Canon ZR65MC Camcorder Review

by Robin Liss
Published on Jul 8, 2004 12:00 AM



The Canon ZR65MC (Review, Specs, $259.99) is the middle of the road model of the 2003 ZR line. It is the least expensive Canon camcorder which includes a still recording feature, upgraded over the ZR60MC. The ZR65MC includes better manual control than some of the competitors however the ZR65MC fails when it comes to low light capability. The low light performance on the ZR65MC is terrible, and as a result it means that you can only get watchable video well lit situations - a real problem if you plan to use your camcorder as an all around family camcorder. It's really too bad that Canon ignored the low light or even the capability in moderately lit situations on the ZR65MC - it seriously devalues the camcorder. I have a hard time recommending the Canon ZR65MC or any of the ZRs because of the low light performance - and it's really too bad because the other features on the camcorder perform pretty well.

Video Performance (4.5)
The Canon ZR65MC includes a 1/6 in. 680K pixel CCD with 340K effective pixels for video. The video performance of the Canon ZR65MC under normal lighting conditions is fine. When you are shooting in nice sunny lighting or really well lit situations the camcorder produces a very nice image, however my only complaint is that the video produced seems a little under saturated - or in other words the video seems to lack vibrancy to some of the colors and the colors seem muted. It is not a terrible problem though I did notice it. Under good lighting conditions I don't think it's hard to distinguish the ZR65MC from similarly priced competitors. The ZR65MC gets a normal rating for video performance for a camcorder in this price range.

The Front (8)
The small 30.5 mm lens is located at the top of the front of the Canon ZR65MC. Below that is the Canon logo and about 3/4 in. down is the IR receiver for the remote. Below the receiver is a nicely redesigned stereo microphone. Canon has added holes both to the left and right side of the microphone. At the bottom of the camcorder is a blue plastic cover which when removed reveals the S-Video in / out jack and the DV in / out jack. It's great placement on the camcorder, because these are two plugs which you are very unlikely to use while you are shooting video - and therefore they are unlikely to get in your way.

The Right Side (9.5)
The right side of the ZR65MC has many well placed features. Starting at the back of the camcorder is the very strong (in a good way) tape / card switch which allows you to switch from recording video and still pictures to the tape or two the SD card. Below the tape / card switch are the labels for the power dial, which is located on the back of the camcorder. The handle area is importantly void of any plugs, buttons or features, besides the speaker, which isn't used during shooting so it doesn't get in the way. At the front of the right side is a plastic cover which reveals the microphone in jack, Mini AV in / out jack, and the USB port. The Mini AV in / out jack also acts as the headphone out jack. I'm a little unhappy about this because it means you can't use both the RCA video out and the headphone out at the same time.

The Back (7)
The back of the ZR65MC is very simple, maybe a little two simple. I wish Canon had placed maybe a button here for manual shutter or white balance control. At the top of the back of the camcorder is the viewfinder. Below the viewfinder on the ZR65MC is the battery port. To the right of the battery port is the power dial / record switch. The power dial can be switched from camera, off or to play (VCR) modes.

The Left Side (9)
Because of the large amount of surface area that the ZR65MC right side has, the LCD screen doesn't consume the entire right side as it does on many other camcorders. Above LCD screen on the right side of the ZR65MC are the rewind / card backwards and fast forward / card forward buttons, the focus / play pause button, and the AE shift / stop button. To the right of the LCD screen is the open button, the menu button, and the jog dial. I really like the consolidation of features on the right side, especially how Canon has resisted pushing all the features inside the LCD screen. When you do open up the LCD screen, the least important buttons in my mind are hidden. The data code / digital effects on off and digital effects toggle buttons, the mix slide show, and the automatic / manual shooting mode switches are located behind the LCD screen.

The Top (9)
The top of the ZR65MC has very few controls. The most prominent feature might just be the raised lines on the top which help in griping the camcorder. Below the grip lines is the viewfinder which can be rotated up and down. To the right of the viewfinder is the zoom control and the photo button.

Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control (5)
The ZR65MC offers two shooting modes, as most consumer Canon camcorders do. You can either put the camcorder in full auto, or put it in manual mode where you have the option of adjusting all the manual picture elements. I like this clear boundary - which is not offered on the Sony MiniDV camcorders. The Canon ZR65MC doesn't offer anything special in the area of automatic control - like the touch screen Spot Focus and Spot Metering features on the new 2003 Sony MiniDV camcorders. The camcorder does offer automatic exposure modes, and responsive automatic control however it doesn't have anything which makes it any more easier to use for the point and shoot camcorder user than the typical consumer MiniDV camcorder.

