Canon ZR800 MiniDV Camcorder with 35x Optical Zoom

Product Description

The ZR800 gives you clear, vibrant and brilliant video and digital photographs with a 680K Megapixel CCD image sensor. 35x Optical and 1000x Digital Zoom lets you get closer to the action for unsurpassed optical performance. The ZR800's image stabilizer allows you to shoot rock-steady video even at maximum telephoto without a tripod for professional-looking video. Canon's exclusive DIGIC DV image processor takes video and photos differently, resulting in exceptional color and clarity for both. The 0.35-inch viewfinder on your ZR800 displays your widescreen image in a letterbox view. The 2.7-inch LCD screen lets you view your widescreen shot right as you're taking them. The Widescreen Button lets you switch from standard 4:3 to 16:9 Widescreen HR with the camcorder's advanced image stabilization. Simultaneous Photo Recording lets you capture a digital photograph while recording video. Level and Grid Markers - Both markers can be set to white or grey for enhanced visibility 680K 1/6-inch CCD Image Sensor MiniDV Tape Format Viewfinder - 0.35-inch, 114,000 pixels, widescreen LCD Screen - 2.7-inch, 112,000 pixels, widescreen Exposure Lock - Lets you lock your exposure settings and then recompose your shot Auto Slow Shutter Function - Ensures perfect exposures in low light by lowering your shutter speed 9 Point Ai-AF - Auto Intelligent Auto Focus will bring it into sharp focus Progressive Photo gives you sharper detail in your digital photography Scene Modes - Portrait, Sports, Night, Snow, Beach, Sunset, Spotlight or Fireworks Image Effects - Vivid, Neutral, Low-Sharpening, and Skin Detail Dimensions - Width 2.2 x Height 3.6 x Depth 4.7 inch (57 x 92 x 119 mm not including grip belt) Weight - 13.2 ounces (375 grams)

Customer Reviews:

Overall a great camera............2007-12-26

Ok I got this camera for Christmas and I have to say yes, there is motor noise from the camera. It isn't unbearable, but it is noticeable. As stated before, a simple mic can fix that problem. I previously had the ZR200 which lasted me 2 years of hard solid use and I believe this camera can do the same. This camera, the ZR800 is better video quality and easier to use. I've compared many cameras of around the same price to this one and found that although very close, the Canon has them beat by a very small amount. The Mic input is something you NEVER see on a camera this cheap. The video quality is wonderful outdoors (and pretty good indoor's too). Although the audio isn't the greatest, you can buy a good mic for around $20 and have all the other cameras beat as well. The zoom is aprox. the same as th competitors though I'm not talking digital zoom. When looking for high quality video, the digital zoom does almost nothing to help. Battery life isn't that great but it will last. An added pleasure of this video camera is the joystick on the screen. It makes it so much easier to run than its predecessors. A great part too is its lens cap which is built in as well. Bottom line is this......other cameras come close to this camera....and others may have greater features in certain areas. Yes it has its downsides as does every camera on the market. But this camera is so well rounded with its features for its price that its almost impossible to go wrong! I don't know about you, but I'm sticking to Canon.

Bought One Christmas 2007.......2007-12-25

Wow, perhaps I would have missed out on a good deal had I read these before I bought mine. I admit that I was nervous after buying this at a local retail store for about 200 bucks. Let's get to the point. Yes there is some noise when recording but it is minor. Yes there is noise during playback that is unbearable. However, I went to Radio Shack and purchased a tiny condenser mic for about 20 bucks and it completely solved the playback noise. The picture quality for the price is great considering I paid about 600 bucks for my Sony that was apparently defective and currently undergoing some sort of lawsuit since Sony knew about the defect and failed to fix it. So never again will I buy a Sony. Take a look at your budget and ask yourself if you are willing to spend about 20 bucks more for a small attachable mike. Oh editing is simple. I bought a firewire cable 6-4 and instantly downloaded my vids to my computer. This was so much easier than the previous more expensive Sony. For the price. This is truly a great deal. I was gonna buy one of those point and shoot flip video things until I saw that 50 bucks more would get me this. I like it and recommend it for anyone with a little patience.

Good Camcorder for the price........2007-12-21

This is my first camcorder and am overall(thus far) very pleased with it. I spent a good week of researching camcorders to decide which would be best for me. I primarily wanted a camcorder for videoing my band when we play gigs and so numero uno for me was a cam with a mic input. I knew for decent sound quality an external mic would be a must because the built in condensor mic would get overloaded and cause distortion. Much to my surprise, it seems that only camcorders for 700$ + have mic inputs! Why more budget cameras don't have this feature is puzzling. This was the only new camcorder I could find ($ 219.00 + tax) that had a mic input so of course I purchased it.

I've had it about a month now and it has done everything I need it to and the mic input works great. The video quality is good and does ok in low light situations for the price. One feature I didn't realize would be so fun are the digital effects, which they have about 8 to play around with. As far as the tape motor noise goes I really haven't had any problems with that because I almost never video anything in total silence. When I'm videoing my band I use an external mic anway and its a non issue. So overall for the price and mic input feature theres no where else to go unless you want to take your chances on ebay.

The Good Bad & Ugly.......2007-12-14

The Good is the beautiful color images the ZR800 can capture. Wow. Very nice, very impressive.

The bad is the cheap construction. I felt like one slip and this thing might end up in 100 pieces.

The UGLY is what caused me to return the ZR800. The high pitched whining of the motor is impossible to miss on the audio. Shame on Canon for releasing a product with such poor audio.

Motor noise is HORRIBLE.......2007-12-07

My first camcorder was a ZR40. Eventually the rewind feature stopped working on that one, and instead of fixing it I decided to buy a new camera that could shoot in widescreen format. The ZR800 seemed like a good choice.

The ZR40 had noticable motor noise, but it wasn't that bad. The environment had to be pretty quiet to notice it on playback. I didn't like it but could live with it. I had read reviews that mentioned motor noise during playback on the ZR800, but certainly it couldn't be any worse than the ZR40, right?

WRONG. I just spent an hour trying to come up with an audio filter to screen the absolutely unacceptable whiring on playback. Taping in a quiet room is impossible, the audio is so annoying there's no way I want to capture it on a dvd. I even noticed the whirring above traffic noise when taping on a sidewalk.

Canon, your engineers should be ashamed of themselves to release a camera with this level of noise from the tape drive. The audio performance of this camera should have been rated unacceptable. There is no excuse to have released this to the public.

I don't often complain. I'm a pretty laid back guy. I'm not nitpicking here, the noise is truly that bad.

I'd love to comment on how it works with an external mic, but none of the mics I have work with it. At this point I have to decide if I should purchase a mic so I can use the camera (I'll never use it again with the stock mic) or simply write it off to experience and purchase a better camera. Unfortunately I bought the camera quite some time ago but only reently tried to edit any video from it, so I can't return it.

Overlooking the horrible audio, how does the camera work? Ok I guess. I like the built in lens cap. The size is nice. I'm sure thre are other things nice about it, but the audio performance overshadows everything else.

Shame on you Canon. My next camera will be made by someone else... I'd suggest people overlook this model and buy elsewhere.

Product Description

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