Canon ZR600 MiniDV Camcorder with 25x Optical Zoom

Nice camcorder, a little hard to use. dont understand all the instructions. Probably my fault for not being able to read well. there is a lot to remember without looking at the instruction book. The book might be better organized. I like the camcorder.

Nice product but not available as new models have replaced it. New isn't always better!

This was a gift for my daughter and she loves it.
Service and quick shipping are super.

This camera will satisfy most folks that read Amazon reviews! DV-ing can be an uphill climb for newbies, but with the proper expectations, you can be happy with your purchase and your future use.

I have used this camera for 4 months, and here are my observations:

A few assumptions:
1. Firewire BABY! With almost ALL DV camcorders you will need a 1394 Firewire port on your computer, and a cable (about 10-20 dollars online)
Workaround: none, this is DV! USB is too slow. The SR600 has two ports...make sure you use the port labeled DV. If you want to shell out $200-300 more, go with DVDcamcorder.

2. For Transfer or Editing, Look in your Windows! If you have Windows XP, use the FREE Windows Movie Maker program which copies your movie footage from camera to PC, and allows a little editing. Vista has even more you can do, like copy to a DVD!

3. Don't expect long shoot times... My battery that the camera came with lasts only about 35 minutes, even when I'm not using the LCD screen.
Workaround: buy a $15 dollar 1700mWh battery(larger) on EBAY to have as your main battery, and use the stock one as a backup.

4. Don't get left in the Dark. Reviews state that the camera shoots poorly in poorly lit rooms. This is common with DV cameras.

Workaround: Move camera into P mode, from EASY on the switch near the zoom, and choose NIGHT as option on the LCD (using easy to use Joystick) when you are shooting in lowlight scenes.

AS long as you know the 4 assumptions, this camera is perfect for newbies in DV, right on the money with price, and with good features, like 16:9 WS, Toggle button, and excellent OPTICAL zoom. Wish my sony digital camera had this zoom. IF they had a better battery and included the Firewire cable, I'd give it 5 stars.

I would buy it again, but would opt for the ZR500 for price, or the ZR700 if I wanted to use it to bridge the copying from my VCR to the computer for moviemaker.

OS: Windows XP sp2
PC: 4 yr old DELL Dimension, with Creative lab card with Firewire
Software:
Windows Movie Maker to pull clips from camera, and to Edit movies
DVDFlick (opensource and free) to copy my edited movies to DVD for playing on my home DVD player or computer (moviemaker only copies the .WMV file on a CD or DVD)
Panasonic AY-DVM63PQ Professional DV tapes

Warning, this camcorder may not work with windows XP. I got this camcorder back in in November of 2006, I hooked it up to my PC, useing the firewire, my PC keeps saying it could not find any camcorder with 4 different programs that I tried. I got looking in the disk that came with it, and the disk is only for windows 2000, windows ME or a MAC. so I called Canon and they said they could not send me any other solution disk, there was nothing I could download for XP,they where of no help and with the disk, the programs keep poping up "OS?". other then that it takes great video, bad pictures, just don't hook it up to an old TV, you well get a really bad picture, you need a new TV or VCR that works with digital. the other bad thing is, if your camcorder breaks, and you have not found a way to download your tapes, then you have no way of watching them. so If yours work on XP your lucky.