Overall Manual Control (5)
The Canon ZR series camcorders have always offered a good amount of manual control - and the ZR65MC doesn't disappoint. This is a good score for a camcorder in this price range. Of course there are certainly improvements that could be made, but overall the camcorder offers a lot of manual control and the manual control functions are easily accessible.

Zoom (7)
The Canon ZR65MC offers an impressive size 20x optical zoom. The zoom is controlled by a small round 'rotator' dial, which has a spring action which gives it a good amount of resistance. However, the zoom control suffers from the problem of being too small making it tough to get variable zooms out of the camcorder. You can get an extremely slow zoom (which is nice) or a really fast one, but anything in-between takes a lot of work.

Focus (3)
The focus control on the ZR65MC is disappointing. The focus isn't controlled through the focus ring, but rather through the jog dial. I thought I would like the 'real button' focus control of the ZR65MC over the touch screen control of the Sony MiniDV camcorders - but I don't because it's so sensitive which makes it almost impossible to make fine adjustments.

Exposure (Aperture) (4.5)
The ZR65MC offers control over exposure (aperture) through the AE shift function. It gives you control over the exposure through fifteen steps. Canon made a good move to make the exposure control the most important (second to focus). The exposure control is accessed by pressing the AE shift button on the left side, located above the LCD screen - and you don't have to open up the LCD to access it! When you press the AE Shift button, the jog dial allows you to increase or decrease the exposure, with 15 steps of control. My biggest complaint is that there are not more levels of control, in the end there are only seven above normal and seven below normal exposure values - which makes it hard to fine tune adjustments. Sony camcorders offer 24 standard steps of exposure control. I do like how the ZR65 assigns a number to the exposure value, instead of just giving you a dot on a bar.

Shutter Speed (3)
The ZR65MC allows you to manually set the shutter speed through the menu. You can set it to 1/60, 1/100, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000 or 1/2000th of a second. What disappoints me is that you can not set the shutter speed higher than 1/2000th of a second, it's a pretty slow for the upper range of the shutter speed.

White Balance (7)
The ZR65MC offers the typical white balance control offered on camcorders in the price range, the only down side being that it is controlled through the menu - however it does use the jog dial instead of a touch screen. You can set the white balance to auto, manual, indoor or outdoor.

Gain (0)
The Canon ZR65MC offers no manual gain control.

Still (5.5)
The Canon ZR65MC excels in it's still performance under normal lighting conditions. Of course the still pictures suffer from the same problems that the video image does. The ZR65 does a good job at producing high resolution stills, it certainly performs much better than the Sony DCR-TRV19 (Review, Specs, $372) and the JVC GR-D90, however I can't compare it at this time to the Panasonic PV-DV203 (Review, Specs, $199.99), which produces technically higher resolution stills.

The stills are saved to an SD card using the SD slot. The ZR65MC includes an 8MB SD card and a USB interface for transferring the digital stills from the camcorder to the computer. You can also record poor quality MPEG4 movies to the SD slot.

VCR Mode (9)
The VCR mode on the Canon ZR65MC includes all the features you need with the exception of a frame by frame shuttle. The buttons have really nice feel to them and the VCR mode includes basically everything you need.

Low Light Performance (2)
The low light performance of the Canon ZR65MC is abysmal. The low light performance in previous ZR model has been bad, but this one takes the cup. In moderate lighting conditions, where the similarly priced Sony DCR-TRV22 (Specs, $999) or DCR-TRV33 performed fine, the ZR65MC produced a excessively grainy picture that is almost unwatchable. In dim lighting conditions, with maybe one light on in a room, the camcorder did even worse - the grain increased even more so, and although the ZR does a neat trick of looking fine on the LCD screen - when you show it on a TV it's terrible. Don't even think about using the ZR65MC in candle light lighting conditions. The low light performance of the ZR65MC is truly pathetic - and is certainly worse than any other camcorder in this price range, and worse even than the $400 Sony DCR-TRV250. As a side note, you can improve the low light performance of the ZR65MC by using the manual auto exposure adjustment, however it's only a marginal improvement in my opinion. It reduces the grain but it also makes things very dark - it is certainly not a solution to the low light disaster with the ZR65MC.

