Canon ZR 60

This camera is a good choice for anyone who is looking around about a cheap, easy to use with camcorder. At this time you can get it from ebay for a very low price.

Pro:
- low price.
- very easy to use. You don't need any diploma in order to be able to use this camcorder.
- LCD bright enough for regular use.
- a good and secure hand grid using that hand strap.
- powerfull optical zoom.
- good clear Main Lens.

Con:
- poor image quality in low light = grainny !
- no real image stabilization.
- zoom in / out is too fast with a too short range = is jumping from close to far away too fast in big steps. The zoom in/out image will never be a smooth move.
- regular battery lifespan is very limited. You must buy one extra battery.

Overal:
- not bad for low budget section as a pre-owned camcorder.

The product seems to be in good working order. All initial testing passed with flying colors. Clarity of recording is great and the anti-motion feature helps even a novice to look like a pro.

The Cannon ZR 60 is small & light weight, has a steady screen feature that makes playback worth watching. the original battery that came with it would only let you record through the LCD for about 45 minutes, but I bought another battery that last about 5 hours while viewing through the LCD. Now I love the camera.

I LOVE THE QUALITY OF VIDEO YOU GET FROM THESE COMPACT VIDEO CAMCORDERS. CANON HAS PUT SO MANY FEATURES IN THESE MODELS. YOU CAN TAKE PICS AND SAVE THEM TO YOUR MINI DV TAPE. CHANGE ANALOG RECORDINGS INTO DIGITAL THE ONE I LOVE IS THIS HAS A / V INPUTS AS WELL AS OUTPUTS SO YOU CAN HOOK YOUR BULLET OR HELMET CAM UP TO IT. THE NICE COLOR LCD FLIPS OUT AND SWIVELS AROUND FOR THOSE HARD TO REACH VIDEO'S OR PICS. THIS CAMCORDER IS A GOOD CHOICE AND IS NOT EXPENSIVE. CANON IS KNOWN FOR THEIR AWESOME OPTICS. THEY ARE NUMBER 1 IN CUSTOMER SERVICE. YOU WILL LOVE THIS CAMCORDER FOR IT IS VERY EASY TO USE.

I'll get right to the issue. Noise on the audio track due to the way they mount the tape transport motors and internal mics. If that's a problem for you, you can do one of three things...

1. use an external microphone
2. record the sound track on some other device and then sync in post production
3. buy a different camera

I have used both 1 and 2. In the studio, I use 3 cameras (all ZR 60s) and record a separate soundtrack with Sonar. Then I match the three camera tracks and the audio track up using my video software (Sony Vegas Pro) and do the post processing. The result is astounding.

For an external microphone I have a Realistic stereo condenser. There's a 33-1085 on eBay today. Not sure what my model is off the top of my head, but you can find one of these for about $30 or less if you're patient. They make EXCELLENT microphones for this application for indoor use. Other options include shotgun microphones, which you will pay $100 or more for a usable one.

The ZR 60 is a cost effective solution. I bought all 3 of mine on eBay, for $86, $90, and $125. Two of them didn't come with a lens cap, so I wrote to Canon for a part number and they sent me two lens caps FREE.

There is a known issue with the camera. If you leave them in a hot place (like your car with the windows rolled up) something happens to a wiring harness inside the camera that kills the display. Canon will fix these for no charge, no questions asked. I've noticed that there are a good number of ZR 60s listed here that have issues with the display. Nobody can guarantee that this is the problem, but it very well might be. If you have one of these dead cameras, it would be worth contacting Canon and getting it fixed before you sell it here, as you can then get more $ for it rather than a salvage "as-is" price.

the product was as decribed.in the write up it was decribed as non-working video camcorder,it came that way. i decided to buy camcorder because i needed the charger,but the charger did not fit my zr45.

I like:
Easy to learn to operate it,
Nice quality of video for a consumer
Easy to handle, the weight and sape are good features.
The price on ebay was very tempting

I don't like:
I had to buy a card adapter for my computer, to download the recorded movies.
This model doesn't use memory cards
The sound quality is poor.

I agree with most postings already. You have to decide if you want a camera that has easy to use controls/buttons and may be grainy in low light (how much taping do you do at night/in the dark???) or another one that is way more expensive. The review with the problem probably didn't have the CCD sensor replaced (which was replaced for free) during a factory recall. The original battery doesn't last that long, SO BUY A BACK-UP. I think this is a great camera for 95% of consumers out there. The other 5% are camera nuts and aways buy the latest and greatest.

Pros:
it is really inexpensive on eBay
it is easy to use
has AV, MIC, earphone, and iEEE connections

Cons
small in size
lightweight
large amounts of grain
poor low light video quality
small lense size (lense flares are ugly green bars)

The ZR 60 (not the same as the Optura) is O.K. for a consumer camcorder...it is not close to prosumer. If you want somthing to shoot birthday videos, trips, and cellebrations this is a good one for you. If you can't afford a prosumer yet, and want to use the ZR for independent film you will have to rely on the color corrector that is in your NLE video editor. You will need to light your subject as well.

I have owned this camera for about 2 years. It gets used very little, i think just two christmas's now. Well it was great for Two christmas's, and the Birth of my baby girl. The first time we were going to take her to Disneyland i pulled out the camera from the cabnent, pluged in the charger because the battery was completly drained. I charged the camera overnight and checked it in the morning. everything worked great. We arrived to Disneyland about an hour and a half later and i turned on the camera to record my daughters reaction and all i had in the LCD were blurry lines with no reconizable picture to be seen. i closed the LCD and i had the same thing through the viewfinder. I powered down removed the battery, and repowered up, now it has just a black display throughthe viewfinder and LCD, as it the lens cap was left on and trying to record. it will record the sounds but a pure black picture. i rewound the tape that was in the camera and it was from christmas. i could view the video through the LCD and through the viewfinder, so it is in the incoming picture that there is some sort of fault.

I am disapointed with this camera. if i had reviewed a couple of months ago i would give it a 4 out of 5 due to not great recording quality in low light. now at best it is a 2 out of 5. the customer service through gateway and cannon has been horrible. all they say is take it somewhere to get looked at and repaired.

I would think after spending over $600 for this camera only 2 years ago it would have lasted longer. guess i should have gotten the ZR 70 or 80 with the light and a couple of other functions.

if you can get one on her for around $100 i would say pick it up, bt dont be dissapointed if it dosent last very long.