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Grey card from Digital Image Flow In the past I have had trouble getting items from Amazon sellers in a fairly quick manner (I think Im used to the quick ship from ebay sellers)but Digital Image Flow did not let me down. I got the item quickly and packaged professionally. I like that they include a key chain to keep the cards together.Thanks Digital Image Flow for the great service.Kelly

Use it AWB and Custom WB are two worlds apart - use this and get the true color

Great color, small size I take photos of antique prints for sale in a controlled condition (photo lights, etc), making correct color of utmost importance. The card is small to set the white balance on my camera, but works wonderfully with Adobe Lightroom to set the custom white balance. I am new to photography, but have found that this combination is working well for me.

An Inferior Copy of a Great Product I think this is my first review in the years I've been on Amazon, but for once I feel that I need to speak out on a bad product.I bought both the DGK and theWhiBal White Balance Reference Card - Pocket Kit (2"x3.5")and I have to say that the WhiBal just feels better and feels that it will last a lot longer(the DGK cards are only about the third of the thickness of a WhiBal). However the Digital Grey Kard has one thing going for it, it has a superior laynard.I would recommend spending a few bucks more and get theWhiBal White Balance Reference Card - Pocket Kit (2"x3.5")instead.

Gray card is on target every time. Before I used this product I used white paper as recommended by Canon for my 30D. I put lines on the paper for focus and set white balance as custom. The paper was difficult to use and keep with me. Since buying the gray digital card, I have found it to be more accurate than white paper and easier to use. The digital gray card produces perfect custom white balance and works every time. It has a focus spot to get the correct image for setting up in-camera custom white balance. One time I used both the gray card and the white card (on the lanyard) and found the gray card produced the correct white balance over the white card. Now I never take a shot without setting the custom white balance to the gray card. I do this in-camera so I don't have to make adjustments in post processing. The gray card also gives the correct light reflection for digital camera exposure. Most books say the gray card should reflect at 18%, but that is not correct for digital. See article on the internet by Thom Hogan [....] who says digital camera makers set exposure meters to near 12% gray reflectance, 18% is based on printing standards. This gray card is closer to 12% and is very accurate.I like the lanyard. When I'm outdoors I keep it on my neck so I can periodically reset the custom white balance as I shoot. Inside under lights, I use it one time and I'm set for the shoot. I highly recommend this card for serious photography, and it is inexpensive as photo equipment goes.

Works Great-short comings yes but-- As a retired negative wedding photographer, I want spot-on results. But with the digital age I had trouble getting exposure/white balance correct. Yes, the processor could correct for my "slight" errors. I did not appreciate how important white balance was, nor that it can change as easy as exposure. After a couple of tests w/this card. I was amazed at the skin tones I got. I used a drug store type quality (Costco) for convenience & speed and got great exposures! Just think what a higher quality firm (i.e. Dale Labs) can do with my files!Photo correction programs: Just use the "eye-dropper" tool; get color corrections- presto!Short comings: The cards could be larger! The instructions could be more detailed- The makers of this product could benefit from comments here!

Works great - simple yet effective. I got this because I wanted a good quality gray card that wasn't made of paper and would last a while. I don't really need the white or black cards, or the deluxe lanyard (it really is nice quality though), and i basically just threw the card in my bag and left the rest at home. Kind of pricey for a piece of plastic, but if you are in the field shooting in JPG mode and need to do a custom white balance, it's worth it to me, even if it fixes just one shot. The card works great. I've used it several times already and it is a simple but effective way to adjust white balance in strange lighting situations.

Excellent white balancing tool I bought this set with risk (expensive & don't know if it work ok or not). Turn out I am SO HAPPY with this purchase.I did the card test:Took a picture of this set - Put this unbalanced picture to Photoshop to white balance it - Measure the balanced picture with Photshop sampler tool and find all RGB are equal; R=G=B. That's mean it neutral 100%.I did the camera picture test:Took serveral pictures with different light sets - white balance the pictures with this GreyKard tool. Result color in pix look very much match the real physical subject.So 5 stars for this GreyKard.Some notes, may be you like to read:This little GreyKard may not too great for doing Pre-Blancing for camera internally because it is so small in size. This GreyKard set is great for Post-Blancing using camera software or Photoshop. This is what I like for convenient GreyKard for Post Processing, reason: Post Processing allow me 2 choices (2 sets of image) to pick, First is the original pix; Second is the my white balance touched pix. Sometime the my white balance touched pictures turn the color look so real that make the people in my pictures look like "Living dead in front of a warm burning fire place" so I throw out the white balanced pictures and keep the original AWB pix.That is so good this GreyKard set. If some subjects originally look ugly, it will make it true ugly as original.