LCD / Viewfinder (7)
The Canon ZR65MC includes a 2.5 in color LCD screen and a color viewfinder. The viewfinder can be rotated up for different shooting angles. There is nothing particularly special about the LCD screen and viewfinder on the ZR65MC - both perform fine.

Audio (6)
Despite the redesigned microphone on the front of the ZR65MC, the camcorder suffers from the same problem that it seems every other ZR model has suffered from - too much motor noise picked up by the camcorder. The ZR65MC does include a cold shoe on the top (meaning that no power is provided to accessories plugged into the port). The camcorder includes a microphone in port, and a headphone out terminal. The camcorder has a relatively high audio score because I don't deduct many points for poor on camera microphone performance since almost every camcorder has poor on camera microphone performance. The ZR65MC does offer audio and video dubbing (where you can replace the existing audio or video respectively with new audio or video). It's only major weakness on audio options is that the shoe is cold - however it is made out of a sturdy metal, unlike the plastic shoe on Sony camcorders.

Handling (8)
The strong points of the Canon ZR65MC are it's manual control and handling - it just seems they completely forgot about the video and low light performance. The ZR65MC has a horizontal square feel, but as you move towards the top of the camcorder it gets slightly smaller - making it easy to grip. The overall design of the camcorder has not changed much from the 2002 model, the Canon ZR45MC. On the top of the camcorder are three raised lines, which help in getting a good grip. Your thumb falls perfectly on the record control and your index finger falls perfectly on the zoom control. The ability to control all the manual picture functions through the jog dial makes it easy to adjust manual picture functions while holding the camcorder. The ZR65MC only looses points because of the lack of a focus ring. The body feels nice and secure as well.

Jacks and Ports (8)
The jacks and ports on the ZR65MC are really well placed (the reason for a point increase). The camcorder includes an S-Video in / out jack, a Mini AV in / out jacks which also doubles as a headphone out jack (the reason for a deduction, weighing out the increase for the good placement), a microphone in port, a USB port, and a Firewire port.

Other Features (4.0)
My Camera Function The ZR65MC allows you to customize the startup image and sound, shutter sound, start/stop sound, and the self-timer sound. Why you would want to do this besides trying to look 'cool' and James Bond-ish to your friends - I can't understand.

Analog to Digital Pass Through The ZR65MC offers the increasingly desired analog to digital pass through feature. It allows you to hook an analog source up the the ZR65MC and the camcorder will convert it to a digital video signal, either for recording to tape or for transfer from the camcorder to the computer. It's a nice feature.

Direct Print The Direct Print feature allows you to hook the ZR65MC up to certain compatible Canon printers and print your digital stills on the fly. It's a pretty neat feature - and the stills are high enough quality that they are printable.

DV Messenger This is Canon's answer to Sony's USB streaming. It allows you to effectively use the ZR65MC as a web cam, or for Internet video chat. It does offer increased features over the standard web cam though. DV Messenger allows the person on the other end of the line to control your camcorder. They can play back video and control other features of the ZR65MC remotely.

Bottom Loading Tape MechanismThis isn't really a feature but it's certainly something that I have to point out. The tapes on the ZR65MC are loaded from the bottom of the camcorder instead of the top. Sadly, this is pretty much a standard feature on camcorders these days - however it creates a lot of problems. If you are shooting on a tripod and you have to take the camcorder of the tripod to change the tape.

Comparisons (no score provided)
The ZR65MC technically replaces the ZR45MC, however with this years ZR line, Canon dropped the prices of all three ZRs by $100, so in a direct price comparison the ZR65MC replaces the ZR40 of last year. In my opinion the standard light shooting capabilities are the same, however the low light performance has gone down. As for features, the zoom has increased, though pretty much everything has stayed the same - the camcorder has identically the same for factor. If you do the direct price comparison and compare the ZR40 to the ZR65MC the ZR65MC is certainly upgraded, because it adds still capability - however I don't feel that the upgrade, either the ZR65MC over the ZR40 or the ZR45MC is worth the decrease in low light capability.

DCR-TRV19 The DCR-TRV19 takes the prize (the CamcorderInfo.com Select Award in this case) in this price category because of it's outstanding video and low light performance, which blows away the low light performance of the ZR65MC. The ZR65MC offers many more still picture features, like the ability to record stills to an SD card, higher resolution stills and better looking stills. The ZR65MC also offers analog to digital pass through, better manual control and better handling over the DCR-TRV19, however it is certainly a larger and heavier camcorder.

