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Quick Review Camcorders: Canon ZR850

by Michael Perlman
Published on May 11, 2007

The Canon ZR850 ($329 MSRP) represents apex of the new ZR triforce released this year, marching in front of the step-down 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” CCD, but is capable of squeezing in a gross pixel count of 1,070,000, compared to its 680K-touting minions, the ZR830 and ZR800. In bright light (3000 lux), you can’t really tell 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 and lines and borders are more apparent. In low light, the ZR850 lost a fair amount of color information, but retained some of its crisp lines in high contrast areas. In our lowest light setting (15 lux), 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 its other two sidekicks, 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 run with the ZR850, the poor little camcorder looked like it had survived a polar bear attack. Of course the ZR850 is blessed with a convenient LCD-mounted joystick, sliding lens enclosure, and responsive zoom, but guard this thing with your life if you plan on taking it anywhere.

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 brand new 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 offer much. 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. It would probably make sense to shop around online before you settle for a ZR850.

Canon ZR850 - THE BOTTOM LINE
Rating: 187.42

Likes

- Compact
- Inexpensive
- Reliable media

Dislikes

- Cheap construction
- Compelling mic jack on the entry-level ZR800

Samsung SC-X210L Compared to the...

Canon ZR830 Rating: 187.42	Canon ZR800 Rating: N/A	Canon Elura100 Rating: N/A	Sony DCR-HC36 Rating: N/A	Panasonic PV-GS39 Rating: N/A

Better	Better	Better	Better	Better
-Battery Life	-Connectivity -Battery Life	-Video Performance -Lowlight Performance -Zoom Power Ratio -Manual Controls -Automatic Controls	-Zoom Power Ratio -Ease of Use -Automatic Controls	-Handling -Ease of Use -Manual Controls -Automatic Controls
Equal	Equal	Equal	Equal	Equal
-Manual Controls -Automatic Controls -Ease of Use -Handling -Zoom Power Ratio -Battery Life	-Manual Controls -Automatic Controls -Ease of Use -Handling -Zoom Power Ratio	-Handling -Ease of Use	-Battery Life	-Video Performance
Worse	Worse	Worse	Worse	Worse
-Video Performance -Lowlight Performance -Handling	-Video Performance -Lowlight Performance -Supplied Accessories	-Battery Life	-Video Performance -Manual Controls -Handling	-Battery Life -Zoom Power Ratio -Low Light Performance

Area	Weight	Raw	Adj.	Poss.
Video Performance	4.00	4.00	16.00	20.00
Front	0.20	4.75	0.95	2.00
Right	0.30	3.00	0.90	3.00
Back	0.25	4.50	1.13	2.50
Left	0.20	4.25	0.85	2.00
Top	0.15	3.50	0.53	1.50
Automatic Control	0.50	4.00	2.00	5.00
Overall Manual Control	0.60	5.00	3.00	6.00
Zoom	0.75	6.50	4.88	7.50
Focus	0.70	4.00	2.80	7.00
Exposure	0.65	5.50	3.58	6.50
Shutter Speed	0.60	5.40	3.24	6.00
White Balance	0.55	5.50	3.02	5.50
Gain	0.50	0.00	0.00	5.00
Still Perfomance	1.20	6.70	8.04	12.00
VCR Mode	0.30	4.00	1.20	3.00
Low Light Performance	4.00	5.86	23.44	20.00
LCD / Viewfinder	0.60	4.00	2.40	6.00
Audio	1.00	3.00	3.00	10.00
Handling	1.25	3.25	4.06	12.50
Jacks / Ports / Plugs	0.80	4.50	3.60	8.00
Other Features	0.70	3.00	2.10	7.00
Value	1.25	4.00	5.00	12.50
Total (weighted)			95.71	170.50