Only misgiving is price The three credit card size pieces of plastic work as advertised - they allow instant color correction in PhotoShop. They must be angled correctly or the glare from the flash appears white on both the gray and black cards.They are not large enough for me to use to set custom White Balance in my camera, but they are small enough to easily fit in my shirt pocket without any problems.This product will probably become standard in my portrait photography workflow, but I was a little disappointed when I opened the package - three credit card size pieces of plastic. My guess, and I may well be wrong, is that the packaging costs more than the product.

I had no idea.... I had no idea how much post processing time this could save. My method is this; I have my models hold the balance cards where all three can be seen in the first shot of each lighting situation. I now worry much less about the white balance settings in my camera. Once the images are dropped into Photoshop I just click the selected eye droppers on the specific cards and my balance is set. Very easy to use.

Convenient and Useful The lanyard makes it easy to hang on the tripod, and it's an easy way to grab the cards out of your camera case. I don't understand why every gray card on the market has to be so expensive (for a flat piece of plastic that doesn't do anything), but considering that this is high quality and not one of the most expensive, I won't ding the rating for the price.This is my first gray card and I'm far from a professional photographer, but I did see a huge difference in the photos I've taken before and after adjusting my camera's white balance with the card. I don't see how my review says anything about this product in particular -- it's more of a recommendation to get a gray card if you don't have one -- but this is the one I picked and I'm happy with it.

Great This is a great product. I have had no problems with it. Shipping was quick and efficient. Easy to use. I would recommend this to a friend.

Balance cards I never knew how the white balance affected digital pictures. Without the right white balance your pictures could look blue and you not know why. Purchese these cards, learn how to use them and you can eliminate this problem. I am very happy with my purchase. Take care and happy photo taking.Walter Crawford

Solid product; it is as advertised I like the idea of a grey card that travels in any of my carrying options; Pelican case, shoulder bag, knapsack or around the neck using the lanyard.I shoot with a Canon 7D, and I use these cards at the start of a shoot by taking an exposure of the white card or grey card so that the card is reflecting the same light as my subject. In order to get the optimal result, I switch the auto focus off, and try to fill the frame with the card, so that the resultant exposure is mostly the white or grey card only, while still reflecting the light I'll be shooting in.Next, I use the menu tab to go to the second camera settings tab (second red tab from the left), and use the scroll wheel to drop down to the fourth choice, which is "Custom WB". Select this choice, and using the shot you just took of the white or grey card, select the option "use WB data from this image for Custom WB". You'll get the custom white balance icon as you hit the "set" button. Once you've done this, select the white balance option and select the custom WB icon. Now, your shots will use the white balance based on the white card you've shot using the same reflected light that you intend to use for your shots. Repeat the process as the light changes. I generally take a quick few test exposures, and see how the custom white balance effect compares to the Auto WB or the other WB settings (such as sunlight, cloudy, etc) and almost always find the custom white balance to be more accurate.By carrying the cards around my neck on the lanyard, I look like a photo-geek but I have the color cards handy, to re-set the custom balance as the light changes.You can also do the method of shooting the cards at the beginning of a sequence, and using the exposure of the cards in Photo Shop to use the eyedropper tool to set white balance. However, I prefer to make changes as the light changes for truer white balance. Having the cards on the lanyard means that this option is always at hand.Nice product, cards can be used, abused and cleaned, and being on the lanyard, they're always handy to tweak your white balance as the light changes throughout your shoot. I find this to be more accurate than shooting a mess of pictures throughout the day in a variety of lighting conditions, and trying to force-fit all the white balance at the end of the day with the eyedropper tool in PS. I may be wrong in this, but so far I prefer to use the cards in this manner.

Strong & Compact Excellent choice! My camera it's a 35mm manual so that means it's big and heavy and this tripod can easy hold it at different angles without loosing the aimed subject. I can carry it fold in my pocket almost without knowing compared with the other bulky tripod with legs that stick in your body. This is a universal tripod not only for Sony products; if your camera has a threaded hole underneath you can use this tripod. Good luck!

