Canon ZR60 Opinions

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Has anyone had experience with the cheap(est) Canon mini-DV camcorders? I hit the Derby trifecta, which just covers the ZR60+tax. Free money, woo-hoo.

Basically, it'll be a cold, cold day in hell before I can really afford to jump into 8/16mm or a good mini-DV camera. But I'm thinking that the ZR60 would let me learn most of the basics of working with video (vs. still photography).

My one major issue is with focusing. I can't get used to autofocus - how easy is manual focus with these?

― miloauckerman (miloauckerman), Monday, 5 May 2003 21:13 (twenty-two years ago)

I still think one-chip video looks great (although I mostly use a 3-chip camera) but that might just be me. Certainly for learning you should have no problem though.

However, Amazon's consumer reviews for this product aren't so hot; in particular it doesn't seem to do very well in low light, and everyone says there's an annoying hum (which might require an external mic to correct). So I'm not so sure about this particular model. I've had good experiences with one-chip Sonys.

You should also check if the camera has a push-autofocus button, which'll give you the best of both worlds, sorta.

― slutsky (slutsky), Monday, 5 May 2003 21:26 (twenty-two years ago)

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