At first, I was really uneasy about buying the ZR80 because of the negative reviews I read. However, I decided to buy the camcorder because It had the features i was looking for at a great price. When i recieved the camcorder I couldn't wait to try it out, and to my suprise i hardly found 1 flaw. Many people say things like there is loud motor noise, lousy picture in low-lighted areas, and a useless night shot feature. Im here to tell you that they are all WRONG! I couldn't notice motor noice, the picture and color were superb, the night shot was a great tool, and you can hear normal conversation talk almost 20 feet away! I would think that the people whom write these negative reviews either have a defect in the camera, or are looking for something other than a digital camera, like the type Speilberg uses. An external mic jack would be okay, but Ive found that it isnt really a necessety. I use this camera for everything from home movies, weddings, and parties. Ive never found the need for an extra microphone. The night mode works great too, ive recorded video in my driveway at midnight during a party and the picture is great. The features don't end there, the software advantages you can use are awesome for editing. Playback is good, zoom is clear and smooth. My experiences with this camera has made me a big Canon buyer. All of the canon products ive bought are high quality and very reliable. I now use Canon for almost all of my office and video needs. If your looking for an all-around great cam, with good features at a low price, then the Canon ZR80 is a good choise. All of my previous 8 millimeter and digital camcorders do not compare, A great buy, trust me.

The first ZR80 that we tested on Christmas morning had a lot of motor noise and it was very distracting when watching the tapes.

We exchanged it through Amazon, and the second one was even louder! The recordings are unwatchable because of the noise.

I wrote Canon directly, and their response was was "The ZR80 does produce some motor noise when recording on the tape. This
is considered normal for this camcorder."

I'll be exchanging this one for a Sony. Too bad, I like everything else about the camera and I have had good luck with Canon products in the past.

I bought this camera one month ago and I had to return it.

Every thing is great, picture quality is good , night mode is great. Hooking up to computer is easy and fun and you can record the video directly to Hard Disk, but motor noice is untolrable.

The camera records its own motor noice and is very noticable when playaed back. With loud noices the motor noise is suppressed but still it is annoying.

I have always found Canon to consistently incorporate high quality infrastructure to even their entry level models, this being no exception. Didn't want to pay extra for lots of features I wouldn't use, just wanted a great starter camera. Works great given those expectations..
Picked mine up at Walmart for $226!!

I purchased one of these online about 3 months ago and have used it for filming family events and kids parties etc. In good light the quality is excellent and even in low light there are some tweaks you can do to improve the quality. I agree with the previous review that the lack of wide angle in the lens is the only real flaw. You will feel as if you are always too close to your subject. This makes it difficult to get good group footage when indoors. You will definitely need a second battery as well.

i have had this camera for about a year and it is good. one of the problems was that when in low light it dosn't deliver really great quality. one time when i was connecting it to my computer it wasn't working so i had to send it back canon and they repaired it. another thing is the battery life. the battery that comes with it lasts a short while. it seems to drain the battery really fast and i am constantly charging it. it's a good camera but next time i would choose another one.

Some of the reviews here state that this camera produces good quality video is false. I am wondering what they are comparing the quality to. My camera (Canon ZR80) is horrible. When shooting indoors with light coming through a slider door into the living room the image is very grainy. I compared it to one of the old "suit case" analog camera and the analog camera produces I would say 100% better image quality than Canon ZR80.
I bought this camera about 6 months ago and am very unhappy. I paid over $400 at Sears and I feel like I got ripped off by Canon. If you are planing to shoot vodeo indoors and want to have a decent quality image, do not buy Canon ZR80.

I wanted to make really good movies at a low cost. My first camcorder was a samsung hi8 camcorder but I wanted a DV camcorder for a low price so I purchased the Canon ZR80. I was satisfied at first. I loved the effects and picture quality outdoors. The indoor quality was really bad. The nightshot or lowlight mode makes the picture brighter but more grainier and slow frame rate. After 1/2 a year it had problems connecting to my computer. Canon repaired it. After 1 year and a half, the camcorder died on me. I read other reviews and other people complained of other or similar models in the ZR series dying after the 1 year warranty was up. This was ridiculous. I am never going with Canon again. It died during the summer so I'm getting the Panasonic GS300 for christmas. DON'T BUY A CANON ZR CAMCORDER!!!!!!!!!!

I took it to europe thinking I would get great video, instead I arrive at London and it says SORRY NO LIGHT SOURCE FOUND. Ever since then it has been pitch black vido and picture. Even though it says it has a warranty, they say I broke it no refunds. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY, GET JVC!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Canon recalled this item for a faulty CCD, the symptoms of which are static or no image at all recording to the tape. After about 15 hours of use I ran into this problem and was pretty bummed out, but after checking the Canon website I noticed that they had recalled the product and were offering free repairs (and free shipping). So, if it breaks, check the site, and send it in!

I've used this camcorder for home movies, school projects, and short video profiles. I now use a more professional 3CCD camcorder for my projects, but I keep this little one around as a backup, or use it for situations where portability is important. It has served me very well in the 4+ years I have owned it, but does have a few drawbacks.

Pro's:
-Good picture for a 1-chip portable camcorder
-Decent audio for an internal microphone (zoom out and get as close to your subject as possible for better audio, or get a wide-angle lens for best results)
-Feels solid
-Manual modes; white balance, focus, shutter speed
-Decent night shot
-Syncs and imports perfectly with editing software (like iMovie)

Con's
-No external mic input (this is my only "real" complaint)
-Loud bass records static (doesn't do concerts very well)
-Lens cap falls off way too easily
-Faulty CCD, but free repair

They sell on eBay for about 50 bucks, and even 4 or 5 years after its release, it's an overall good buy.

We got this camera 3-years ago as a baby shower gift. The camera does not have high quality video indoors, the battery life is really short (lasts only about 30 minutes after being fully charged), and we ended up with the black screen of death (see reviews for Samsung SCD23 MiniDV Camcorder with 2.5 LCD). I would expect a video camera to last much longer than 3-years. I'm very disapointed with this camera and would not recommend it to anyone.

I bought a ZR80 about 3 years ago. It really seemed the perfect camera for me, new mommy who wants to record all the baby stuff. I got lovely videos and everything worked perfectly for almost 2 years. Suddenly, the screen started to appear black. It would record only the sound but not the image. It worked randomly, sometimes it would record the image, sometimes it just wouldn't..... very frustrating and disappointing! I have read other reviews stating similar problems. I will never get another Canon camera, as I don't plan to replace it every 2 years!!