Clever Design I bought this table tripod at amazon due to it's cheap price and unique design and ended up using it more often than my regular tripod due to it's portability. The rubber mounted legs fold flat inside its wide base which is perfect for camcorders as it provide better support than a typical table tripod. Tilting the camera is accomplished by moving the rear leg forward or backward, no more knobs to loosen and tighten, very clever design indeed. The quality is topnotch as one would expect from a Sony product. I highly recommend this table tripod for it's design, affordability and quality

Handy item You can fold up legs & keep it attached to camcorder while your shooting. Also a good platform while dubbing tape.Handy little gadget

Excellent accessory to our cameras We love this product. This tiny little widget that screws on all our cameras, 3 different digital cams, and positions the camera so well, has made it more possible for us to ask far less of strangers for snapping our photo....it travels so well, very light, slips right into my purse and is very easy to set up. It provides several different angles also.

Pocket Tripod for Sony Camcorders VCTTK1 Nice little device - very inexpensive, compact, and usefull on a table.

Handy Device Very compact, well made, helps me level the camera when I set it on sloped surfaces and it stays in place due to the rubber feet. For the price and size it's a great alternative.

Elegant, useful and cheap The design is clever! It is cheap and handy. But note that it has to be put on a table. So it carries all the advantages of a tripod except the fact that it cannot be placed on the floor!! anyway, you can use it will all types of video cameras, it makes the camera stable all the time. Sony logo looks nice.All in all, buy it if you want a table tripod.

Handy little tabletop tripod Good, stable, solid, compact. Folds flat for easy storage in my small camera bag. I'll buy another to go with my Canon.

Great little quad mount This little device made my Sony handyCam easier to work with and definate;y makes the capture rock solid! I like the way the legs fold in and you can use the cam like normal and then pull out the legs to set on a table or flat surface. The football players like the look from the field level too! Good little piece of equipment!

Very nice design It's light, compact, and stable, easy to slip into a shirt pocket, and easy to use. It's great for fairly flat surfaces. From reading descriptions, the gorilla tripod (I think that's the name), while bulkier, is more versatile, since it can adjust for uneven surfaces and wrap around poles etc, but I haven't tried it.

Great Lightweight Tri-Pod Took it on a trip to Germany. It is very lightweight and easy to carry. Great for shots where you want to be in the picture or low light situations.The only limitation I had was you can't shoot anything in portrait. As long as it's landscape, it worked for me.

Good but there's a better option It's a clever design but i wouldn't put it in my pocket. I have a pocket monopod that also works as a steadicam. It's called a readysteady, and it really does fit in your pocket.

The Best Pocket Tripod This Sony VCT-TK1 is by far the best pocket tripod for instant use. I take it out of my pocket, screw on my camcorder, and it is ready to instantly take videos or self pictures.(Incidently, I have a wide variety of other different pocket-type tripods with three small legs and adjustable ball pan and tilt, but I do not use them.)

Excellent cable to assist in transfers of your videos to PC Excellent method for transfering your videos to your computer for editing and making CD's. The i.Link cable is easy to use. Make sure you order the right cable. I ordered the wrong cable a 4 pin to 4 pin which I believe only works if you have a Sony computer. Most other computers like my Dell will probally need the 6 pin to 4 pin cable.Also make sure your computer has the capability before ordering. i.LINK is also known as Firewire and IEEE-1394.It does provide excellent high speed quality video transfers.

camcorder cable This is a must have cable if you're going to transfer your videos to your computer. Sony does not supply the cable with its HD camcorders. If you edit your videos and/or make DVDs, you will need this cable.

Got iMovie? As a Mac user, I can just say that this cable is essential for anyone who wants to utilize the syncing features of iMovie with a Sony Handycam. The USB connector that came packed with my HC40 was completely useless when trying to connect to iMovie.This is essentially the reason I can't give it a higher rating than three stars. It was definitely frustrating to find that after investing in such a decent personal-use camera, that Sony expected me to buy still more of their stuff to make it even connect with my computer. If I had to purchase it at the ridiculous Sony retail price, "frustrating" would've been too mild a descriptor, but Amazon's discount helped soften the insult.Beyond that, I can't say a whole heckuva lot about it - it's a cable, after all. Ha!

