Canon ZR850 Camcorder Review
By Michael Perlman
Reviewed.com Editorial Staff
May 16, 2007
The Canon ZR850 ($329 MSRP) represents the apex of the new ZR trio this year, in front of the ZR830 and entry-level ZR800. But will this leader prove to be a valiant one? It has more juice in the video quality department and a larger still image resolution. Let’s find out if those features alone are enough to make it through the trenches.
Like the rest of the ZR line, the ZR850 has a 1/6-inch CCD, but is capable of squeezing in a gross pixel count of 1,070,000, compared to its 680,000 pixels on the ZR830 and ZR800. In bright light, it's difficult to see the difference between the ZR830’s and ZR850’s images, other than a perceptible decrease in saturation. Because of that, the ZR850 produces a sharper image where the a subject's outines are in better contrast. In low light, the ZR850 lost a fair amount of color information, but retained managed to retain some of those crisp lines in high contrast areas. In our lowest light setting, the image was pelted with noise, but proved brighter than the ZR830’s murky swamp of an image.
Since the ZR850’s construction is identical to the other ZR models, don’t expect anything special. The low strung hand strap is mounted on the tape hatch, and we were able to yank the hatch open without even sliding the release switch. The port covers are flimsy and we accidentally popped a couple of those off as well. In addition, the LCD screen sheared off like freshly sliced butter, and by the end of our review, the poor little camcorder looked like it had survived a bear attack. Of course, the ZR850 is blessed with a convenient LCD-mounted joystick, sliding lens enclosure, and responsive zoom.
Automatic and manual controls are strewn throughout the ZR850, and the Easy mode performs well under most shooting environments. When the ZR850 is switched into P (Manual) mode, your options include manual focus, exposure, shutter speed, white balance, and gain. Image effects are also available, such as Vivid, Neutral, and Soft Skin Detail. Adjusting the manual focus can be a bit daunting due to the joystick control, but overall the ZR850 provides slightly more than you’d find on an entry-level camcorder in this price range.
The ZR850 records to MiniDV tapes, which compress at a higher quality than DVD, HDD, and AVCHD formats. DV is also widely renowned in the video editing world, and tapes are cheaper than most alternative media. The ZR850 also includes a video light, but you’d be better off using a free LED penlight keychain from your local bank.
The ZR850 is the General in charge of the this year's ZR fleet, and with the honorable Elura product line retired, it strives to put up an honorable fight. Though it offers a larger gross pixel count and bigger stills than the rest of the ZR series, the ZR850 doesn’t have much else. The low light video quality may be better, but in most shooting environments, it is difficult to discern between the ZR850 and ZR830. To make this choice even more perplexing, the ZR800 comes with a microphone jack, but the two step-up models do not. It would probably make sense to shop around online before you settle for a ZR850.
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