good picture for a 1-chip portable camcorder
-Decent audio for an internal microphone (zoom out and get as close to your subject as possible for better audio, or get a wide-angle lens for best results)
-Feels solid
-Manual modes; white balance, focus, shutter speed
-Decent night shot
-Syncs and imports perfectly with editing software (like iMovie)
Cons
-No external mic input (this is my only "real" complaint)
-Loud bass records static (doesnt do concerts very well)
-Lens cap falls off way too easily
-Faulty CCD, but free repair
They sell on eBay for about 50 bucks, and even 4 or 5 years after its release, its an overall good buy.
On: 2007-08-10
I took it to europe thinking I would get great video, instead I arrive at London and it says SORRY NO LIGHT SOURCE FOUND. Ever since then it has been pitch black vido and picture. Even though it says it has a warranty, they say I broke it no refunds. DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY, GET JVC!!!!!!!!!!!!!
by: Anonymous On: 2006-11-27
I wanted to make really good movies at a low cost. My first camcorder was a samsung hi8 camcorder but I wanted a DV camcorder for a low price so I purchased the Canon ZR80. I was satisfied at first. I loved the effects and picture quality outdoors. The indoor quality was really bad. The nightshot or lowlight mode makes the picture brighter but more grainier and slow frame rate. After 1/2 a year it had problems connecting to my computer. Canon repaired it. After 1 year and a half, the camcorder died on me. I read other reviews and other people complained of other or similar models in the ZR series dying after the 1 year warranty was up. This was ridiculous. I am never going with Canon again. It died during the summer so Im getting the Panasonic GS300 for christmas. DONT BUY A CANON ZR CAMCORDER!!!!!!!!!!
On: 2006-11-26
I wanted to make really good movies at a low cost. My first camcorder was a samsung hi8 camcorder but I wanted a DV camcorder for a low price so I purchased the Canon ZR80. I was satisfied at first. I loved the effects and picture quality outdoors. The indoor quality was really bad. The nightshot or lowlight mode makes the picture brighter but more grainier and slow frame rate. After 1/2 a year it had problems connecting to my computer. Canon repaired it. After 1 year and a half, the camcorder died on me. I read other reviews and other people complained of other or similar models in the ZR series dying after the 1 year warranty was up. This was ridiculous. I am never going with Canon again. It died during the summer so Im getting the Panasonic GS300 for christmas. DONT BUY A CANON ZR CAMCORDER!!!!!!!!!!
 On: 2006-02-16
Some of the reviews here state that this camera produces good quality video is false. I am wondering what they are comparing the quality to. My camera (Canon ZR80) is horrible. When shooting indoors with light coming through a slider door into the living room the image is very grainy. I compared it to one of the old "suit case" analog camera and the analog camera produces I would say 100% better image quality than Canon ZR80.
I bought this camera about 6 months ago and am very unhappy. I paid over $400 at Sears and I feel like I got ripped off by Canon. If you are planing to shoot vodeo indoors and want to have a decent quality image, do not buy Canon ZR80.
by: Anonymous On: 2006-01-22
i have had this camera for about a year and it is good. one of the problems was that when in low light it dosnt deliver really great quality. one time when i was connecting it to my computer it wasnt working so i had to send it back canon and they repaired it. another thing is the battery life. the battery that comes with it lasts a short while. it seems to drain the battery really fast and i am constantly charging it. its a good camera but next time i would choose another one.
On: 2005-03-29
At first, I was really uneasy about buying the ZR80 because of the negative reviews I read. However, I decided to buy the camcorder because It had the features i was looking for at a great price. When i recieved the camcorder I couldnt wait to try it out, and to my suprise i hardly found 1 flaw. Many people say things like there is loud motor noise, lousy picture in low-lighted areas, and a useless night shot feature. Im here to tell you that they are all WRONG! I couldnt notice motor noice, the picture and color were superb, the night shot was a great tool, and you can hear normal conversation talk almost 20 feet away! I would think that the people whom write these negative reviews either have a defect in the camera, or are looking for something other than a digital camera, like the type Speilberg uses. An external mic jack would be okay, but Ive found that it isnt really a necessety. I use this camera for everything from home movies, weddings, and parties. Ive never found the need for an extra microphone. The night mode works great too, ive recorded video in my driveway at midnight during a party and the picture is great. The features dont end there, the software advantages you can use are awesome for editing. Playback is good, zoom is clear and smooth. My experiences with this camera has made me a big Canon buyer. All of the canon products ive bought are high quality and very reliable. I now use Canon for almost all of my office and video needs. If your looking for an all-around great cam, with good features at a low price, then the Canon ZR80 is a good choise. All of my previous 8 millimeter and digital camcorders do not compare, A great buy, trust me.
On: 2005-01-21
The first ZR80 that we tested on Christmas morning had a lot of motor noise and it was very distracting when watching the tapes.
We exchanged it through Amazon, and the second one was even louder! The recordings are unwatchable because of the noise.
I wrote Canon directly, and their response was was "The ZR80 does produce some motor noise when recording on the tape. This
is considered normal for this camcorder."