Annoyingly necessary profit generator for Sony Works as described. I am just so annoyed that Sony would lure me into buying their video camera for a competitive price without including this cable, making the overall cost of the camera no longer competitive. It's smart for Sony to conduct business this way, but only in order to earn profit in the short term. You can bet I won't be suckered in to buying any more Sony products in the future, now knowing that this is how they run their business.

I got the same thing from CompUSA $3.99 I was shocked at how expensive this is so I searched other sites for one. I found a 4-pin to 6-pin firewire at CompUSA's website for $3.99 TOTAL (free shipping!) This Sony cable works great, but I can't tell the difference between it and my cheap one...thus the one star.

Its a cable Its a cable, it works, what else do you want? I know its not the cheapest one out there, but this one says "sony" on it. Yea!! But, I am a true believer that you only get what you pay for. Im sure its better quality than the five dollar version at the flea market. who knows, but I sure feel all warm and fuzzy about getting quality sony products.

Too bad Sony just wants more of your money This is just another way for Sony to make another $35 on the purchase of their Video Camera. Imagine my surprise finding out that I had to purchase a separate cable in order to create DVD's from my DV camera. As far as the cable itself goes, it is fine. But, it sure would give Sony more favorable talk on my part if they just included the cable when I buy the camera.

did the job at the best price This was the right cable for matching my Sony Digital8 Camcorder to my computer's 1394 port for high-speed data transfer. It was much cheaper than buying from Sony.

Worked just like it was supposed to This product worked exactly as it was supposed to. I had tried using the cable that came with the camera (USB cord) and found out exactly what many others had said on blogs.....IT DOESN'T WORK!!!Once I got this cable, it worked perfectly. I was able to easily download video from my camera to my computer. The only frustration I had was that I would rather have paid a little more for the camera and gotten this cable with it in the first place.

Sony Firewire Yes, you have to use this Sony cable (instead of a universal USB) to download video from the video camera - and yes it is typical sony expensive - however, it works like a charm and I am very happy with the ability to pull from tape into digital format.

Cable not what it is sold as Cable is sold as having the ability to transfer video from a camcorder to a PC.It doesn't do it. I spoke to the company and they told me that there is no cable that does that. I asked them why thet advertised this cable as being able to do it and he told me I should have known better. They then charged me 15% to take the cable back. You would be smart to shop elsewhere. They don't know what their products do and they charge you for their lack of knowledge.

Undecided - Be cautious It worked for about a month. Even when it did work it was a hit or miss thing. I had to fool with it for a while. Maybe it was because I bought the cheapest one available. Maybe it was a knock-off, who knows? I have yet to try it on another computer to rule out it not being the cord. Fair warning.

Sony VMC-IL4615 1.5 Meter i.LINK 4-Pin to 6-Pin Digital Video Transfer Cable The cable works great. I have been uploading Digital8 video to my processor for editing projects with no problems. The cord could be a bit longer than its 1.5 meters but that's not a major concern. It was a bit pricey, but the steep markup on cords is pretty common across the board. All in all a good purchase.

Video cable This was the perfect cable to upload my videos from my Sony video camcorder to my PC. Easy to setup and works with the installed software. Operates faster than expected.

Upgrade computer If you have a new computer or maybe newer that 2003 this cable will work if you are working with one older than that like me it doesn't work. So now I have this wonderful cable and waiting to get an upgraded computer to match.

what a rip off, sony's using customers as cashcows, get the cable from apple instead for only $29! I spent a couple hours, trying to get transfer DV from my camcorder to my mac powerbook. After hours and hours I had to realize that the USB cable delivered with the sony camcorder was absolutely worthless. If you don't own a sony VAIO (which in my opinion just a overdesigned peace of fancy 007 gear with an i.Link connection, which no other PC/MAC has)your getting frustrated pretty quick. I would have given the cable a 5 star rating, but the way I had to get the cable, by having to buy it seperately, is a big rip off. However I found the exact same cable in an apple store called "Thin Fire Wire". The exact same cable (1.8 Meter 4 to 6 pin to be exact) for only $29 and it works just fine. So check out an apple store near you and save some money.Shame on you Sony.

