Canon ZR600
Camcorder | February 14th, 2008
Retail Price: $299.00
Affordable pocket-sized performance
Beneath its stylish Silver Frost finish, the ZR600 packs a powerful combination of performance and features. It comes with a 25x optical zoom, Canon’s longest ever. It also comes with features found on more expensive camcorders such as: an easy-to-read menu system; an omni-selector joystick that lets you easily operate playback, focus, exposure and menu options; a big 2.7″ LCD viewscreen; Smooth Zoom Control; and Level Shot Control. The ZR600 is a stylish performer you can take anywhere.
For an entry-level camcorder, the Canon ZR600 includes a lot of shooting options, including eight auto-exposure modes, three white-balance choices, nine digital image effects, six shutter speeds, and a level marker that overlays a horizon line on the LCD to help you orient your shot. Of course, Canon’s Easy mode will make all the choices for you, if you want to keep it simple. As you’d expect, the ZR600 doesn’t impress with its still photography. Images are grainy and low-resolution, though colors seem relatively accurate. Video fares better. In medium and bright lighting, the ZR600 captures crisp video with accurate color. In low light, the video exhibits noticeable noise, and Canon’s Night mode doesn’t help.
The ZR600’s joystick navigation system makes it more convenient to operate than the old ZR models. The foldout LCD screen measures 2-7/10 inches, offering you the option of recording in Canon’s widescreen high-resolution mode, which owners of widescreen televisions will appreciate. On a standard TV, widescreen recordings are displayed in letterbox format. This digital camcorder has a selection of preset auto-exposure modes, but it also enables you to manually adjust exposure, shutter speed, white balance, and focus. An emphasis is placed on the auto-exposure modes, however, making the ZR600 an ideal choice as a point-and-shoot digital video camcorder.
In addition to their widescreen capabilities, the Canon ZR 600 features Genuine Canon 25x Optical Zooms, Canon’s longest optical zoom ever in a camcorder (800x Digital Zoom). To prevent jerky zooms, the new ZR600 model offers a feature called Smooth Zoom Control that lets the user pick one of three fixed zoom speeds for professional-style zooming just like in a Hollywood motion picture. Consumers can also avoid shooting crooked video when they use the Level Shot Control feature that overlays a horizontal marker and center indicator on the viewscreen. The marker, which acts as a guide for the user, can be turned on or off at the touch of a button. Of course, all the new models come with Image Stabilization so users can shoot rock-steady video even when they’re at maximum telephoto without a tripod. Image Stabilization is also effective while panning or zooming.
Features
- Widescreen HR Recording
- Optical Performance You Can See
- Brilliant Video
- Stunning Digital Photography
- Perfect Exposures
- Share Your Video
- Share Your Photos