I am fairly new to the video camera market. Which is not to say that I am a novice when it comes to shooting video. I spent more than a decade as a television news reporter and was trained to shoot my own stories during my early years on the job. Even when I moved to a larger market and was paired with a professional videographer I still maintained my interest in shooting. Of course, at work we were dealing with video cameras worth tens of thousands of dollars. Needless to say, since I had access to the professional equipment I never had the need to purchase my own video camera.
That changed when I decided to become a stay-at-home mom. I spent months researching various camcorders and finally decided on the Canon ZR200. It was voted one of the easiest to use cameras on the market by both professional and amateur photographers. And in the two years that I have owned it I can honestly say it lives up to its title.
I would definitely consider it a best buy and here’s why:
Easy. Easy. Easy. There is no better word to describe the Canon ZR 200. In fact, easy is a key word in operating the camcorder. The manufacturer dubbed the automatic control “EASY” and it is an accurate description. If you are using this camera to take videos of your family then there is really no reason for you to switch from the “EASY” mode. When in easy mode, the camcorder takes control over picture adjustments including shutter speed, white balance, focus, and exposure. These are the elements that combine to create the image you capture on tape. Unless you are shooting for professional production purposes you really shouldn’t be using the manual white balance mode. Once you are on “EASY” the camera makes decent adjustments to white balance when shifting from room to room, or from indoors to outdoors. As for focus, that task is also is controlled automatically on the ZR200 when you are in the “EASY” mode. Manually focusing with this camera is torture. Save yourself the headache and stick with the “EASY” mode and let the camera do the work. The manual control on the ZR200 is tricky to say the least. Bottom Line: It doesn’t get any simpler than “EASY.”
Zoom Control. The ZR200 offers a 20x optical zoom. Which means you can get up close and personal with your subject and still keep your distance. The zoom works smoothly; however I should warn you that if you zoom in too tight the imagine shakes so much it’s unwatchable. So, even though the camera has a 20x optical zoom capacity, if you are working without a tripod, anything over 15x makes it look as though you are shooting from a bucking bronco.
Still Features. Yes, the ZR200 includes a still photo mode (I know some people won’t buy a camcorder without this feature), as well as the option of recording still photos to SD media. Which just means you can take a photo with this camcorder, but why would you? If you want to take quality still photographs check out this camera.
Other Features. The Canon ZR200 is very portable (it fit nicely into the pocket of my J.Crew barn jacket during our visit to the pumpkin patch) and has a handy finger grip on the top of the right side. The operation buttons are well placed for my hand (I don’t have to stretch to use the mode dial or zoom control). Overall, the Canon ZR200 is affordably priced (around $250), well designed and shoots well. If you are using the camera mainly to record your child’s milestones it will get the job done and then some.
The only complaint I have is that the ZR200 doesn’t do well in low indoor lighting (actually low light levels in general). I was very disappointed to see how dark and grainy the video of my daughter’s birthday party turned out. Typical indoor light levels dramatically compromise the camcorder’s automatic features. I have since learned to turn on more lights when I am shooting indoors (even on a sunny day) because the lack of incoming light hampers the video quality.
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