It's a Firewire or iLink or whatever It's a cable, what ever they want to call it. It works like it's supposed to.

Quick send of the right parts Great part. came fast. Really, do I need 16 more words? What more would you need to know? The end.

Excellent approach Another one of those tools I sought out to help reduce the mess and clutter in my portable carry bag. This works for me, and works every time. I find that the included converter tips aren't of the variety I generally need, but that's a minor issue, as I have several other sets of converter tips that do the job.The price is right and the reduction of clutter along with the added versatility are excellent.

Neat gadget I'm a college student and have to travel between home, classes, my apt, my bf's apt, friends' places, etc. This thing is great to use for internet connections and networking. small, compact, and functional, it's perfect for any laptop user. Works well with my old PC laptop as well as my new iBook.

limited multi-function I bought this to replace the cheap one I have which comes with 8 different usb tips, 1 of which doesn't work. Instead of having the same variety of tips as mine, it come with 6, 4 of which are 2 telephone and 2 network jacks. The extension cord had too much thought put into it. Instead of the regular "zipit" type cord, this is bigger and has both ends of the cord coming out the same side and uses a button to retract the cord. Not a problem just doesn't work for me. The tips are well made and is of sturdy construction, I think the pouch is just stupid. Fortunately I can mix and match the two to cover all of my needs.

OK for several years...then it got hungry. Yes it does eat tapes. I have the camera and I have owned it for about 3 years. It did some fine work. I have no complaints except if you need a camera that will never eat tapes, be very wary.I posted my movies on a couple of websites. I make short movies. I used the Canon ZR40 and made movies with the Sonic Foundry Vegas 4 editing system. It made fine movies in the wmv or rm or mov for Quicktime web formats. My short films are at hollywoodscreams and myhollywoodstar and those are dot com, of course. They are family friendly.Recently I tried to rewind a tape. It got mangled. I figured it was just the tape. I tried a second tape and another. Each time I would record something OK but the tape would get jammed during rewind. On the movie Hollywood Screams I rewound each scene by hand. That is very hard to do. I had to use two toothpicks to hold the cassette lid open so I could pull the tape out and then wind the spool by hand. It was very time consuming.The video looks good and I never noticed noise. I am sure each brand of camcorder has some problem. Canon has a mechanism that mangles tapes in rewind after several years of use if my camcorder is typical.Tom Willett

Fine until it started eating tapes Like many of the other reviewers, my ZR40 is now giving me the infamous "Remove cassette" message and is mangling tapes. I have used it to record maybe 7 hours worth of video over the last two years. Search the web for "canon zr users group" and "eating tapes" to hear similar horror stories. Stay away from Canon camcorders.

Lights, lights, lights Video gets grainy indoor. Other than that, i think everything is fine for the price i paid. 8/

Neat package but very grainy indoor quality Things I like...- price- sizeThing I didn't like and made me return- performance under regular indoor house lighting very grainy and considerably worse than my 8mm analog. Doing further research it appears this is likely not unique to Canon but common to DV camcorders. I am going to stick with my 8mm for a couple of years until DV tech improves since much of my use is indoors filming kids, etc.

Neat package but very grainy indoor quality Things I like...- price- sizeThing I didn't like and made me return- performance under regular indoor house lighting very grainy and considerably worse than my 8mm analog. Doing further research it appears this is likely not unique to Canon but common to DV camcorders. I am going to stick with my 8mm for a couple of years until DV tech improves since much of my use is indoors filming kids, etc.

Good camera with easly fixable problems I have this camera and I noticed two things that were kind of annoying:When you play back what you have recorded you clearly hear the cameras motor in the background, so you should use an external microphone. Even [an inexpensive] one (like the one I use) has better sound quality than the cameras internal mic.Also, the manual is VERY vague on the cameras specs. I edit my video on a PC and there is a lot you need to know when uploading video via FireWire, like if the camera has a 4-pin or a 6-pin port, if it is NTSC or PAL, that sort of stuff that you MUST know in order to upload.Overall, this is a very good camera, just with some minor flaws.

OK entry level Camera I just purchased my ZR40 and I think it just barely gets by. The still photos are very grainy and in low light scenarios it does not perform well. The digital zoom is out standing, and it is very handy. I�ve only had it one week so I can�t say every much yet.

