Title : Canon ZR50MC MiniDV Digital Camcorder with 2.5" LCD, Digital Still Mode & MMC Card Slot
Author : Canon USA
Release Date :
Binding : Electronics
Regular Price : $799.00
Amazon.com Price : $
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Editorial Reviews : Improving on an original can be a daunting task. Canon has succeeded quite well, thank you. The ZR50MC is the successor to the ZR30MC. Canon increased the optical zoom to 22x--the digital now sits at 440x--and added an analog pass-through port. Although the ZR line featured analog-in for dubbing your movies to MiniDV, the new pass-through port allows you to go straight to the computer, eliminating a possibly cumbersome step. The ZR50MC also has a lot of the same features that made the original a lot of fun. A 2.5-inch LCD is swivel-mounted, permitting the shooter to use the camera at odd angles. Various digital effects and autoexposure modes help ensure your footage turns out well. The digital still mode makes a return, letting you capture 640 x 480 stills onto an included 8 MB MMC.
Finally, there are a couple of new features that Canon threw in to make the ZR50MC just a little bit more appealing: an accessory shoe that fits a light or zoom mic (both sold separately), an extended recording function that increases recording time by 2x to 3x, and a low-light color-shooting mode.
Buyer Reviews : I purchased the ZR50 6 weeks ago. The ZR50 is my fourth Canon Camcorder (the most recent one a Hi8 with optical image stabilization). My goal with the ZR50 was to be able to get into digital editing, especially since I recently upgraded computers to a 1.8GHz P4 with 512M RAM and firewire ports. Here are the results so far-
1) Motor noise pickup- Yes, it is there. It is a somewhat higher-pitched whine that you can hear if your ear is close to the camera while recording. I bought the DM-50 mike and have now used the mike extensively, including taping my daughter's cello recital as well as a MS&HS spring concert which included vocals and a full Vivaldi concerto by a 15 member string ensemble. The DM-50 mike completely takes care of the motor whine. In addition, with the camera set at 16-bit recording, the recorded sound is CD quality. The DM-50 has three settings: boom, 1, and 2 (latter 2 are stereo). The best setting is the '1' setting. 2) General Impression- The video is great. It is the sharpest of all the cameras I've owned so far. The camera is surprisingly small (half the size of the Hi8mm), but fits well in the hand. The outside buttons are very handy. The LCD viewer is easy to read and has true colors. The manual is comprehensive. The remote is multifunctional. The digital image stabilization works very well (as well as the optical stabilization of my older camcorder). The 22x optical zoom is excellent (I turned off the digital zoom). I was able to take good close-ups of the students at the spring concert (using a tripod). The auto focus is very fast and stable, better than previous camcorders. The camera is clearly not perfect, but for the price, it has a lot of highly desirable features. 3) Low Light Performance- This is not a strong point. The shutter speed for both low light and nightlight causes the images to be jerky when panning. I purchased the VL-3 light since it is powered by the camera battery. At 3 watts, it is not so obtrusive/intense as to be a huge problem for people looking at it. The light is very small, so it is easy to carry. The light is most effective within 6 feet or so. Outdoor video of spring flowers taken at night was fine. 4) Batteries- I purchased the BP-535 battery which is quite large (in a relative scale sense). I used it to power the ZR50 during the 1 hr taping of the spring concert (and it powered the mike as well). When I was done, the indicator was showing 2/3 battery power still left. 5) Bonuses- A) The ZR50 uses the same power adapter/charger (CA-560) as the G2 digital camera- less to carry. B) The remote will also work on my other Canon camcorders which can be a problem if you're using both together. However, you can program the ZR50 remote to setting '2' to avoid this issue. Very thoughtful. 6) Still Images- Have not tried- have excellent digital camera for that. Finally, due to the small size, I can fit both the ZR50 camcorder and G2 digital camera with mike, light, flash unit, extra batteries, cables, etc. in a fairly small case. This is good.
(by AWM)
Features/Technical Specs : * MiniDV camcorder * 22x optical, 440x digital, zoom with image stabilization * 2.5 inch color LCD and color EVF * Digital photo mode records onto included 8 MB MMC card * Analog pass-through ports for direct connection to computer
