We bought the Canon ZR25 right before our daughter was born. It took excellent video but was slightly grainy and did have some problems with it trying to focus on other objects. We could live with that because it was so easy to use.

However, now I've been working on doing some video capture with my PC and it just ate my daughters 6 month old tape. I figured I'd better not put any of her other tapes in until I tried it out with a new tape. That was a good decision. Now the camera won't play or record and just gives me a "remove tape" message.

I checked with the store where we purchased the camcorder and they say it starts at $199 to get it repaired.

From reading other reviews.... it's probably not worth it!!!!

We bought this camera about 2 years ago. Shortly after buying it, the camera stopped functioning. The only way to fix Canon Camcorders is to send them to one of two Canon repair facilities. We sent it in and it was repaired under warranty. Annoying but fine. Now less than 1 1/2 later, and after light to moderate use, the SAME THING happened. We sent it back to be repaired and were told it would cost $145 to fix! What robbery. I might think of repairing it if I thought it wouldn't break again in a few months/years. Avoid Canon or at the very least buy an extended warranty.

My husband and I were expecting our first baby in January of 02, so we started looking (and looking...) for a digital camcorder. The camcorder had to be able to take still pictures for e-mailing, because all of the grandparents live out of state. After checking Consumer Reports and reviews online, we decided that this camera would fulfill all of our needs for the price range we could afford.
We have had our Canon for almost 6 months now, and we absolutely love it. The video is crisp, and even transfers well to VHS (for the grandparents!) We haven't had any problems with a humming noise, like others have mentioned. We love the LCD screen, but sometimes it is hard to see well in bright light. The still pictures sometimes come out grainy, but that's only if it is really dark. We have found that we use the "fine" setting for the digital stills, and they turn out well, and if necessary, we use the "low light" function. Then they turn out great. We knew that we weren't going to get a high-end perfectly crisp picture from this (since it was first and foremost for video), but were surprised at how well the pictures do turn out. Originally, the Canon was just going to be for snapshots to send online, but we haven't used our "regular" camera since we got it!
All of the relatives love our camera too, and want one of their own now. We just need to get a Firewire in our computer to send video over the internet, and we'll be all set.

I purchased this camcorder in November and have successfully used 4 tapes. Very easy to use and compact. Most still pictures ended up being dark, but in regular daylight most video was of good quality. Last month, I inserted a brand new tape and it ended up jammed. I couldn't eject it and the camera wouldn't perform any other function. I returned it to the place of purchase (where I had an extended warranty) and all they could do was send it back to Canon for repair. I figured this was no big deal, until I did some research. Seems that the tape jamming problem is a reoccurring problem. A friend has the same model and they have sent it to the factory twice and it still isn't working. If you surf the review boards on different sites you will see others reporting the same problem. I hope Canon can fix our camcorder, but if this is a known problem that can't be fixed, they should recall this model. I encourage anyone else who encounters this problem to post a review and pressure Canon to address the issue.

I purchased this Camcorder after reading every review I could find. I have to say that I love the size and function of the camera. The pictures are great and its solidly built. BUT.....and this is a BIG but, the humming on the audio is absolutely maddening. I have read maybe 5 reviewers that mentioned the Mic picking up the motor noise. Other reviewers stated that the heard no such noise. So believing that maybe it was an anomaly I went ahead and bought the camera. After watching the recording I cant believe that every single reviewer would not hear that humming. In fact, I have not read about the hum in any professional review of this camera. I cant imagine that all the models of this type do not have this problem. Im totally torn over this camera. If I had known that the problem was so noticable I would have looked at another model.

I have the same problems that everyone else is talking about. I get several bars across the screen that make the picture not viewable. I noticed that the camcorder was making a very faint noise that sounded like the tape was wrinkling. I took the tape out and sure enough there was slight evidence that the tape was being damaged especially on the top edge of the tape. It sounds like it is not even worth it to get it fixed. I guess I will look in to getting a new camcorder that is NOT a Canon.