Ill be exchanging this one for a Sony. Too bad, I like everything else about the camera and I have had good luck with Canon products in the past.
On: 2004-12-25
I bought this camera one month ago and I had to return it.
Every thing is great, picture quality is good , night mode is great. Hooking up to computer is easy and fun and you can record the video directly to Hard Disk, but motor noice is untolrable.
The camera records its own motor noice and is very noticable when playaed back. With loud noices the motor noise is suppressed but still it is annoying.
 On: 2004-12-17
I have always found Canon to consistently incorporate high quality infrastructure to even their entry level models, this being no exception. Didnt want to pay extra for lots of features I wouldnt use, just wanted a great starter camera. Works great given those expectations..
Picked mine up at Walmart for $226!!
On: 2004-12-16
I purchased one of these online about 3 months ago and have used it for filming family events and kids parties etc. In good light the quality is excellent and even in low light there are some tweaks you can do to improve the quality. I agree with the previous review that the lack of wide angle in the lens is the only real flaw. You will feel as if you are always too close to your subject. This makes it difficult to get good group footage when indoors. You will definitely need a second battery as well.
On: 2004-12-08
I bought this camcorder a couple of weeks ago for my wife. The first time we hooked it up to the tv and watched the video, my wife freaked. She said it looked like it was black and white, and that her old 8mm looked better. I played around with the settings and could not get the color any better. So far all of the recording has been indoors with all the house lights turned on. I even tried the nightshot. It was very, very choppy and was not even viewable in my opinion. Very easy to use buy pic quality is horrible (and I wasnt expecting miracles.)
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: 2004-06-22
Optics, the ability to deal with lighting conditions, and hand-held stability were the important factors in my buying decision. I edit my works on the computer, so effects were not important (and should be used sparingly!) The Canon ZR-80 is lightweight and well-balanced. The ability to return to easy mode with the flick of a switch from anywhere in custom settings is a great feature. The camera turns out nice-looking video with practice. Another plus: I was able to train a cameraman for a family event in less than one minute. I showed him the zoom and the pause, and off he went. As with most digital cameras, there is no video noise between pause and record. If you dont want to edit on a computer, the pause-record method makes for clean segues. Finally, as a previous reviewer writes, youll need to purchase a firewire cable separately - a $20 to $40 item!
by: Anonymous On: 2004-06-21
I bought this particular camcorder a week ago and after two parties, and its held up. For the mid-300s, I had a choice of the ZR80, a samsung, and a JVC. I chose this camcorder because of its informative online ratings, good specs, and Canon name.
Now i have to say that I dont have much point for comparison as this is my first digital camcorder but Is like to think I know good quality pictures from bad.
So, let me start off by saying, this is an easy to use camcorder (point-and-shoot, basically) and it was no trouble to load the tape, playback on the camcorder, and show on the T.V.
But, the body of the camcorder, while secure, has some very fragile parts. For example, both the coverings for the audio and DV wire were held together by a thin piece of plastic and could easily break. Watch out for that. Other than that, the LCD is great and flexible and the body is compact and attractive.
And about the DV firewire (which connects and transfers videos from camcorder to computer), it is not included in the box. Thus, know that you have to get that too if you plan on transfering and editing on the computer. That was a downer because the Samsung included a USB cable in the box and while that can be slow, its at least an option.
Also, the quality of the picture. It does indeed have poor viewing in low light. Believe me, I read the book cover to cover (skipping the French, course) and while some things can be adjusted, the camcorder has its limits. For example, in regular household lighting with some sun, the picture was distinguishable on the LCD and blurry at best on televison. WHile the focus button and mightmode helped, I strongly suggest supplement lighting if you want clear pictures indoors.
Lastly, the camcorder has a camera mode and can snap pictures but can only store it on its DV tapes which is of little use since you cannt transfer to your computer to print them out. I asked the salesperson what, then, was the use and he said it was for slide shows. That, to me, is pretty lame but camcorders dont take that good of pictures anywayd so I dont really care.
Thats about it, good luck.
On: 2004-06-08
After reading the reviews, I was a bit leery of purchasing this camera. Because it fit my needs without paying for a lot of features that I didnt need (memory stick, S-video output, etc.), I decided to get one anyway to try it out. The result is that I will keep it. One concern was image quality under low light conditions. Its OK. The depth of field is not great under low light which might account for reports of fuzzy images, but I found that it did focus on the item of interest pretty well. For low light, regardless of the camera, if you want good images, you should consider supplemental lighting. The night mode works reasonably well. Audio quality is fine. I had no problem at all with picking up sounds and voices from 15-20 feet away without them having to raise their voices. It doesnt have a mic input which wasnt a drawback for my purposes, but is, nevertheless, something that this camera should have. The biggest disapointment, for me, is that the image stabilization is a long way from what my old Sony Handycam was capable of. Even so, its adequate for the purposes that I will be using this camera. All in all, this camera will suit most peoples needs.
