To help ensure that you get the quality footage you want, Canon has included a number of preset shooting modes. These modes will automatically adjust the settings of your camcorder for a variety of shooting situations. There is also an additional set of special effects available during both recording and playback that will help add a little flavor to your movies. These effects include black-and-white, sepia, and mosaic, among others.

Also, using the ZR30 MC's photo mode, you can take over 700 still photos with an 80-minute MiniDV tape or store it onto the portable 8 MB MultiMediaCard. The ZR30 MC also comes with customizable light-up VCR buttons: choose from blue, turquoise, and green. You have your choice of four recording speeds, which allow you to record at up to three times the normal recording time on a standard MiniDV cassette. Additionally, with the advanced accessory shoe, you can easily add a shotgun microphone or video light. With the IEEE 1394 port you can connect the ZR30 MC to a DV-ready personal computer to edit video or e- mail photos. Included in the package are an A/V cable, power adapter, shoulder strap, and battery pack.

I had complained that the recorded picture was too pixelated--That anything with hard edges was represented by over-sized wobbly digital blocks. This temporary problem, I since learned, resides in my iMovie editing software.

iMovie cannot reveal the true quality of the digital footage. It simplifies the images to save processing power for editing. After reading "iMovie: The Missing Manual", I learned that the only way to see the true glory of a digital camcoder's video is to hook it up to a real television using an S-Link connection. By the way, videos edited in iMovie WILL still look great, but only after you dump the project back to the camcoder and then play the resulting DV through a real television. Merely exporting to Quick Time doesn't do it justice.

Well, I finally tried the obvious and connected the ZR30 to my real television (duh?). It was a very pleasant surprise! Gone where the jagged pixels. The picture was very smooth--and I have a large screen to boot.

Probably the main difference between the look of my footage and pro footage is in the lighting. Don't forget, real TV shows are shot under perfectly manufactured lighting conditions. My stuff shot in my house looks like... well... my dark house.

I still find that the ZR30 requires more tweaking than my older Sony TRV did. The Sony was really idiot proof: Hit the red button to record. While the ZR30 does offer automatic modes, I don't feel that they work as well. On the other hand, you can manually adjust many of the parameters and get better results that way.

The image stabling is of the optical variety. It's great because it doesn't interfere with the picture quality. It doesn't respond to bumps quite as quickly as electronic types, though, so some jerking still gets through. Just leave it on and try to be careful.

I'm feeling really happy with my ZR30 now. Sorry if I mislead anybody with the previous review


Outstanding!   January 26, 2002
 2 out of 6 found this review helpful

I have thoroughly enjoyed using my new Camcorder. The picture quality is excellent, and the still shots are good also, though less than photo quality.


Good litte camcorder!   January 15, 2002
 4 out of 6 found this review helpful

I did a lot of research and finally decided to get the ZR30 camcaorder. I've been VERY happy with the results.

Great design, very small, still pics, digital, and all other features are great!

The only thing that is a "little bad" is the low light isn't that great. Just turn a light on and seemed to be fine.

Highly Recommended!


Consumer digital video still has a way to go.   January 8, 2002
 6 out of 8 found this review helpful

Despite advances in the consumer home-video field, it seems one area where we are still in the Commodore64 age.

The specs are higher than they were for older analog models, but the actual resulting picture quality is only slightly better when conditions are perfect. Imperfect conditions can result in picture quality that is worse than that of analog camcorders.

The CanonZR30MC tries to digitally sharpen data-compressed images. The result can be frustrating. If you have ever seen TV shows where they mask faces with that pixel effect, you get the idea. Obviously, the ZR30MC doesn't do it as severly, but it is very noticable.

Because of this, you have to be very careful to shoot images without too much color contrast. Straight diagonal lines also present a problem.

The image stabilizer is subtle. You'll only notice an improvement when zoomed-in tight.

On the good side, the audio is very good. It can record loud live music without distortion. This camcorder also works well with iMovie software (connecting cable sold seperately $20).

Basically, if you can shoot under ideal conditions, the CanonZR30MC provides good picture quality and very good sound. Under less-than-ideal situations (which is often if you don't record in a Hollywood studio), the camcorder leaves too many annoying artifacts in the picture. The softer image of an analog camcorder can look more natural than the mosaic look this camcorder often gives.

Give this field a few more years and I think we'll see much better products coming out. It still has a way to go.