Canon ZR70MC Review

by Mark Bassett
Published on Nov 5, 2004 12:00 AM



The Canon ZR70MC is the one step up from the ZR65MC, the middle of the road model in the 2003 ZR line. The new model has a larger, 22x zoom, a number of special features, and costs $100 more. A snap shot of the market shows the ZR70MC includes better manual control than some of it's competitors, however, the ZR70MC still fails when it comes to low light capability. In an effort to improve the low light performance of the line, Canon included a white LED light at the front of the camera. The model shows only minimal improvement over the ZR65MC and it doesn't get to the root of the low light problem, and as a result scores only slightly higher on Camcorderinfo.com's rating grid.

Video Performance (4.5)
The Canon ZR70MC has the same 680K pixel 1/6 inch, CCD as the ZR65MC with 340K pixels for video. Similar to its predecessor, the video performance of the ZR70MC is above-average under normal lighting conditions: sunlight, bright interiors, and spots. When shooting in such lighting, the camcorder captures a quality image. The camcorder produces vibrant colors under normal lighting conditions with good color accuracy. The ZR70MC receives an average score for video performance, not surprising for a camcorder in this price range.

The Front (8)
A 30.5 mm lens located in the center-top of the ZR70MC, just above the Canon logo. Below the logo is a 1/4 inch white LED light, and the IR receiver for the remote. Below the receiver is the same stereo microphone, redesigned from the 2002 models, that's on the ZR65MC. The mike includes omni-directions perforations on both the left and right side of the camcorder. At the bottom of the front side, is a grey plastic cover that conceals an s-video in / out jack, and the DV in / out jack. The placement succeeds, because they're unlikely to be used when shooting video.

The Right Side (9.5)
The right side of the ZR70MC is well designed. At the back of the camcorder is a firmly shifting tape / card switch, that transitions from recording video and still pictures to tape, or capturing motion JPG or pictures to an SD card. Below the tape / card switch, are labels for the power dial located on the back of the camcorder. A snug suede strap, allows for easy handling, and other than a small speaker, the palm area is void of any plugs, buttons or features that might get in the way while you're shooting. At the front of the right side, a plastic cover conceals a microphone in jack, mini AV in / out jack, and the USB port. The location of the ports is just below a hot-shoe located on top of the camera - the hot-shoe powers an optional microphone accessory or external light source. Similar to the ZR65MC, the mini AV in / out jack is also acts as headphone out jack, meaning you can't sent your video to an external source and monitor your audio at the same time.

The Back (7)
An adjustable viewfinder tops the back of the camcorder. Below the viewfinder is the battery port, which claims 9.5 hours of record time with an add on battery. The power dial is to the right of the battery port. The switch alternates from camera, to off, to play/VCR modes.

The Left Side (9)
The left side of the ZR70MC has an LCD screen that fits snuggly into the body of the recorder. Above the screen are a series of four illuminated buttons that control playback and the manual focus function. The ZR70MC allows the user to choose the color of the button back-lighting from a handful of day-glow options. To the right of the LCD screen is the securing clasp, the menu button, and the jog dial. The dial controls manual focus, AE, and all of the menu options displayed either on the LED screen or in the view finder. The dial depresses for option choices, and works quite well. Opening, and engaging the LCD screen exposes a series of effects buttons and the manual mode switch. The space also houses a thin battery for time/date power support when the unit is unplugged and/or unpowered.

The Top (9)
The top of the ZR70MC is sleek and sparse. The most significant feature is the hot-shoe for the external microphone or spot-light accessories. Raised lines on the top aide in griping the camcorder. Below the grip lines, is a viewfinder which can be lifted or locked in place depending on what you as the user like. To the right of the viewfinder is a zoom control, and a button for an electronic shutter.

Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control (5) The ZR70MC runs either as a fully automated camcorder, or in semi-automated mode with limited manual adjustment. By switching into manual mode, you engage the day-glow buttons and can chose manual focus and/or manual AE. The dial mentioned above serves as the focus mechanism and the aperture adjustment control. The dial is small but sensitive.

Overall Manual Control (5) The Canon ZR series camcorders consistently offer a fair amount of manual control - and the ZR70MC is no different. The unit receives an above average score for camcorders in this price range. Improvements could be made, namely with a manual focus ring, but overall the manual control elements are functional.

