Canon ZR80 Digital Camcorder

Canon ZR80

ZR80 Digital Camcorder Review, by Bryan Hastings April 30, 2004

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• Reviewed by: Edex

  Strengths: Quality is superb with adequate lighting. Easy to use.

  Weaknesses: Indoor capturing is not good.

  Overall: Video quality is severely compromised with indoors. Even with sufficient lighting, the picture comes out grainy.Outdoor capturing is not a problem. The colors are vivid and well defined.16x9 capturing is certainly a big plus. It looks great on a widescreen TV.

• Reviewed by: xu111

  Strengths: Easy to use, with Chinese Menu, Solid build

  Weaknesses: Not good for night shot

  Overall: ZR80 is an entry-level digital camcorder. It worths every penny I paid. I used it all the time during our trip to Hawaii and we loved the video. The battery life is very good The LCD screen is bright enough to be comfortably visible under the bright sun of Hawaii. I connected it to my PC (windows XP) with firewire cable and it is a breeze for the PC to recognize it. Take home message: If you just do casual outdoor shot during day, this is a good choice.

• Reviewed by: fireworks1972

  Strengths: Low Price, Good Quality

  Overall: It is tiny, easy to set up.With effective wind noise filtering.Buy ZR80 instead of ZR85. Use a digicam more than 3.2M pixels to take good pictures, use ZR80 to take good video.

• Reviewed by: mikeclee1

  Strengths: Light weight, small form factor, easy to use controls on the camera, good price

  Weaknesses: Poor battery life, does not have a USB connection, optical zoom is only at 18X

  Overall: Over all this is a very good camera for the price. It retails for about $330 at most stores. The battery does not last long. The battery only lasts for about 60 minutes. I would recommend a second high capacity. The optical zoom is only at 18X. Now that isn't bad for the price of this camera, but I've seen better on other models. Namely the ZR90. The size of this camera is perfect in my hands. Other cameras seem to small with even smaller buttons. And the controls are just the right size. But bewarned early, this camera does not have a USB connections. If you don't have a firewire card, you will have to get one to import the video into your computer. All though this my not be the best camera on the market, it does suit my needs and I believe it out work for most people. You can't beat the price.

• Reviewed by: philcrocetti

  Strengths: Canon optics, ease of use, well-balanced, well-built.

  Weaknesses: You'll need to step up to the ZR85 for more options. No weaknesses in design or operation, but two-way firewire and external mic jack would be nice.

  Overall: 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 don't want to edit on a computer, the pause-record method makes for clean segues. Finally, as a previous reviewer writes, you'll need to purchase a firewire cable separately - a $20 to $40 item!