Canon ZR850

Manufacturer: Canon USA Part number: 1878B001

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Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 15 reviews

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Bottom Line:: Canon's new MiniDV top model, the ZR850, continues the ZR tradition of offering affordable, easy-to-use wide-screen movie-making, though low-light performance is still subpar.

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CNET editors' review

Canon ZR850

price range: $259.00 - $349.99

Canon's new MiniDV top model, the ZR850, continues the ZR tradition of offering affordable, easy-to-use wide-screen movie-making, though low-light performance is still subpar.

The good: New, easier-to-use menu system with joystick control; impressive color in good lighting; wide-screen LCD; built-in lens cover; low price.

The bad: No accessory shoe or microphone input; bottom-loading tape compartment; doesn't support analog-to-digital conversions; not enough stabilization at full zoom; poor low-light performance.

The bottom line: Canon's new MiniDV top model, the ZR850, continues the ZR tradition of offering affordable, easy-to-use wide-screen movie-making, though low-light performance is still subpar.

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As the top model in Canon's MiniDV line this year, you shouldn't expect earth-shattering improvements from the ZR850 over last year's models. After all, manufacturers seem to be putting more resources into DVD and hard drive-based models. The overall design keeps what we referred to last year as the "palm-friendly design," and again bumps the optical zoom up a bit, this time from 25x to 35x. As we've come to expect from Canon, the ZR850 delivers admirable color reproduction in good lighting, but it can't keep up with the competition when it comes to low light.

One noteworthy improvement over last year's ZR700 is this model's sensor, which has been bumped up to a 1-megapixel CCD, instead of 680K pixels. This makes for slightly better still images, though they're still not near what you'd get from a dedicated still camera. One noteworthy omission compared with the ZR700 is the ZR850's lack of an analog-to-digital converter. If you're looking for a way to convert analog video to digital, you'll have to look elsewhere.

We like the layout of the controls on this year's ZR models. All controls are within reach of your thumb or fingers either on the right side or on the bezel of the 2.7-inch wide-screen display on the left side. This is much better than designs that put important buttons on the left side of the body behind the screen, where you can't readily see them. Plus, Canon redesigned the menu system, so that it's more like the one on its digital still cameras. When you press the function button, a list of options appears on the left side of the LCD, and the choices for each of those options appear in a strip along the bottom of the screen. Last year's ZR700 had four buttons below its LCD screen, but the ZR850 only has two, Function and Digital Effects. Canon now makes you delve into the menus to switch between wide-screen and 4:3 recording modes, or to turn the camera's rather low power video light on or off. The lack of an accessory shoe or microphone input is annoying, but that's also typical of camcorders in this price range.

Canon's Easy mode lets you shoot on autopilot and does a nice job making decisions for you. Program mode gives you a choice of eight autoexposure presets, four white balance settings (including evaluative), three image effects, and a handful of digital effects. You have to dig one layer deep, into the setup menu to choose one of the six shutter speeds, adjust zoom speed, switch between 16:9 and 4:3 recording, or turn on or off the digital zoom, the automatic slow shutter, or the electronic image stabilization. Our one gripe about the setup menus is that they don't scroll, and as such when you reach the top, you can't wrap to the bottom by pressing up again. Since the option to exit is at the bottom, this becomes even more frustrating.

In Still mode you can capture JPEG images at a pixel resolution of up to 1,152x864. You still have access to the same autoexposure, white balance, and image effect modes, though your shutter speed options are limited to 1/60, 1/100, 1/250, or auto. That's more than you see in some camcorders, as is this Canon's nine-point autofocus system. The stills we captured were better than we see from many camcorders, with fairly accurate colors, but they don't approach what you can get from a decent dedicated still camera.

Video was much better. With ample lighting, colors were very accurate and vibrant, and footage was sharp with responsive and quick focus. Once the lighting dims a bit, that starts to change. In normal mode, we saw a fair amount of noise when shooting indoors with low ambient light. Night mode didn't help much. Even with a tripod, the ZR850 had a very difficult time achieving focus. However, it's worth noting that, while very slow, the ZR850 was able to focus eventually in night mode, even in situations where the ZR830 and ZR800 refused to focus. As has become almost standard in less-expensive camcorders, the electronic image stabilization can't handle this camcorder's maximum zoom. We found that it was only effective to about 75 percent of the zoom range.

Despite our gripes, the ZR850 is a very capable camcorder for anyone looking for a tape-based, general purpose, or relaxed vacation camera. If you're thinking about stepping down in Canon's line to the ZR830 or the ZR800, you should note that both of those models use 680K sensors, which typically show a noticeable drop off in video quality compared to a 1-megapixel sensor, such as the one in the ZR850.

