Canon ZR700 First Impressions Camcorder Review

by Nick Hyacinthe
Published on Jan 12, 2006 2:00 PM

Intro Performance
Format Tour
Auto / Manual Controls
 Still Features
Handling and Use Audio / Playback / Connectivity
Other Features Comparisons / Conclusion
   


Automatic Control
Canon has followed Sony’s lead and put an Easy mode in place. In Easy mode the camcorder has complete autonomy over the image quality decisions. Adjustments such as white balance, exposure and focus are determined by the camcorder. At CES, the ZR700 (Review, Specs, $277) made its adjustments swiftly and accurately. The adjustments to exposure were not as seamless as the adjustments made by the Elura 100 (Specs, $379.19), but they were satisfactory. Similar to the Elura the ZR100 (Review, Specs, $219.95), the ZR700 had trouble making automatic adjustments when nearing full zoom capacity. Most camcorders suffer this at full zoom, reaction but these two models in particular seemed to experience the problem sooner than most.

Manual Control
It is impossible to make manual control adjustments without the LCD being open on the ZR700 because the LCD houses the Function menu button and joystick. This renders the viewfinder virtually obsolete in P mode (manual), unless you want to continually close and reopen the LCD. The menu is laid out with fair clarity, but the user will mostly likely get lost a few times before acclimating. The manual controls are available for shutter speed, exposure, focus, and white balance. They are initiated with a push of the joystick found underneath the LCD screen. A downside to the placing the controls here, which became apparent after only a minute of operation, was that moving the joystick causes the camera to shake and upset the shot.

Zoom
All of this year’s ZR camcorders are outfitted with a 25x optical zoom; however the ZR700 is the only one that has 1000x digital zoom capacity (vs. the 500x and 800x digital zoom on the ZR500 (Review, Specs, $224.8) and ZR600 (Specs, ), respectively). We do not consider this a selling point, and image quality at even close to 500x zoom is severely compromised. It would be wiser to move the camcorder closer to the object. If zoom is paramount among your concerns, find a model with a higher optical zoom and please, buy a tripod. Panasonic’s entry level MiniDV model this year, the PV-GS29 (Specs, ), has a 30x optical zoom capacity.

The ZR700 offers 4 zoom speeds in the menu system. By setting it at a fixed speed, this will prevent the zoom from responding to differing pressures on the zoom toggle. Zoom 3 is the fastest option, Zoom 1 crawls at a snail’s pace. Zoom 2, naturally, is in between. The last option is called Variable, which leaves the user to manage his or her own need for speed.

Focus
The user can manually focus an image by switching the camcorder to P mode with the switch on the right side of the camcorder. Once in manual mode, press down on the joystick, and select manual focus. To achieve the desired adjustment move the joystick towards the portrait or mountain icon. A focus ring would have provided the user more control, but that feature rarely bestowed on lower-end camcorders.

Exposure
Manual exposure adjustments are executed the same way manual focus modifications are made, through the use of the joystick. This is a far better means of implementing manual control adjustments than having to press buttons on the LCD cavity on previous models. The camcorder does not offer any true numerical value (F-stops) for exposure adjustments.

Shutter Speed
This model, in accordance with all the rest of the ZRs and the Elura 100, offers shutter speed control ranging of 1/60, 1/100, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000 and 1/2000 when capturing video. In still mode, 1/1000 and 1/2000 are not available. Panasonic offers manual shutter speed ranging from 1/60 to 1/8000, and JVC sets an upper limit of 1/4000.

The ZR700 offers a Slow Shutter feature in the menu. This feature opens the shutter for a longer period of time to allow more light to travel through the lens. The Canon booth workers at CES were unable to confirm whether the shutter speed would be variable and automatically adjust to lighting conditions, or whether it would remain fixed at 1/30 in Slow Shutter mode, as on last year's Canon models. Our bet is with the former.

White Balance
Manual white balance can be accessed in the function menu. The options available for white balance are Auto, Indoor, Outdoor, and Manual. In the past, Canon’s white balance has been accurate, though not necessarily a one-touch procedure.

Gain
The ZR700 does not provide manual gain control.





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