This is a fine little camera. Everything is as advertised and more, except for one glaring exception. The remote control is a plastic piece of junk with (at least in my case) an unopenable battery compartment. I could not get it replaced without sending the whole package back to the manufacturer, so I'm basically stuck with it. But other than that, as I said, it's a fine little camera.

Purchased this camera as a gift for my mother's birthay. So far, it works great. Video quality surpasses what I expected from reviews and expectations of a miniCam. Wide variety of features are easy to access and understand. The incredible zoom puts you close to any object. My first tests with the camera demonstrated the great sound quality. Upon viewing a tape of a walk on my property, bird calls came out in such clarity that my mother's cat went into a frenzy looking for them. Just remember to use the wind filter at the beach.

My father, who refused to use their old camera, monopolized this one on our recent trip to Hawaii. Hope the films turned out okay, because he wouldn't stand still long enough for me to show him some features (such as the wind filter). Haven't checked the low-light quality yet.

Guess I'll have to get one for myself now. The compact size makes it easy to carry any where. Did notice that the hand strap should adjust more for my mother's smaller hands. Would be nice to have easier placement for a shoulder strap. Still, this is one I'd buy again.

I have never seen a remote control, or any other battery operated device where the insertion of batteries was so difficult. I am not sure who's hands are small and nimble enough to open this thing, but it took me two sharp objects and about ten minutes to get it opened.

I've been playing with this camcorder for a few days now, and I must say that I am overall satisfied with its performance, especially for the price. The camcorder records in 16:9 (widescreen) aspect by default, although you can switch to 4:3 (normal) if you like.

This camcorder is small--easily fitting in your hand--but it's not too small. I don't have any trouble using any of the buttons or switches. It is also light, which is a big bonus if you plan to carry it with you regularly.

The zoom is more than sufficient at 25x Optical / 1000x Digital. However, as with all camcorders, it is almost impossible to use the camera at anything over 100x unless it is sitting on a solid tripod. Even at 50x, the image quality noticeably degrades. For optimal performance, keep it under 25x and do not use the digital zoom (you can turn off the digital zoom in the menu system).

The ZR700 includes a "video light" for low-light situations; however, it is a single LED bulb that emits very little light. In fact, it is pretty much useless unless you are in pitch darkness, and you need to film something that is less than 2 feet in front of the camera.

And speaking of low lighting, this camera uses a new image sensor that is smaller than those used in earlier Canon camcorders, and smaller sensors are typically less sensitive to light. While in normal daylight situations the new sensor is fine, once the lights start to dim, there is noticeable grain and noise in the image. Unfortunately I've found the noise to be a problem in most indoor situations, which means many home movies will have less than amazing image quality. And unlike many other camcorders, there is no low-light infrared mode (e.g. Sony's "NightShot").

The ZR700 provides three different methods for transferring video-RCA, USB and Firewire. The RCA and USB cables are included, the firewire cable is not. In addition, the ZR700 model allows for analog-digital pass-through. This means that you can hook up an old VCR to the camcorder, then hook the camcorder to a computer so that you are able to transfer video from the VCR through the camcorder and into the computer. This is a nice feature if you want to digitize old VHS tapes.

Finally, this model has a SD card slot for taking digital still pictures. While this is a nice feature, the resolution of the photos is quite low (~1 Megapixel). This is fine if you want to email the photos, but the quality is far too low to have made into prints. If you are hoping to have photos that you can print, you should certainly stick with a digital still camera--this camcorder is not a replacement.

Overall, I'm satisfied with the ZR700. It's a nice camcorder for a low price. It is the perfect camera for taking on vacations or just out on a picnic or sporting event. The picture quality is too low for anything other than personal use. If you're looking to film important events (weddings, etc), then you should probably look for camcorders with better low-light performance.

The camcorder's quality is pretty good, however the picture quality isn't. I hate to say it, but even when it's on the best possible resolution, it's really "grainy", not like a shot from a regular digital camera. Other than that it's great!