PV-DV203 The PV-DV203 produces a better image under low light conditions that the ZR65MC though it doesn't come close to the DCR-TRV19. The PV-DV203 offers similar quality manual control as the ZR65MC, a much smaller 10x optical zoom, a smaller 2.5 in. LCD screen, and technically higher resolution stills than the ZR65MC.

GR-D90 ZR65MC has slightly better manual control. The GR-D90 comes closest to the ZR65MCs 20x optical zoom with it's own 16x optical zoom. The GR-D90 also includes the same resolution stills, however I would say that the Canon ZR65MC produces much better looking ones. The GR-D90 also offers the largest LCD screen in the pack, a huge 3.5 in. However, the GR-D90s biggest pitfall, like the ZR65MC is it's terrible low light performance.

Who's it For
Try to figure out which section you fit into, and the corresponding comments should help you decide whether or not this is the camcorder for you.

Point and Shooter's (5)
The ZR65MC will function fine for the point and shoot user however it doesn't offer anything special like the touch screen LCD screen on the Sony DCR-TRV19, DCR-TRV22 and DCR-TRV33 does.

Budget Consumers (4)
If you ignore the low light capability - the ZR65MC offers a pretty good value. It offers high resolution stills and a lot of manual control, however it doesn't offer a great value for video and low light capability.

Still Photo / Video Camera Hybrid (5)
The strongest point for the ZR65MC is the still photo / video camera hybrid capability - however I would look towards the Panasonic PV-DV203, which offers similar still capability with better low light performance.

Gadget Freaks (5)
The only 'gadgety' feature of the ZR65MC is the customization and the DV Messenger features.

Manual Control Freaks (6)
The ZR65MCs strong point is it's manual control options. The ZR65MC offers better manual control than the Sony camcorders, however it offers similar manual control when compared to the Panasonic and JVC models. It's a good choice if you're looking to really tweak your image.

Pro's / Serious Hobbyists (2.5)
Simply put - this camcorder is not for you. The low light and moderate light performance just isn't good enough to use this camcorder in a pro shooting situation.

Conclusion
The final score chart for the Canon ZR65MC is as follows:

Area Weight Raw Adj. Poss.
Video Performance
2.00
4.5
9.00
20.0
The Front
0.20
8.0
1.60
2.0
The Right Side
0.30
9.5
2.85
3.0
The Back
0.25
7.0
1.75
2.5
The Left Side
0.20
9.0
1.80
2.0
The Top
0.15
9.0
1.35
1.5
Automatic Control
0.50
5.0
2.50
5.0
Overall Manual Control
0.60
5.0
3.00
6.0
Zoom
0.75
7.0
5.25
7.5
Focus
0.70
3.0
2.10
7.0
Exposure
0.65
4.5
2.93
6.5
Shutter Speed
0.60
3.0
1.80
6.0
White Balance
0.55
7.0
3.85
5.5
Gain
0.50
0.0
0.00
5.0
Still Performance
1.20
5.5
6.60
12.0
VCR Mode
0.30
9.0
2.70
3.0
Low Light Performance
2.00
2.0
4.00
20.0
LCD / Viewfinder
.60
7.0
4.20
6.0
Audio
1.00
6.0
6.00
10.0
Handling
1.25
8.0
10.0
12.5
Jacks / Ports / Plugs
.80
8.0
6.40
8.0
Other Features
0.70
4.0
3.50
7.0
Value
1.25
2.0
2.50
12.5
Total (weighted)
85.68
170.5

The ZR65MCs terrible low light performance puts the camcorder in a position where I could never recommend it. It does offer good still performance, however this is outweighed by the poor low light quality. The camcorder does offer nice manual control and nice handling, however I don't think these features are strong enough. The only reason this camcorder has a score higher than the less expensive Sony DCR-TRV350 (Review, Specs, $360.8) is because it has manual control and better still features - in the end it would be at about the same level as the DCR-TRV350 - probably lower because of the terrible low light performance - if you took away the manual control and higher resolution stills. If your looking for top of the line video and low light performance, I would recommend the Sony DCR-TRV19, if you're looking for a good mix of manual control and video and low light performance with high resolution stills I would go with the Panasonic PV-DV203. The best point and shoot solution in this category is hands down the DCR-TRV19 - which also delivers the best video quality and low light performance, however it suffers from a lack of good manual control. I would strongly recommend staying away from the Canon ZR65MC.