Zoom (7.50) The Canon ZR70MC increases the zoom power of the line from a 20x on the ZR65MC to a 22x optical zoom on the ZR70MC. This is probably the most significant upgrade in the ZR70MC. The zoom is controlled by a dial similar in design to the focus dial. Spring action gives it a good amount of resistance and fair control, however, the distance between the far left (full zoom) and the far right (full frame) is too small. That makes mid-speed pan outs difficult on the camcorder. An extremely slow zoom or a really fast one is easily achieved, but the in-between takes fine finger work.

Focus (3) As discussed above, the focus control on the ZR70MC is disappointing. The focus isn't controlled through a focus ring, but rather through the jog dial. In an effort to make everything compact, manufactures have forgotten 100's of years of successful photographic developments. In other words, when some one wants to focus, they should be able to use the lens-not a little dial in the lower right hand corner of the camera.

Exposure (Aperture) (4.5) The ZR70MC's manual exposure control is done through the AE shift function. It controls the exposure through fifteen steps of light intensity allowed in to the camcorder by the lens. The exposure control is accessed in a similar fashion to the manual focus. Trip the switch to manual then press the AE shift button located above the LCD screen on the left side. When you press the AE Shift button, the same jog dial that allows manual focus allows you to increase or decrease exposure.

. Shutter Speed (3) The ZR70MC has manual shutter speeds: 1/60, 1/100, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000 or 1/2000th of a second. A downside of the ZR70MC is that you can not set the shutter speed higher than 1/2000th of a second. Another reason the camcorder get's a lower shutter speed score is because you can only control it through the menu.

White Balance (7) The ZR70MC offers the typical white balance control offered on camcorders in this price range. From the menu users can either set the white balance manually, or chose full-auto, indoor or outdoor. The auto works fairly well, especially when moving from interior to exterior in one shot.

Gain (0) The Canon ZR70MC offers no manual gain control.

Still (5.5)
The Canon ZR70MC has digital camera capabilities as do almost every single MiniDV camcorder out there on the market today. 1,024 x 768 XGA high-resolution stills can be saved to an SD card using the SD slot or to tape depending on your needs. The ZR70MC includes an 8MB SD card and a USB interface for transferring the digital stills from the camcorder to the computer. As step up from the ZR65MC, you can record motion JPEG instead of poorer quality MPEG4 movies. Photos can be edited and printed directly to select Canon printers.

VCR Mode (9)
The VCR mode on the Canon ZR70MC has the unique feel of a discothèque, because of the flashing day-glow controls. The buttons have a nice feel, and look cool in the dark.

Low Light Performance (2)
The low light performance of the Canon ZR70MC isn't much better than the ZR65MC Low light produces an excessively grainy picture and with a light source in frame the camcorder recorded big white blurs. The low light performance is what kills the ZR series. There is just way too much grain in the shot, even under marginal lighting conditions the picture looks terrible.

LCD / Viewfinder (7)
The Canon ZR70MC has a quality 2.5 color LCD screen and a 0.33color viewfinder. The screen folds-out and easily twists and flips, so you can shoot video from any angle without having to look in the viewfinder.

Audio (6)
Despite the redesigned microphone on the front of the ZR70MC, 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 ZR70MC can record sound in 16-bit (2 channels) for the highest sound quality, slightly better than CD quality, and 12-bit ( 2 from 4 channels) for recording on two channels (stereo 1), leaving two channels (stereo 2) open for post production narration, music, etc. The ZR70MC does include a hot-shoe on the top (meaning power is provided to accessories plugged into the port). The recommended accessory is a DM-50 directional-microphone. Since the hot-shoe provides all the necessary connections, no cables are required. With the accessorey mike the ZR70 gets high audio scores.