It is nice that it is tiny, though! You can take it anywhere and it has the wide screen capabilities. It's a nice little camcorder.

Great camera, movies are very clear, works great in low light vs my JVC MiniDV camcorder. Very small but easy to use!! would recommend

I ordered this camera from butterfly video. Within less than an hour I got an email to call their service representative "tom" about my order. I was concerned that perhaps the item was backordered. He assured me it was in stock, but said he was puzzled as to why I hadn't ordered the charger since the camer "really wouldn't work without the charger". I questioned why canon wouldn't include it then, and he said they didn't, but that it needed the charger to work. He said the charger was normally $129 but that I could order it with the camera for "only $99". He then asserted yet again that the camera wouldn't work without it, so I asked about a cheaper charger and he mentioneed a $59 charger, that was "not nearly as good", but that I needed to get one or the other to have the camera work properly. He then asked about extended warranty, and when I said no, he said "well, good luck with your camera then". I should have cancelled the entire order then, but I felt like maybe the guy was being honest and that canon was questionable for quality and not including a required charger. I checked on his claims. A charger IS NOT required, also there is the exact same model for sale at several places for under $40. I emailed and called to cancel the order (within less than 1 hour) and he said "unfortunately it had already been processed and packed". I said I doubted that it had been packed sometime between 8:30 and 9:30 pm.

I followed up by calling my charge card company and checking the butterfly photo website. There had been no charge to the card, just an "authorization". My credit card company said that until a charge is filed I cannot dispute, because no charge or service has been rendered. On the butterfly website there was no indication on my account that the item had been packed or shipped. So, they can't cancel something that hasn't happened? Yeah, right. I bet if I had called back to ADD the warranty they coulda made changes.

My charge card company has advised me to 1) notify them again that I will not accept the item. 2) Refuse to sign for the item 3) They will file a dispute automatically if any charge is posted. Interestingly, butterfly photo and "tom" have had no response to my emails to cancel, though they responded to my order with a high pressure sales pitch within the hour... Hmmmm.... makes ya wonder.

So, bottom line is they BAIT with the low price, then high-pressure sales pitch (SWITCH) you into buying over-priced accessories that aren't needed by claiming that they are needed. (check canons website, charger isn't needed).

Now i get to have the hassle of waiting to see if they respond at all or cancel the order or if they ship the item. (as of this morning still nothing on their website says the order is processed). If they ship then I get to deal with the shipper and refuse to accept or sign for the item. Then I get to follow through with my charge card company.

Unless you like hassle, high-pressure sales pitches, dishonest business practices, and buying things you don't need, then steer clear of Butterfly Photo. Even if you choose this camera, buy from someone who treats customers with respect rather than as "hits" to get more $$.

I purchased the ZR700 about 3 months ago and have taken some nice but somewhat grainy pictures. It is small enough to carry around easily. The battery that comes with it lasts about an hour so that's OK. The controls are not user friendly, but with time I've learned to use them. The remote is badly designed and does not work very well. The big flaw however is that on playback I get stripes across the picture. The manual advises that a cleaning tape be used when this happens. That works (provided you have the special tape available!) but this problem happens frequently, requiring the removal of the tape you are watching, the insertion of the cleaning tape, the removal of that tape after the cleaning has taken place and the re-insertion of the original tape--lots of fun, right? The manual says that this problem is caused by dirt, but I have not used the camera very much and not under extreme conditions. Interestingly, this happened on another Canon (ZR60) that I owned--but with that camera the condition was more frequent and sometimes the cleaning process did not work. Needless to say, this is the last Canon camcorder I will buy.

I have been very pleased with this camera. Other reviews will talk about the lack of this or the lack of that on this equipment, but lets be realistic, if you're looking at this camera, you most likely will be videoing small family moments not huge productions. And for that reason this is a great little camera.

I use a Sony Handycam HDR-FX1 HD Digital Video camera which has features that will blow you away (but a price tag to match) for work and this Canon has plenty of function and capabilities to keep me busy. The capabilities are awesome for the price, and the ability to transfer my old vhs-c tapes to digital for download onto my computer is what sold me.

