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Canon's entry-level camcorder is the cheapest that we reviewed ($350) and comes with some very useful features, such as an 18X optical zoom, a flip-up color viewfinder, and an accessory shoe that can hold an optional $70 video light. But for a camera aimed at beginners, it's not easy to use.
To be fair, there's a lot to commend the ZR80. It sits comfortably in the hand, and it's easy to hold and shoot with for long stretches. The buttons on the side and back are well placed so they won't be accidentally pressed in the middle of filming. And at just over 20 ounces, it is one of the lighter cameras we tested.
But the excessive number of functions on one button was confusing, and the menus were counterintuitive at times. The depressible jog wheel control under the 2.5-inch LCD panel was the worst culprit: It's saddled with five different functions (camera menu, VCR menu, volume adjust, focus ring, and Program AE preset selector). Which function you get depends on what mode you're in and whether or not you pressed the menu key first, an arrangement that takes some getting used to. The jog wheel also sits in an awkward place near the back of the camera; we often inadvertently jogged the camera when trying to use it when shooting. The on-screen menus are not much easier to use, with the options in unexpected locations. We found the option to set time and date, for instance, in the vaguely titled System menu, not the more logical Camera Setup one. Fortunately, the thick manual is well written, includes lots of diagrams, and has a good index.
This model is missing a few things that you get in more expensive cancorders: It lacks a memory slot for storing still images, a microphone socket for connecting an external microphone, and an S-Video-out port; to watch the video on a TV, you have to use the composite output.
The ZR80's single low-light option is easy to use--just push a button to turn it on and off--but the camcorder simply doesn't shoot well in low light: the video was excessively grainy and colors were very pale.
The Z80 camcorder came in near the bottom of the pack in our video tests, although we did find that all of the camcorders produced acceptable video quality. However, battery life from the 800mAh battery came in at a respectable hour and a half in our recording tests, and this could be extended by using the viewfinder instead of the LCD panel. We also found we could do virtually everything using the viewfinder--shoot, playback, and use the menus. The only thing we couldn't do was listen to the audio during playback--you have to flip out the LCD screen for that.
Upshot: This stylish, small, and reasonably priced camcorder is hindered by awkward controls.
Bryan Hastings