On: 2004-05-27
We use Canon in general because of their amazing compatibility with a wide rage of formats. The ZR-Series is no exception. You are able to achieve high quality with ease. The VIC chip makes a big difference when you are importing a lot of video to edit on your PC/Mac. From importing DV to edit content on a Mac, to hooking it up to a high-end video recorder or even using it as a web cam, the features are unbelievable at this price. For Mac users there is a program you can download to make this camera work as an iChat web cam via Firewire. I also recommend that you visit Canon.com, there you can view videos about each of Canons camcorders that will help you find the camera that is right for you. Sony, Sharp, Panasonic and most every respective brand has similar videos on their sites to help you compare. Of course Amazon.com has the best prices. Also I find it very odd that nearly every negative reviewer ends up mentioning Sony as an alternative. One would think someone would mention JVC or Sharp. You would have to spend at least $450.00 to find a Sony that compares. If you are serious about sound you really need a boom/shotgun microphone no matter what brand of camera you use. An external mic will help you capture directional sound. For voices, wireless microphones will always give you superior results. You can then mix both boom and wireless feeds to create dynamic sound.
On: 2004-04-26
I scoured the net for a camera (my first). I looked at many brands and moodels, all price ranges (price wasnt really a big factor, but why pay more if you dont have to?) I have had my camera for less than a week, but have been testing it non-stop. I need to make sure I understand it by the time I go on my vacation.I have read all of the reviews, both good and bad comments. It seems to me that some of the people who are rating this camera are looking ffor some professional heavy duty unit that has every feature on the planet. I really like this cam. Its easy to use, has great features and boasts a pretty great price. The night mode works pretty good. Does everyone here think they are getting a piece of military equipment or something from StarTrek? It picks up a good picture, and its in color, unlike many other cams that have a green hue. The zoom (both optical and digital) works great! You can get very close up with the digital zoom, and as long as you are not trying to see an ant from an airplane, its clear (not much quality degredation). I have hooked the cam up to my TV to see what the footage looks like on something other than the LCD, and its GREAT! I cant wait to see what I can do with my MAC and iMovie!! The only CON for now is the power switch. Its a little harrd to manipulate with just your thumb (Im getting better though). If you want a great cam for a vacation, or to shoot family footage, this cam is a good choice. Try to take what others say about this cam with a grain of salt. They expect too much.
On: 2004-04-26
I bought this comcorder because of the zoom, price and ease to use. I was inmediately disappointed. The video looks grainy if your shooting is inside the house. In my case, most of family scenes occur inside the house!!! The audio quality is poor. The camncorder can not capture voices more than five feet away unless you are yelling. Fortunately, someone stole it and I decided to buy a Sony HC20. With the Sony the quality of the video and audio are superb. Sincerely, I would not recommend the Canon ZR80 not its predecesors.
On: 2004-03-29
There are lots of things you look for in a camcorder. Features, quality construction, and something easy to use are all things to consider. In the lower price range a lot of camcorders are alike and you have to look at some small specifics to figure out whats the best buy.The ZR80 is a good camcorder, but it has one major flaw that its predecessors did not - it has no mike input. The built in microphones on almost all camcorders, certainly those selling for less than $1000, are notoriously bad. They generally pick up 180 degrees of sound. In a group situation, at a party for example, the audio sounds like utter chaos. Canons also seem to be especially prone to picking up motor noise from the camera itself. Thus, if youre interested in good sound you need to have a camcorder with a mike input. Unfortunately, Canon chose to reduce the features on their 2004 ZR line by taking away the mike input. Why they did this is astonishing because it makes no sense. If you want a Canon camcorder with good sound you really need to either get an older model - almost any of the older ZRs including the 45, 50, 60, 65 and 70, all of which have mike inputs - or forget the ZR completely and go for an Elura or any of their other product lines that have this necessary feature. If youre accustomed to the typical sound one gets from an on-camera mike (or you plan to never use it in situations with lots of sounds), maybe this model will be fine for you.
by: Anonymous On: 2004-02-24
Pros: Easy to use, great quality images in normal light and outdoors. Firewire interface works fast and flawlessly (both directions) with several different programs; tiny, lightweight, easy on the battery (dont use the LCD screen much); plenty of zoom; included battery charges quickly (but does not come with separate charger).Cons: Only one: lower quality images in low light; changing settings and night mode does help some, but still not as good as my old Canon analog camcorder. It does have an accessory shoe for a light. The bottom line: an inexpensive unit thats great for family videos (note: if you want a still image function, buy a digital camera!).
On: 2004-02-13
I purchased the ZR80 mini DV camcorder online, and received it today... one thing I was disappointed about is that this camcorder has no SD card slot like some of the other ZR series camcorders do... still shots go directly on your DV tape (one tape holds about 700 shots) Its not that big of an issue for me because I own a fantastic digital camera, and would prefer my pictures to be taken with that... but it might be an issue for someone who was planning on getting it all in one package (and it can be a big convenience that way!)
The special effects on this camcorder are great, and the video I have taken so far is wonderful... Two suggestion though: PLAY with the settings and READ the book!! I have seen so many reviews of Canon camcorders that say they are no good in low light (BTW the nightshot is simple to use and highly effective)
|
|