I've always been hesitant to purchase electronics over the internet without physically getting my hands on the product, so this was a bit of a stretch for me but I'm glad I did. Would have given 5 stars, but like others said, the light doesn't do a whole lot of good. No problems with playback or transfer via firewire (which would be nice if it were included, but those are the breaks).

This is a great product. First of all, it is TINY! So small, and light... you really want to take it everywhere with you. While some people complain about grainy picture in low-light or indoors situations, I really don't have any complaints; the video quality is amazing. The menus are easy to use, and quick to figure out... and quite a few options are available. Also, the ability to capture in widescreen is nice, but what is even nicer is that this camera has easy-to-use modes to help use different video sizes depending on what kind of television you are hooking it up to. And, I love the fact that I can convert analog video (VHS, etc) to digital. Also, this camera worked very well with my macintosh computers, and iMovie... and it was even usable as a webcam in Yahoo messenger.

Overall, this is a great camera, and it is worth every cent. It is the perfect size, so you won't feel like you are "lugging" the camera along just to capture those special moments... and you can send things to VHS, or your computer for dvd... this is a great deal, and I would recommend it to anyone. I own many other canon products at home, and they are all great, and have lasted me many years.

Excellent shipping time; even using Economy. Camera works fine and set u is simple. Takes excellent videos and stills.

Canon logra ofrecer con esta camara todo lo que requiere un aficinado que solo busca tener videos y simplicidad de los momentos más importanes de su vida a un extraordinario precio.

Ahora, si eres un consumidor más exquisito entonces tienes que invertir en camaras más avanzadas de Canon o de otras marcas, pero eso tiene su precio.

Lo que siempre destaca de Canon es la calidad de sus lentes y esta camara no se queda atrás.

We purchased this camera for taping live music shows. Our biggest problem has always been trying to work in low-light conditions. After reading reviews which were critical of this camera's low-light performance, I expected it to be similar to my old 8mm camcorder. The first show we taped was in a really dimmly lit club, and this camera captured it with no problems. This digital format is a big step above standard analog 8mm, so for me this is a very impressive camera. Technology has come a long way. Also, the still-image features are very useful. I've seen reviews bashing the photo quality as grainy, but since our photos are mostly for web pages anyway, it isn't that critical.The feature is great for our purposes. It even lets you put a screen capture on the memory card from the tape. Totally cool. This is my first digital camera after working with a standard 8mm for 25 years. The difference is night & day. I am very impressed with this camera.

This is a great camera. Small, but not too small, easy to use, and not too complicated. Very pleased with our purchase.

One excellent feature of the ZR700 camera which I have not seen sufficiently discussed is its ability to transfer home video from VHS, V8, Hi8, or any other video format which has an RCA jack system (yellow, red, white), to digital video (DV) on Mini-DV tapes. (I have a ZR200 and my father has a ZR700; this is a very similar review to my posting for the ZR200)

This feature is fabulous and dramatically easier to use than other methods I have tried. I did not discover it during nearly 1 1/2 years of owning the ZR200. I inadvertently came across a terse mention of such transfers in the owner's manual. (See Canon ZR200 owner's manual at page 79 for instructions, or page 72 for the Canon ZR700 unit with similar capabilities.)

Suffice it to say that the transfer process is very easy, assuming that one has kept the original cabling which came with the ZR200 (or ZR700) camera. It produces a video image which is superior to any other method I have tried. And I have tried a number of methods, including transferring video to a high-quality external video capture card to DV and ultimately to Mini-DV tape using iMovie on an Apple computer.

Upon careful comparison of like clips, this complex, multi-step approach produced good results, but only a nominally clearer image and it has tiny diagonal stripes running across it and a curling upper left edge from the video recorder heads; overall not as good. The color quality and image clarity that results from direct videotape to Mini-DV-tape method using the ZR200ZR700 built-in features is overall, smoother, cleaner and produces a full screen image without diagonal lines or the jagged tape-head artifact in the upper left corner. Direct transfer appears to eliminate this visual nuisance entirely, or at least it did so for me. This significantly improves the image appearance and eliminates an otherwise very distracting visual distortion.