Very nifty, durable yet lightweight camera Up until tonight, the ZR-40 seemed average to me. It's pretty small, has high video quality etcetera, but doesn't have many effects or features. Tonight, however, our family puppy knocked it off of the TV (about 4 feet above the hardwood floor) and dragged it around after him by the power cord as he ran away panicking. After a thorough inspection and runthrough, I found NO damage to the camera, and only a slight bend in the TV interface plug where he'd ripped it sideways out of the camera. If you're not sure you can protect your camera from all harm, I'd suggest this camera - it takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'!

Very good camera, great quality I just bought this camera on 6/30/02. I love the size, it is in the midi-palm category, so it fits nice and snug in your hands. The 18x zoom is what grabbed my attention the most. I was in the market for a Sony camcorder, but decided on the Canon and glad I did.

My [Goodness]!!!! world.....do noti repeatdo not get this camcorderthere is nothing worse than thisi wasted [money]buying it from amazon.comi could have gotten the same thing [for less]including firewire, 4 dv's, and a carrying caseIt is honestly the worst, disgusting, and despicable electronic out thereif you get this you will have literallyliterally threw [your money]into the atlantic oceanDO NOT GET THIS EVEN IF SOMEONE PAYS FOR IT. RETURN IT. GET YOUR MONEY BACK!!!!!!!

Another great Canon I'm always been fond of the Canon line of consumer DV cams. They always have great optics, electronics, and durability. But what really sets them apart is thier menu systems! It's totally disgusting that on most any other brand, including ones as prestegious as Sony, that they lump all the menu options into a hoard of small, finger nail sized, buttons for most of thier consumer models. For Canon's you simply press the menu button then scoll and press a togele wheel. This way, once you get the hang of the wheel, you now understand how to use the whole menu system for any function. This is a great improvement over those that require the manual to find that "secret button combination". This is a consumer camera but I use it for many large applications. It has been sized down from it's Optura and Ultura ancestors but pretty well all the functionality and then some. It has other sister cams such as the ZR45MC and ZR50MC. These pack the all-in-one memory card digital camera and mini Dv. I have friends who love these models dearly. Personally I go for a seperate camera with larger resolution. Whatever your needs are ...I've noticed a large number of reviews that say something to the affect of "I pulled it out of the box, plugged it up, and the image was grainy" or "I turned on steady shot and nothing happend".This might be old news for most but to explain for those of you that might be concerned by this ...Video cameras these days still thrive on ample lighting! This and other cameras have a sort of slow motion low light mode (accessible from the menu) that works by slowing down the frame rate and sucking every bit of image data off the CCD. THis is ok for an emergancey but if you want good image, turn on an extra light or two. Human eyes are so adaptable that you might not even notice if the lighting is more subdued than usal but it will make a mile of diffence for the camera. Secondly, get to know the manual menu and exposure system. The auto functions can't always guess what your trying to do.About steady shot... this only takes of the headache inducing shock that occurs when you jar the camera. It's extremely useful in it's own right but it won't keep you from waving the camera around.This is a great cam that I fully recommend. THere is one issue that doesn't dampen my five star rating but is noteworthy. To size this camera down to an even more portable size, the engineers made it with the DV cassette loading from the bottom instead of the top. THis is fine except that if you are a true believer in tripods, as I am, then you have to take the camera off the tipod or tripod plate every time you need to swap tapes. Just a minor concern...

Great with a couple of minor complaints Expecting a baby, I did research for about three weeks before I ended up with this Canon ZR40. Couple of features that I wanted to have were external mic input, analog input, no still images since I already own a nice digital camera, and most of all, affordable price tag. Amazingly, ZR40 had this all! 18x zoom is nice and its compact size is pretty neat. Still, I have minor complaints after extensive tests.1. As pointed out by many people previously, the picture is somewhat grainy specially indoors. Because this is my first digital camcorder, I don't know if this happens for other high-end models, but I suspect it may stand out somewhat more for ZR40 with only 480K CCD pixels.2. What has also been noted was the motor noise, which is my primary concern for now. Maybe, I would not been able to tell if I had not read those reviews, but I could certainly hear the noise when recorded in a quiet environment. I tried to use an external microphone to remove the noise, in which case the noise is gone, but the external microphone does not match the internal microphone in sensitivity. (I used a low-end microphone for the test with the sensitivity of -75 dBm, though.)3. This is a really minor point, but the camcorder automatically shuts down if I don't start recording within 5 minutes.Overall, I think ZR40 has great features at such a price and is certainly worth owning if you are looking for one in the price range.