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Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 15 reviews

Showing opinion 1 to 10 out of 15

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8 stars

pretty good, except for a few peeves

by rodaou on February 27, 2007

Pros: nice image, decent in low light

Cons: caveats with photo captured to card while recording video

Summary: I'm a pro videographer, and have owned more camcorders than I can remember over the years.

While comparing camcorders, always remember that IT'S RELATIVE TO OTHER VIDEO CAMERAS

...

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Summary: I'm a pro videographer, and have owned more camcorders than I can remember over the years.

While comparing camcorders, always remember that IT'S RELATIVE TO OTHER VIDEO CAMERAS IN THE SAME PRICE RANGE.

First of all it's a pretty decent camcorder. Super (35x) long zoom, good picture quality & and very decent colors.

The low light recording works from well to good, AS LONG AS YOU DON'T USE canon's low light settings, which simply slow down the shutter speed so much all it shoots is choppy video.

For good low light video, set the camera to
P(rogram) mode and select PORTRAIT from the menu. Then hit the joystick toggle to adjust the exposure while watching the image in on the flip out screen. You'll be suprised how well this camera does in poor light, especially for a canon.

And just a fyi, the built in light is absolutly useless.

Canon advertises that this camcorder allows you to capture images to the sd card while shooting video to tape. Well, that's sort of true.

If you want to capture pictures to card while shooting video to tape you MUST set the video to letterbox (4:3), and even then the camcorder will only save them at 640x480 max.

Simultaneous stills CANNOT be captured larger than 640x480, and NOT AT ALL if your shooting video in 16:9 widescreen mode. Which is rather dissapointing. I had dreams of shooting half decent stills while recording video to tape... I guess I'll have to wait a while longer.

ON the bright side though if you're shooting letterbox and are happy with 640x480 stills it does work flawlessly. While capture stills to card the video flows seamlessly although you can hear a little click on the audio when you press the photo button to take the still.

Image quality is... well... what you would expect from a $300'ish dollar camcorder.

All in all it's a pretty good camcorder and compares very favorably to my sony 26 & 42, and is honestly much better than JVC GR-D650 & Panasonic PV-GS39

Hope this helps everybody out

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49 out of 49 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 stars

Overall Good Camera

by southpark_rocks on February 18, 2007

Pros: Built in lens cap, no touch screen, wide screen mode, small and light weight, connectors easy to get to

Cons: charge cord prongs don't fold, light on/off in menu system, no analog video in

Summary: This is a very solid camera for the money, I think it is intended as most are in this price range to be an "autopilot" camera, where the user can ...

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Summary: This is a very solid camera for the money, I think it is intended as most are in this price range to be an "autopilot" camera, where the user can just turn it on and it does everything for you. In this case I think it does a great job. The issue seems to be with low light, I am not sure how other cameras perform in low light, but I found I can set the P mode to night and get a solid image in very low light. The response time lags a bit, so I wouldn't swing it around real fast in night mode but if you hold it still it seems to work fine, you might have to try it out for yourself if you are shooting low light action sequences. The "light" is useless for anything far away and it adds its own led tint on the things it does illuminate close by. The 35x optical zoom is awesome, you can read a newspaper print from 15 feet away without having to go into digital zoom.
I stuck with Mini DV after reading about the HDD cameras do MPEG compression on the fly which can lower the quality and I didn't want a DVD one. I am sure this camera will do the trick until the HDD cameras become more common and the price comes down.

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13 out of 13 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 stars

Very satisfied!

by seagardan on February 13, 2007

Pros: Above average video,lightweight, 35x zoom, decent still shots,

Cons: Light is useless, tape loads from bottom

Summary: I had purchased and returned a few cameras in this price range (JVC,Sony,Canon) due to lousy video quality. Was very pleased with the quality of this Canon. Like ...

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Summary: I had purchased and returned a few cameras in this price range (JVC,Sony,Canon) due to lousy video quality. Was very pleased with the quality of this Canon. Like most cameras in this price range, the low light quality is not great. You need to take some time and work with the different settings. Compared to the other cameras though,this camera was the best.

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6 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.
4 stars

If you don't mind the noise

by Beaglelady on April 8, 2007

Pros: Great features, easy to use

Cons: loud motor/tape noise that you hear while recording and on playback/grainy video

Summary: I have always loved Canon. I purchased the ZR800 after reading all the reviews I could find on the Sony and Canon. The 800 has such a loud tape noise ...