In transferring 20-year old V8-tapes, I was stunned at the improved image clarity and vivid color, in some instances as if the tape had been shot the day before! It was a real pleasure to see clear images from the past - now I only wish I had had slightly better camera skills.

I also recommend buying a cleaner for the heads of any video source you might use; Sony makes a good head cleaner for V8/Hi8 and for Mini-DV. As I cleaned the heads of the video source, the image quality and clarity quality improved significantly.

Overall, the ZR700 is an excellent camera and has some delightful hidden features, including 16x9 widescreen and direct video to Mini-DV transfer.

Five stars.

So far so good. It showed up pretty fast. I hadn't heard of Electronics Expo, but they got the job done and saved me a good amount over the local stores here. We have a newborn, and this works great for general use (filming playtime, baths, etc). If the lighting is low the picture will be dark, but usually it seems manageable. Pretty easy to use, didn't even read the manual yet. I haven't had a chance to put an SD card in it yet so I don't know how the snapshots will look, but this camera also allows you to take a snapshot of any frame within the video, so thats cool. They have a newer model out soon, or now but I could have only pre-ordered it at the time, otherwise why not get the newer model. I'm sure this one is even cheaper now though, and the new one doesn't use an SD card or take pics. I guess I find the amount of camcorder noise neglegeable.

very good, received in time. I just love it, very easy to use.

This is a great little camcorder. The size is awesome, small and light. The image stabilization works really well. I have heard the tape noise while recording, but after downloading video and burning it to a DVD I haven't been able to hear it. The audio is great for the price range of this little camera. I especially like that you can record in widescreen. For some reason it gives your home videos a more interesting look. If you are having trouble shooting inside, which has been a complaint from some, try turning all the lights on in the room you're recording in and setting the camera for the tungsten light mode. Recorded this way, the videos look better than if you just record in auto mode. And although you can't really control it, any outside light coming in really enhances the video quality too (especially the color).
I think this was a great purchase for us. Highly recommended.

I used this camera for 15 minutes and got the "remove the cassette" error message. I tried using other tapes thinking it may have been defective but still received the error message. Then I researched the internet and found out that this is a very common problem. Its so common that if you go to the Canon product page, they have a special link to address questions about this error. Canon's website is basically set up to make you think that you, the consumer, may have caused the problem by allowing moisture or dirt inside or by improperly closing the tape door. However, the real problem here is a defective design.

Since I bought the camera so recently, you would think Canon would apologize and send me a shipping label. No. They are making me pay for shipping to their repair facility.

Needless to say, I will NEVER purchase another Canon product again and I will discourage anyone I know from ever purchasing a Canon product.

I took my first foray into video-making last spring. I needed a decent camcorder that would work easily with my iMac. After a couple of months of research and leg work, I bought the ZR700 as well as another more expensive camera ($100 more) that was more highly regarded. I tried the two in a side-by-side comparison. It was no contest; the ZR700 blew the other away.

I won't go into all the ins and outs; suffice to say that I find this camcorder easy to use with plenty of good features. It feels good in my hands and I love the joystick control. Every control is quite logical and makes sense. One small feature that many cameras don't have is the built-in lens cap. With the touch of a button, the lens opens; another touch, it closes. Much preferable to having a lens cap to dangle and perhaps lose.

When it came time to making the movie, importing the clips was a snap--it was almost too easy. And the picture quality was everything I could have hoped for. I loved the features that let you program the video for the type of scene you're filming--outdoor sunny, outdoor overcast, indoor spotlight, etc. The sound was fine, too.

I'm sure if I spent $500 more on a machine, I'd notice the difference in quality. But this more than met my needs. If you want an excellent camcorder at an extremely reasonable price, the ZR700 is a good choice.

The camera came in a timely manner and was exactly like the description stated. I would have no issues recommending or purchasing from them again.