Excellent Camcorder Pros:1) 18x Optical zoom. I can clearly see the faces of people sitting across an indoor stadium. Don't settle with 10x on many similar models!2) Size. Very comfortable and easy to hold for an hour, but heavy enough to prevent 'shaky hand', and not too small for big hand.3) Image stablization. It actually works, especially if the objects don't move a lot. Very important if you go near full optical zoom.4) Shooting modes. I tested both low light and spot light modes in a very low light indoor stadium. Spot light works like a charm, if you don't want to see the audience at all. Low light let you record everything, and the video is grainy yet acceptable. Overall, shooting modes work as advertised.Cons:1) Motor noise. The microphone picks up a LOT of motor noise, and this can become VERY annoying if you are recording in a quiet environment without a lot of background noise. Taping a sleeping baby in a quiet bedroom? forget about it.2) Color. The color often looks 'untrue', especially outdoor under stronger sunlight. On the video, trees and grass often are not nearly as green as they actually are.3) Battery life. The battery only last 50 min with LCD on half of the time. Replacement battery cost quite a bit.

lots of great features in a tiny, inexpensive package I have had my ZR40 for a week now, and it has exceeded my high expectations.The 18x optical zoom is phenominal. I can read the headlines on a newspaper two blocks away, or a number in a phone book 20 feet away.I was impressed by the camera's ability to perform in low light conditions. In my poorly-lit living room, I exerienced no graininess or loss of quality.I took the camera outside 30 minutes after sunset and was still able to record satisfactory video.Hooking the camera up to my TV for playback was very simple. Recording off my VCR was also very straight forward.The remote control (which wasn't mentioned in Amazon.com's review, BTW) is handy for recording our nephew who gets shy when he knows he's being filmed.I recorded in some quiet settings, but was not able to hear the electric motor turning the tape or adjusting the lense when zooming. If that's a problem, it's easy enough to hook up an external microphone to the ZR40.If you get this camcorder, don't forget to claim Canon's free ShowBiz video editing software (see their web site) with proof of purchase. (I haven't gotten it yet, so I can't rate it now.)

A great cheap DV camcorder, except for the audio This is really the ideal entry-level camcorder for someone just getting into digital video editing. The optical image stabilization is far better than the electronic kind, and the picture quality is pretty good. It has a tendency to overexpose in bright sunlight, but you can easily adjust the exposure down half an f-stop. It's small and light, the viewfinder and flip-out screen are both color, battery life is pretty good with an add-on high capacity battery. Best of all, you can connect your old analog camcorder to it and import all your old videos to DV! Works great with Apple iMovie.The one downside to this camcorder is the audio. It's a problem with most tiny cameras, and this is no exception: motor whine. DV requires a high speed rotating head, which means fast motors--and because of the small body, they're too close to the built-in microphones.My solution was to spend an extra $99 on a Sony WCS-999 Wireless Microphone kit. It's a clip-on belt pack with a "tie clip" style mic, operating via 900MHz wireless. Just like professional TV presenters use, but at a fraction of the price. After that investment, I got great sound.

Horrible motor noise Unfortunately I had a very bad consumer experience buying this camera. I had borrowed a ZR20 from a friend the year before and liked it, so when the ZR40 came out I wanted to buy it. I read online that some people were complaining about motor noise with this camera, but I figured I try it anyways. I bought it at Best Buy (should be called Worst Buy), and when trying it out found that it does have super bad motor noise. You can't hear it while recording - it's when you are watching a tape you recorded playback on your TV etc that you hear it. The motor noise is recorded in with your audio, so you hear a loud hummmm in the background. It was too loud for me to live with. If I was recording something with no background noise (like my baby playing), then it was as loud as his voice! ... I have now ordered the Panasonic PVDC152 which is supposed to have good sound. We'll see...

