Canon ZR960 MiniDV Camcorder with 41x Optical Zoom

nothing “digital” about it, can’t speak to the quality of the video
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
While this is sold as a “digital” camcorder, I struggle understanding how this is at all digital. The only way it connects to a computer is through a FireWire cable, and you still need video capturing software on the computer and have to manually play it back to record it on a computer. I can do the same thing a lot easier with a DVR and the RCA cables.

This was given to me as a gift so I didn’t pick it out myself, but I’m a pretty experienced techie and don’t think I’m going to use it at all. There’s simply no native way to transfer videos to my computers without doing the stupid “play” and “record” transfer analogous to the old VCR days.

Can’t speak to the actual quality of the camera because it doesn’t matter to me if it’s unusable.

People are Confused about MiniDV – It is NOT obsolete
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am getting very upset because all of the people who say they have done video for 25 years should no better than to say that MiniDV is obsolete! MiniDV records in 500% compression. MINI DVD and HardDisk HDD and FLASH cameras record in 1500% compression. MiniDV records in in superior DV AVI format, which has individual frames and editing can be done WITHOUT LOSS OF QUALITY once uploaded to your computer. The MINI DVD/HDD/FLASH cameras are NOT better in this respect, they are far worse.

Consumer MINI DVD/HDD/FLASH cameras have not reached a level where they can compete with MiniDV for high end recordings. MiniDV doesn’t take longer to edit. You have to play it back in real time, but in order to EDIT .MPEG videos from MINI DVD/HDD/FLASH you have to spend an hour converting it over to uncompressed AVI format! Either way, you have to spend an hour. It makes much more sense to start out with high quality RAW video, and then compress it AFTER you edit it. You can ONLY do this with MiniDV.

The MINI DVD/HDD/FLASH cameras are only good for NON TECH junkies who don’t care about quality and just want to record home movies. You will lose more quality with these cameras than you will with the superior MiniDV.

If you are going to use a MINI DVD/HDD/FLASH camera, you should NOT edit the video direclty. You need to uncompress it, and convert it into a superior AVI format, because it lends itself to editing. That means you need to use a video converter on your computer and convert the MPEG2 video to AVI before editing. With MiniDV you don’t have to, since MiniDV records in AVI, and only AVI, which is ready for editing as it is, just upload in real time to your pc, cut frames out, and then conver it into MPEG2.

MiniDV is getting a bad name because it uses a tape. This is not right. It actually records with LESS compression than a comparable store bought DVD! Now, you know what this means. Uncompressed video is always better to start with than starting with compressed video.

Please research MiniDV more before giving it a bad name. It is not going to be obsolete until the MINI DVD cameras can record uncompressed video, which for all practical purposes, will never happen. SO that leaves HDD and FLASH cameras, which will eventually have that option, but they don’t have that option yet, so for now MiniDV Is the best for for home video projects that require video editing.

$499 is double suggested retail
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Big VALUE Inc. has doubled the suggested retail price of this hard to find item. Fry’s has them for $249.99!

Wow
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have made videos for 25 years, I teach it at a university, I have trained many many people on a wide variety of gear. We bought this camera to replace our aging public access cameras and was very unhappy that we bought cheap cameras. However, I took one home I am stunned by the quality and ease of use. MiniDV is almost history, but we are using it and so are many others. This camera in decent light looks comparable to cameras costing so much more. In average light or low light it does fine too. The sounds is great and the easy button is.. well EASY. It also have programmable/manual features for those of us who like more control. My only negative comment is it doesn’t have a USB2 output, so you are limited to 4 pin 1394 or mini fire-wire to get your video off this camera. Fire wire is almost gone the way of the analogue RCA type connector. Soon there will be no computers made with this connector to hook this camera to. But for this point in time, MiniDV is not dead and this is a really fine little camera. Yikes, the quality is very good for this price point!

Not the bestl designed.
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Nice camera, easy to shoot with. However, not so easy to connect to the computer. The literature on this camera said that it needs to be the only device on the firewire chain – how dumb is that? So you have to disconnect all your external drives, etc. every time you want to down load video. Not a very well thought out design.

SD Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Great camera, it has a fast auto focus and the features are easy to use. If you are looking for a SD camera I would get this one

Canon ZR960 MiniDV Camcorder
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Great product, picture quality from Canon still needs improvement but for the price of the camera it is user friendly and reasonable.Canon ZR960 MiniDV Camcorder w/41x Optical Zoom

Doesn’t do what it says
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I bought a video camcorder so I could download recordings onto my computer, edit the video and create short video clips which could be sent to clients. I bought this specific unit because of its high Consumer Reports rating and the manufacturer’s claim that it could do specifically what I wanted. I got it home and learned that it is not compatible with ALL computers, and there is no way to tell if it is compatible with yours until you try it! I had chosen to pay the additional cost and go through the additional hassle of using cassettes to get a better quality product, but had I known then what I know now, I would NEVER have wasted my time and money! My computer is now at the repair shop to see if they can make the two compatible, even though I did have all the specifics on my computer, -firewire port, etc., and I had purchased the proper cable – (at additional cost). In the meantime, I’m back to shopping for a video camera that will do what I need done.

Excellent camcorder
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Quality is great when using Sony Vegas Pro. (only saying as I have not used it with another Video Editor) Great quality on LCD, Viewfinder is a plus…not alot of Camcorders have them. Functional toggle and buttons easy to use. Manual settings usually not needed, unless you shoot night shots of lightning as I do. Mic jack a big plus! MiniDV is still better than other mediums.

Def recommend the Canon Line of camcorders!

better than expected
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased this camera to replace my other Canon ZR100, which just wore out. I record video every day, so I need a camera easy to use, and always ready. So far, the ZR960 is easier on battery life than the ZR100 was, which is good. The new lens cover is easier to use… great. The new screen is larger… great. So far this camera is better than I expected.