In this article we review the Canon ZR100, a versatile camcorder that lets
you take excellent quality video to produce beautiful home movies.
Canon has a reputation for delivering high quality cameras and optics, and
this entry into the digital camcorder market is no exception.
Bundled with the ZR100 are a whole range of features that you would expect
to find on more advanced models at a higher price.
High quality optics, excellent low light performance and some
special effects make this camcorder the biggest bang that you’ll get for your
buck in the MiniDV camcorder market.
The most important feature that Canon brings to the table with this ZR100 is a
technology known as DIGIC DV. This is a revolutionary new technology that allows
the Canon ZR100 to deliver brilliant color rendition. As you know, there are
many ways to view images off your camcorder.
You can watch them in video or
capture them as stills. Each of these processes requires its own color
management techniques for optimal color rendition. DIGIC DV recognizes this, and
uses two separate color techniques to produce optimal color quality, whether
you’re looking for stills that you want to print or simply brilliant color
video.
High Quality 20x Optical Zoom Lens
The Canon ZR100 boasts a high quality lens, in line with the Canon tradition of
producing the highest quality optics you can get for the price. The optics that
come with the ZR100 are no exception. The clarity and detail in the detail is
striking.
The lens comes with an incredible 20x Optical Zoom / 360x Digital
Zoom. Optical zoom creates a zoom by moving the lens, whereas digital zoom
merely 'blows up' the picture digitally - but creates some degradation of the
image in the process. Of the two, optical zoom is the best, and 20x is plenty!
Great Widescreen Mode
Another excellent feature of the Canon ZR100 is its widescreen mode. Nothing
creates a larger than life feeling like going to the movies and watching the
action taking place on widescreen. When this is converted to television,
horizontal black bars are placed on the bottom and top of the film to retain its
16:9 aspect ratio.
The ZR100 allows you to switch into widescreen mode to create
this effect on the camcorder. You can then watch in full widescreen mode on
televisions that allow this capability. If you like, of course, you can switch
back to normal 4:3 mode with the touch of a button.
Other Features
A number of other features make the Canon ZR100 a must have camcorder for the
budding videographer. For example, it performs extremely well in low light (also
known as the lux value), so you can shoot at night and still get your video
production.
If you like doing close-ups on people, the ZR100 comes with a Skin
Detail function that softens blemishes on your subjects—something I’m sure they
will appreciate! The ZR100 also comes with the usual fare of digital effects,
like black and white, sepia, and others, to enhance your production. An
impressive array of technical features has been bundled in this product.
Shortcomings
The Canon ZR100 does have its shortcomings however. The ZR100 does tend to be a
bit on the noisy side. Some people complain that the motor noise is loud enough
to be distracting, especially if you are trying to shoot during quiet scenes.
You may or may not find this to be irritating, but you can get used to it after
awhile. Speaking of noise, there is another kind of noise that plagues this
camera from time to time—video noise. These are white speckles you see sometimes
in video. As stated, this camcorder does have low light capability, but the
images are not as clear as they could be.
Conclusion
All in all, the Canon ZR100 packs a lot of punch in a remarkably small unit. The
ZR100 delivers Canon’s legendary quality optics with amazingly large zoom
magnification capabilities and decent low light capabilities.
Beyond the optics
are a bundle of nifty digital features that are sure to give you plenty of
creative possibilities to embellish your video production. All of this is yours
in a MiniDV camcorder that is extremely compact, making it handy to take
with you everywhere you go. You’ll never miss those important moments that you
wish you had caught on video!
Create
Great-Looking Digital Videos
Roxio VideoWave Professional is a video editing
program that could be the answer to your video editing headaches. If you have
trouble creating good-looking home videos, VideoWave makes
it easy for you. You can edit and produce Hollywood-style videos with a few
mouse clicks. You can also add music, transitions, special effects and text
credits to achieve professional results.
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