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Summary: I have always loved Canon. I purchased the ZR800 after reading all the reviews I could find on the Sony and Canon. The 800 has such a loud tape noise on playback it was very annoying and you couldn't hear people talking low over it. So I took it back and got a ZR850. The noise issue was "better" but still there and still annoying. I thought ok I can live with it. The saleseman told me all MiniDV camera's would have that and if I didnt' want it I should go up to the Hard drive models. Hubby wanted to try another MiniDV camera so we went and got a Sony DCR-HC38 to compare(reviews aren't as good) The Sony is SO much better than the canon! NO tape noise at all. Video quality was better too although the reviews say the opposite. the Sony was still easy to use(but still prefer cannon in that dept.) I will be returning the Canon. I love canon but they have really messed up with their ZR line!

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5 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
3 stars

DV port broke

by JarVander on April 28, 2007

Pros: Produces stunningly vivid and fluid 1280x720 widescreen video in bright sunlight. Menus were easy to navigate and the feature set was good for the price.

Cons: Grainy video under normal indoor lighting, I needed to set up extra lighting for indoor use. The microphone recorded a very loud tape drive drone. Digital image stabilizer was useless.

Summary: I had to use on a tripod, palm held video was too jumpy. I was willing to live with the negatives until the fragile DV port broke, then I returned ...

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Summary: I had to use on a tripod, palm held video was too jumpy. I was willing to live with the negatives until the fragile DV port broke, then I returned it. I have a Canon digital still camera and a Canon Hi8 camcorder, the ZR850 doesn't live up to Canon's prior consumer level products.

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2 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 stars

this is the best camera belive me its the best cheap camcorder!!!

by isaacx3 on May 6, 2008

Pros: high video, bulit in effects, led light in front,screen has a joystick

Cons: bad in low light,

Summary: over all its the best under $500 dollor camcorder

Summary: over all its the best under $500 dollor camcorder
8 stars

Great Bang for Buck!

by sommer182 on February 4, 2008

Pros: High Zoom, Great single sensor color and picture quality

Cons: no mic input, poor low-light performance

Summary: A lot of my opinion has already been said. I needed to replace an old JVC VHS-C camcorder that was on it's last legs. HDD was to pricey with ...

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Summary: A lot of my opinion has already been said. I needed to replace an old JVC VHS-C camcorder that was on it's last legs. HDD was to pricey with to many format issues right now. And DVD-based stinks if you want to edit your films on iMac. So, I went with MiniDV. So far regular light videos have looked GREAT, far better than the VHS-C tapes I used. And it works GREAT with the iMac. The DV connections also allow me to connect directly to my Panasonic DVD recorder to create backups of raw footage, which is a nice plus. Overall, a GREAT buy for under $300.

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8 stars

No matter what people say, I love this camcorder!

by Wynner3 on December 29, 2007

Pros: size, zoom, megapixel sensor, widescreen, good price, sd slot, weight

Cons: only does full screen on memory card

Summary: I have only had this product for a few days I love it. I know it's too early to review because I'm still madly in love with it ...

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Summary: I have only had this product for a few days I love it. I know it's too early to review because I'm still madly in love with it and very excited to have it. It's a great little camera I got for $250. For the price and the features, you can't go wrong. I have played around with the different features during the day and night and got good shots. I chose this over the Sony dcr-hc38. When looking for a camera, don't just look at the reviews, look for videos taken by the camcorders online. Videos from the Sony appeared online more but this had more features for a lower price. Look for my videos on vimeo.com, it has good quality unlike youtube.

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4 stars

My ZR850 left me in the dark!

by JRide71 on December 17, 2007

Pros: Lots of features for the money, high res sensor, SD slot, lightweight

Cons: Frightful low light performance, tape noise, "cheap" feeling chassis and controls,

Summary: Just recently purchased this camcorder online after reading numerous reviews. Had been borrowing my parents two year-old Canon Elura 70 . After shooting hours of footage in our home under a ...

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Summary: Just recently purchased this camcorder online after reading numerous reviews. Had been borrowing my parents two year-old Canon Elura 70 . After shooting hours of footage in our home under a variety of lighting conditions, including incandescent and flourescent, we were generally pleased. We then used our new ZR850 under the same conditions and were greatly dissapointed. Even on the same tape, there is a very noticeable increase in focus delay, graininess, and dampening of colors. There was not much improvement under night mode either. The night light gave faces a slightly "smurf-like" bluish tone. During TV audio playback, there is a pronounced "hum" which quickly becomes annoying. Some of the controls, especially the menu joystick and A/V input covers, feel as if they will not withstand the rigors of routine handling. The bottom loading cassette door gave more hassle than I thought it would. Have opted to exchange for the Panasonic PVG-S85 (better low light performance) for a few extra bucks despite the lower resolution sensor. It also comes with OIS, SD card slot, top loading cassette.
I am a usually a fan of Canon products, but unfortunately the ZR850's faults were more than I bargained for.