Handling (8)
The ZR70MC sits snuggly in hand with a suede strap. On the top of the camcorder are three raised lines that fingertips grip easily. The thumb's positioned perfectly on the record control and snapshot button, and the index lays nicely on the zoom control. Significant weight aside, the unit has a good overall feel. It operates better with the LCD screen than the view finder. That is, the wrist is at an awkward angel when using the viewfinder and when attempting to use manual control features, such as focus, the camcorder is somewhat difficult to manage. When the LCD is open, the ZR70MC feels balances and stable. There's little jarring of image, and the controls are easily engaged. With the added battery, that claims 9.5 hours of record time, the weight increase is significant. That's the trade off for extended shoot time. The suede strap is easily adjustable, and durable. Although with the LCD flipped, and fitted screen side out into camcorder it's unlikely the strap would be used.

Jacks and Ports (8)
The jacks and ports on the ZR70MC are well placed. The camcorder includes an S-Video in / out jack, a Mini AV in / out jacks which also doubles as a headphone out jack, a USB port, and a Firewire port. In addition, the hot-shoe is a nice touch as it means less wires and batteries.

Other Features (4.5)
My Camera Function The ZR70MC allows customizable startup image and sound, shutter sound, start/stop sound, and the self-timer sound.

Analog to Digital Pass Through The ZR70MC offers the desirable analog to digital pass through, to hook an analog source for conversion to digital video signal. The feature can be used either for recording to tape or for transfer from camcorder to computer.

Direct Print The Direct Print feature allows you to hook the ZR70MC to certain compatible Canon printers and print digital stills. A USB cable connects the printer to the camcorder, and printing options can be controlled from ZR70MC's LCD Screen. Options include: selecting the print quantity, cropping, and bordered or borderless prints.

DV Messenger Canon's answer to Sony's USB streaming, allows web cam capability with ZR70MC, or internet video chat. DV Messenger allows the person on the receiving end, remote control of the zoom, play back, and other features of the ZR70MC.

Bottom Loading Tape Mechanism MiniDV tapes are loaded in the bottom of the camcorder instead of the top.

Comparisons (no score provided)
The ZR70MC upgrades the ZR65MC, with an enhanced zoom, a hot shoe, day-glow buttons, and motion JPEG - they are all minor upgrades that certainly don't make it worth an extra $100 over the ZR65MC. Both camcorders have the same CCD and thus suffer from the same terrible low light performance. Buy the accessory spotlight, if you invest in the ZR70MC.

Sony DCR-TRV19 The DCR-TRV19 took the prize (CamcorderInfo.com Select Award) in the price category because of outstanding video and low light performance. The ZR70MC offers more still picture features, like the ability to record stills to an SD card or tape, and the super high-resolution quality and also offers better manual contro.. The ZR70MC also offers analog to digital pass through, better manual control and handles better than the DCR-TRV19, however it is a larger and heavier camcorder.

PV-DV203 The PV-DV203 has better low light abilities than the ZR70MC, although it's still less able than the DCR-TRV19. The PV-DV203 offers similar manual control quality as the ZR70MC, a much smaller 10x optical zoom, a smaller 2.5 in. LCD screen, but technically higher resolution stills than the ZR70MC.

GR-D90 ZR70MC has better manual control capabilities than the GR-D90. However, the GR-D90 offers the largest LCD screen in the pack, a 3.5 inch LCD. The GR-D90, like the ZR70MC, has 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 ZR70MC is functional point and shoot camcorder, with the add-on capabilities. Spend more and you can have and external mike and spotlight-but not at the same time.

Budget Consumers (4) The ZR70MC offers a good value if you want an all-in-one camcorder with high-resolution camera capabilities and some manual control.

Still Photo / Video Camera Hybrid (5) The strong point of the ZR70MC is the still photo / video camera hybrid capability. Another camcorder to consider for these features, is the Panasonic PV-DV203, which offers similar still capability and better low light performance.

Gadget Freaks (5) The day-glow VCR controls are neat and the web-cam feature is fair. Better call M for some updates, Mr. Bond.

Manual Control Freaks (6) The ZR70MC has better manual control than Sony camcorders, and similar manual controls when compared to the Panasonic and JVC models. Nothing to fancy, but an increase in creativity through control of focus and shutter speed.

Pro's / Serious Hobbyists (2.5) Look elsewhere-as if you didn't know.

Conclusion
The final score chart for the Canon ZR70MC 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
7.5
5.25
7.88
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
4.5
3.85
7.0
Value
1.25
2.0
2.50
12.5
Total (weighted)
86.41
170.5