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Scrape $100 plus a couple of features off Canon's ZR65MC, and you get its even more budget-friendly sibling, the ZR60. It has the same specs and functions--as well as strengths and weaknesses--as its big brother, with only two exceptions. First, the ZR60 sports an 18X zoom lens, compared with the ZR65MC's 20X version. Though 20X is convenient, if you're tight on cash, accepting 18X is not much of a sacrifice. For a budget camcorder's zoom, 18X is still longer than average, and you probably won't miss that little extra 20X provides under most shooting conditions. Canon's second cutback dismisses the SD media slot and the concomitant ability to save still images on a flash memory card. You can still capture photos on the MiniDV tape, but they'll be even worse than what you normally get from a camcorder. However, given the generally low quality of the ZR65MC's snapshots, you might want to save the cash.
That said, the ZR60 does suffer from the ZR65MC's flaws. Topping the list for the home-movie crowd is its mediocre low-light performance, and there's also a mechanical buzz that becomes noticeable during quiet moments. But the ZR60 does offer the comfortable, easy-to-use design found in the rest of the ZR line, and its relatively large selection of controls and its in-camera effects represent a nice feature set for the money. Plus, this model will still provide the same overall good-quality video as its more expensive siblings.
That said, the ZR60 does suffer from the ZR65MC's flaws. Topping the list for the home-movie crowd is its mediocre low-light performance, and there's also a mechanical buzz that becomes noticeable during quiet moments. But the ZR60 does offer the comfortable, easy-to-use design found in the rest of the ZR line, and its relatively large selection of controls and its in-camera effects represent a nice feature set for the money. Plus, this model will still provide the same overall good-quality video as its more expensive siblings.
