Canon ZR950 1.07MP MiniDV Camcorder with 48x Optical Zoom
By: Canon Average Rating: 4.0 Total Reviews: 12
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 On: 2008-06-04
Our family ordered the Canon ZR950 to record our sons stock car races. This is a true test of a camera (and operator), as you are recording varying conditions and light levels. The Canon is preforming beautifully! The images, whether bright sunlight or under the lights at night, are crisp and clear. The zoom is a breeze to use and the microphone captures all of the action we need to hear (and some we dont!) Since weve only had the camera a few weeks we have not been able to delve into all of the options the camera has to offer, but so far we love it! We would definitely recommend that anyone looking for a low to mid-level priced camera give this one a try.
 On: 2008-06-04
I love this camera and and hooke don Canon products. Its very easy to use, and the clarity of the footage is just incredible. For the price, it cannot be beat, in my opinion.
 On: 2008-05-31
If you are a PC owner be very careful before purchasing this product. Canon wants you to think this is an easy product to synch to your computer, when in fact it is anything but. For instance, it comes with a firewire and USB connection making one think that if you dont have a firewire connection youll be all set when it comes to transfering videos through the USB connection. This is not the case. The USB connection is only for transfering images. Fine, so pretend for a sec that you do have a firewire connection (which more often than not, is not the case for PC users), once you install the software you think youll be downloading videos in no time. Well, you would be wrong again. The camera does not come with video editing software despite the fact that Canon labels the CD that comes with the camera as "DIGITAL VIDEO SOLUTION DISK" when all it does is EDIT PHOTOGRAPHS!!! You have to wonder who thought it would be a good idea to label softare that only downloads images as a video solution disk. Probably not the sharpest knife in the drawer over at Canon...
Anyway, thats my too cents. As a video camera it seems ok so far, but it really falls short for PC users who want to purchase a camera that is easy and quick to synch up with their PC. I hope someone finds this useful and avoids making the same mistake I did which was to trust the kid at BestBuy who assured me this synched up easily.
PS. I apologize for the use of all caps, but really thought it appropriate in this case.
On: 2008-05-16
For the money with all the options this camera has, ease of use, you cant touch it. I highly recommend it.
 On: 2008-05-13
I bought this for recording family stuff. It records good with good sound. I am very unimpressed with the still pictures, especially in low light. It doesnt come with any software for capturing or editing your videos. Windows comes with one. There is no firewire cable to transfer your video to your computer either. I picked one up for cheap. It doesnt come with a sd card for still pictures. Overall I am happy with the camcorder, the zoom is great and the video is sharp. If you plan on taking a lot of still pictures you probably wont be happy. My phone takes better photos than this.
On: 2008-05-05
I ordered this camera, not expecting it to arrive early. It came two days early and is a great value for a beginners camera. It would be a great gift for a grad or father.
On: 2008-05-03
The product I received was a defect. The camcorder could not get normal images for outdoor recording. It had red and green dots all over the LCD and viewfinder with indoor recording. I had to return it. It ruined my daughters birthday party.
On: 2008-04-30
In the product description Amazon.com lists as a feature that the ZR950 has a microphone input: "The microphone terminal on the ZR950 makes it especially useful for educators and trainers to carefully capture the audio they need to make most effective use of the video they shoot. Its also handy when you want to easily record a live narration for your footage."
However, having hands-on experience with this camera and from reading over the manual it does not have any audio-in jacks. This is a fine camcorder, but if youre buying it to record lectures and want to record from a microphone source youre buying the wrong tool. The Canon ZR930 and the ZR900 both do state that they have microphone input on the canon website. Also, among the older models, the Canon ZR800 has audio-in as well, however the ZR830 & ZR850 do not. This is not made clear initially from Canons website and required a good deal of research. I wish they listed that spec in their comparison page.
At any rate, these are good cameras, at a good price. Just be certain to get the 930, 900 or 800 if you need audio-in. Im not sure why they removed that feature from their higher-end camcorders, it seems counterintuitive to me.
On: 2008-04-03
This is a solid camera for a great price. Has options for SD cards for still photos. Native wide screen support and decent battery life. Works great with iMovie. Still photos could be higher resolution, but this isnt meant to be a digital camera replacement.
On: 2008-03-05
Pros: Great video, great 48x advanced zoom, looks great, ease of use and Vista ready.
Cons: None found.
This is one of the best cameras on the market currently in this price range. Great video resolution and the ability to take photos as well. The ability to zoom in on objects from far off and lots of extras that most cameras do not offer. 1+ megapixel as well. Good luck finding a better camera with all these features at a price slightly under $300.
On: 2008-02-26
The first guy who reviewed this camcorder is an idiot. Before you buy, I would encourage you to check out all the brands and compare the features. Much like cell phones everyone has something just a little different that might grab you. If your looking for special features...test it out at the store and then buy it on Amazon.
As for this camcorder...the performance is as expected...excellent! Canon put out a quality 800 series last year (which was their mid-priced cameras) and now they have dropped their top-of-the-line series this year to concentrate on the more popular mid-priced camcorders. The 800 series from last year has been updated and tweaked to become the 900 series this year. The camcorder has some great features and it is really easy to use. Its very compact and simply gives me everything I want in a camcorder plus a little extra.
The cons for this one: the 1.07 MP camera that you are able to use with this (assuming you place a picture memory card in it) is a cool feature but not very practical. Realistically, your cell phone will have just as good of a picture..so I would suggest getting a camcorder bag and remember to bring a digital camera if you want to take pictures. It would be nice if you had a microphone hook-up...but you lose that with the picture taking capability (the other 900 series models have the microphone hook-up instead of the picture card).
Anyway...great camcorder at a great price!
 On: 2008-02-17
What a shock to find out that this camcorder can be the only device connected to my MacBook Pro via the 1394 (Firewire) port. That means video cannot be captured to another FirwWire drive. Bummer.
The manual states it, so this is not just a Mac problem. Also, on my Mac, the camcorder is not recognized via USB.
A workaround is to use a USB drive for capture while the camcorder is attached to the 1394 port. Fortunately, the drive I use for capturing has a dual interface, and since capturing is a function of time not disk speed, this can work.
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