Should I return my Canon ZR800 camcorder?

[HiME]

My parents just purchased Canon ZR800 for about $200 this morning. They are asking me whether or not it is worth it but I have no knowledge with regards to camcorders, so I'm here looking for some advice with regards to this purchase that they had made. How are the expandability, compatibility, and portability of this camcorder? Is mini-dv good for recording in terms of quality and longitivity? Thanks.

 

[HiME]

I got additional questions here.

Are tapes erasable? If so, what will be the overall cost if I reuse the tape? Will I be able to record videos directly from ZR800 to my laptop?

 

[mruffin75]

The Canon ZR800 from online reviews isn't that great, but it's about what you'd expect from a $200 camcorder..

MiniDV is fine for recording, it's been around for years and is very durable. Yes the tapes are erasable, so in theory you *could* get away with using one tape (although since they cost about $3 each, why bother?)..

The ZR800 has a firewire output, so you'd need a firewire port on your laptop, and software that will capture video from the firewire port (not sure if any Microsoft software does, probably, but I've never looked into it)..

 

[alfa147x]

Originally posted by: HiME
My parents just purchased Canon ZR800 for about $200 this morning. They are asking me whether or not it is worth it but I have no knowledge with regards to camcorders, so I'm here looking for some advice with regards to this purchase that they had made. How are the expandability, compatibility, and portability of this camcorder? Is mini-dv good for recording in terms of quality and longitivity? Thanks.

Some people dont like Mini DV but if i were buying a Cam soon it would have mini dv

 

[HiME]

As long it's offering a reasonable performance and compatibility I'm happy with it. Thank you.

 

[mshan]

My dad has an earlier iteratiion of that camcorder and it works pretty well (clear pictures if adequete lighting).

From what I've read, Panasonic PV-GS320 (about $380 at Amazon) is highly recommended if you parents want pro-sumer level picture clarity:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obi...ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

For casual use in well lit situations, that Canon is a good choice (you can probably buy a non-Canon brand replacement battery as a spare and that also has longer battery life too).