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5 stars

Poor low light capabilities

by smartsadvice on November 19, 2007

Pros: very cheap and easy to use

Cons: very poor low light recording!!!

Summary: I purchased this camcorder after my old Sony broke. I thought it would be a good buy after looking at all its reviews and seeing that it comes with a ...

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Summary: I purchased this camcorder after my old Sony broke. I thought it would be a good buy after looking at all its reviews and seeing that it comes with a 1 megapixel CCD, improving it's image quality from other mini DV camcorders. I was looking at the Sony DCR-HC38 also, and decided to purchase this Canon instead seeing from the specs that the Sony only comes with 680K pixels over 1 entire megapixel.

When i got home though and started trying it out, i was very disappointed in its low light capabilities. Recording anything in low light, mainly everywhere in my house, turned out to be very grainy. Since I'm looking for a camcorder that can record in any setting, I made a HUGE mistake. Its low light performance is just terrible!

Before i bought this one, I was trying out the Sony DCR-HC48 from my schools studio, and loved it. The 2 things that stood out to me were its low light capabilities, along with its super stead image stabalizer. That really comes in handy. So, I think i'm going to trade this one in for the Sony DCR-HC28 or HC38. After seeing how well the HC48 performed, I'm sure even the lower end models will be right there with it.

If you're a novice film maker, and plan to record in settings other than outside during a bright, sunny day, or without stage lights to brighten up your set, you'd be better off with a camera that can actually record well in low light situations.

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Specifications

Manufacturer: Canon USA
Part number: 1878B001

General
Product Type Camcorder
Enclosure Color Dark gray
Digital Zoom 1000 x
Effective Sensor Resolution 1.07 megapixels
Optical Sensor Size 1/6 in
Optical Sensor Type CCD
Min Illumination 2 lux
Digital Video Format MJPEG
Special Effects Vivid, Low Sharpening, Skin Detail, Neutral
Image Stabilizer Electronic
Shooting Modes Digital photo mode
Shooting Programs Sunset, Spotlight, Beach, Portrait mode, Night mode, Sports mode, Slow shutter, Snow, Fireworks
Exposure Modes Automatic, Program
Camera Flash None
Widescreen Video Capture Yes
Main Features
Camcorder Sensor Resolution 1.07 megapixels
Camcorder Effective Still Resolution 0.8 megapixels
Color Support Color
Exposure Compensation ?2.75 EV range
Remote Control Camcorder remote control - Infrared
Memory / Storage
Flash Memory None
Floppy Drive None
Media Type Mini DV
Recording Speed LP, SP
Lens System
Type Zoom lens - 2.6 mm - 91 mm - F/2.0
Focal Length 2.6 mm - 91 mm
Lens Aperture F/2.0
Auto Focus Points (Zones) 9
Optical Zoom 35 x
Lens system type Zoom lens
Min focal length 2.6 mm
Max focal length 91 mm
Auto Focus TTL contrast detection
Features Built-in lens shield
Focus Adjustment Automatic
Zoom Adjustment Motorized drive
Additional Features
Low Lux / Night Mode Yes
Digital Still Camera Function Yes
Additional Features PictBridge support, AE lock, Analog to digital conversion with pass through
Built-in Light Yes
Remote control Camcorder remote control - Infrared
Included Accessories Stereo video cable, Battery pack, USB cable, Compact power adapter, Wireless controller
Viewfinder
Viewfinder Type Electronic
Viewfinder Diagonal Size 0.35
Viewfinder Resolution 114,000 pixels
Display
Type LCD display - TFT active matrix - 2.7 in - Color
Microphone
Type Microphone - Built-in

Connections
Connector Type 1 x Microphone, 1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire/i.LINK), 1 x Composite video/audio output
Expansion Slot(s) 1 x SD Memory Card
Audio Input
Audio input type Microphone
Microphone type Built-in
Miscellaneous
Carrying Case None
Cables Included 1 x A/V cable, 1
Power
Power Device Power adapter - External
Battery type - Lithium ion
Battery
Supported Battery 1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery - 530 mAh ( Included )
Manufacturer Warranty
Service & Support 1 year warranty
Service & Support Details Limited warranty - Parts and labor - 1 year

Canon ZR850

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