CameraFly

Camera Reviews from Amazon.com

• March 11, 2010
  Firewire a Big Concern

  

  Okay, so this is a good camera as far as capturing the footage but I too have been caught up in the Firewire dilemma. Between me and my family there are four computers. Two Hewlett Packard's, one Compaq and one Emachine. None of these computers have a Firewire port to connect the camera to and edit the video. All my computers have a price tag ranging from $500 to $600 the low end. My understanding to a solution for this problem is to either buy a higher end computer with firewire port access, buy a firewire adapter card and have it installed, or buy an Apple/Mac. Either way you're spending more money.
  
  So make sure your computer has firewire connectivity or you'll be stuck with raw footage like me and other consumers who have bought this camera and cannot transfer it to a computer for editing without coughing up more $$$. Otherwise the camera itself is great for the price!
  
  Pros:
  easy to use
  good digital quality
  external mic access
  
  Cons:
  lower end computers don't have firewire ports to transfer video
  internal mic captures unwanted sounds and some camera noise
  accessories are outrageous in commercial stores (use Amazon)
  
  **Update**
  So I installed a firewire port onto my computer and it was incredibly easy. Bought a Lacie pci card cheap from Amazon, took the cover off the computer and slid the card into the available slot. Now I can edit my footage and transfer onto a disk through my new firewire port.
  
  Originally gave it three stars but after feeling better about being able to edit my footage I can happily give it four stars. That missing star is for going through the trouble of getting that firewire port. If you have the same problem I and others had, go to YouTube and look up, "firewire port intstallation".

• March 7, 2010
  Tape is still the way to go!!!

  

  After owning a Sony Handycam hi 8 for a number of years and the unreliability of the camcorder tape mechanism, I decided to try a flash camcorder, and a hard drive camcorder. both of these were very easy to use, but when playing back on any TV larger than 19 inch, the picture was extremely grainy and got very pixelated on 42 inch and above. There are NO adjustments to be made on any of these type of camcorders to correct this issue. You must record in VERY good light and resolution is made for you tube size videos.
  
  The software on these type of camcorders is also outdated MOD and is very difficult to navigate around and it takes forever to transfer to a DVD disc.
  
  Back to the tape camcorder. I will use a tape type camcorder as long as they are available. The ease of plug and play with almost any software like NERO, windows movie maker, roxio, and so on. 1394 makes it easy.
  
  picture quality is awsome and looks great on even a 130 inch projector.
  
  Zoom capabilities are great also.
  
  I would recommend this camera to all who want really good video quality. Ease of transfer, and great price!!
  
  Also this camera is very compact. Half the size of my old sony hi 8 and the 6mm tapes are tiny too. still has the same record time though.

• February 12, 2010
  Yes its a MinDV format, but I love it for ease of editing.

  

  I use to have a Sony HC-42 but it jammed and choked on a MiniDV cartridge, thus I had to replace it and researched what was remaining camcorders that use the MiniDV cartridges. Not that many left on the inexpensive end. Sony has a HC-52 and the Canon ZR960. Went to B**tBuy to look at the Sony HC-52. What a disappointment in the quality and feel of that camcorder. Total junk feel to it. I was really disappointed since that is the successor model to the HC-42. So I researched and settled for the Canon ZR960. Okay, great Standard Definition MiniDV camcorder. Has nice 37x Optical Zoom, my HC-42 only had 10x Optical. Yeah it says 41 Optical Zoom on the ad but the booklet states 37x Optical zoom and another zoom setting called Advanced Zoom which is the 41x zoom with some blurb about it can do this without lost in picture quality in combo of digital/optical. (Hey thats what it says..beats me, no claims to being a techie). Then it has the 2000x Digital zoom. Which for me I stay at the 41x zoom setting. Very light, plastic housing felt better in hand than the Sony HC52 did. Very straightforward button layouts for play and record, felt sturdy and durable (not something that would breakoff from being used). The record button on the Canon was an "Offwhite color", Hmmm...was use to seeing that as red colored but no biggie. The LCD screen decent size, seems a bit squished in dimension but not in viewing. It had this little toggle joystick took a little getting use to, something akin to that joystick button on notebook computers between the G,H and B keys. I was use to the Sony touchscreen of my HC42, but easy to overcome and get use to. What I really like was, you know how these miniDV camcorder loads a cartridge, well unlike the Sony mechanical mechanism which reminds you of the old betamax loading, where when you release the clam shell housing and it opens, the mechanical mechanism goes up and then outward so that you can insert the cartridge, the canon mechanism is more simpler I found. Thus less chance of it jamming and choking on a cartridge. Yes in either case, don't push in on the cartridge carrier, like it says in bold letters on a yellow background or you're guarantee to choke and jam a cartridge on either camcorder. Once you have the camcorder slipped in your hand, the canon is very light and where you rest your right hand to work the wide/telephone toggle switch, there is a comfortable ridge designed there so your hand and fingers can feel steady. I liked that feature. The viewfinder has a separate switch to turn it on if you need to use it. Found that convenient. Has built in 1394 connection unlike my Sony HC-42 which needed it's separate docking station to do that. So the only thing I didn't find on the Canon camcorder was a remote controller with it. Ehhh...didn't use it much. Also no shoulder strap. Thats an extra too. Overall a great standard miniDV cartridge camcorder. Easy to download onto your PC for editing whether Windows MovieMaker or any current video editing software using its capture video capability. Didn't have any problems recognizing the camcorder when capturing video on several video editing programs I had on my computer. I'm glad I purchased it and will serve its purpose well.
  
  Update 04 Aug 2010: My camcorder failed to powerup on battery, sent it in to Canon Repair Center via priority mail. They fixed it under the one year warranty and returned it to me within 1 week of receipt. That was very fast service and the camcorder is fixed. Problem they noted was a circuit board and they had it replaced and did other adjustments as needed. I am happy with the quick turnaround time of their repair center.