sound issues We have had the camera a week and did some taping indoors in a quiet room. When we did the playback through our television the sound was awful. The noise of the motor on the tape is very loud and distracting. We have heard better sound on older VHS camcorders. Is it because the camera is so small? Is there a fix for it? This has yet to be determined as we plan on calling Canon about it. We have read other reviews of other Canon models and also similar Sony camcorders with the same complaint. Sorry, but for this much money the sound is totally unacceptable. If you buy it we recommend taping a short bit and hooking up to your TV to see how it sounds before it is too late to return.

great price. but low resolution video... I did extensive research on this model (the whole ZR series) and I must say, a lot of things are positive for this little camera.* light weight, * small, * bright outdoor pictures, * PRICE.And some negative points raised by many so far, which of course I have not been able to test as I have not bought this item, is the motor noise being recorded and the night shots being grainy.I will not discuss anything about it as they have been beaten to death by now.What I want to talk about is the smaller CCD resolution on the ZR series camcorders.As we know, the US spec ZR series have the 460K pixels, out of which only 290K pixels are used for video (effective pixels). We need about 420K effective pixels to get a 500 line video resolution on the TV. Most of us know that, the VHS format (video tapes) allow upto 240lines of horizontal resolution. The S-VHS tapes allow upto 400 lines and the Digital Video format goes to 525 lines (really crisp and sharp pictures) on the TV/visual media.So now, with mere 290K effective pixels of video resolution being recorded on the ZR40/45/50, the best lines of resolution would be around 300. Now, not everything is bad. If you intend to transfer your videos into VHS tapes for storage and future viewing, you will not have any complaints as VHS tapes store at 240 lines of resolution. But someone like me, who wants to store the video digitally, by burning them into DVDs or storing them in DV tapes, I would like to get the best resolution that I can, right?In simple words, I want 500 lines of resolution for my video, full stop! Even though ZR40 is a DV camera, its resolution is very poor for real digital quality video.By the way, the resolution has got everything to do with what we call SHARP, crisp and colorful pictures. It is the same difference you see between the movies played from the VHS tape and movies played from the DVD.Oh by the way, if your TV doesn't have a 500 line horizontal resolution capability, you are not getting the money's worth by renting DVDs. The TV I bought about 4 yrs ago, a proscan 32 inch, has 700 lines of horizontal resolution. So I can assume most TVs in our houses have capable enough TVs. Going slightly off topic, do you know why the picture quality of HDTVs are so sharp? Bcoz their resolutions are almost double than the 500 lines I am talking about.

All you need... This is an excellent camera, and if you're going to be using this camera with a computer for edited purposes, you don't need the still shot feature that the more expensive cameras have, because you can just pull any still shot you want out of the footage once you have it uploaded. The picture quality is great, it's lightweight, and I was very pleasantly surprised by the audio quality, even out of the built-in microphone. It's one of the best deals in video cameras I think. I would recommend a spare rechargable battery though. It doesn't last very long.

Best for the price I almost passed this by, because of the motor noise many people mention. But the price is unbeatable - do a good internet search and see for yourself. You do not pay for useless features, like magapixel stills - who needs 1MPix digital stills anyway - any digicam is at least 2 MPix? There is some noise; however I compared it with a friends Digital8 camera, and it also had some noise, although Canon's is more high pitched (but not noticeably louder). It might be that the noise is amplified during playback on the camcoder - I only import digital video on my computer for editing and I really have to look for noise in order to notice it.I am totally happy with the camcoder.

always "remove the tape" message I bought this model 18 months ago. Now it has big problem. I can't rewind the tape well. "remove the tape" mesasge always pop up. I sent it back to Canon for repair. They asked me $169 for repair. What can I say now? Too bad camcorder.

Well worth the money... I've had this camcorder for almost half a year now, and I have no major complaints whatsoever.After doing research for Sony, Canon, JVC, and Panasonic, I finally settled on this one and have not been disappointed.The camcorder itself is easy to use. It took only a quick glance through the manual and I was well on my way to videoland.The minidv tapes are pricey and this records in SP (60 min for regular tapes) and LP (90 min), so you'll want to check those out before buying.Hooking up to TV requried several tries the first time for some reason, but now I have no problem.No software comes in this package, but I tested this with several, including Windows Movie Maker, Ulead VideoStudio, MGI VideoWave, and the $...rebate software ArcSoft Showbiz. Depending on the program, the video takes up different amounts of space on your hard drive, but just for the record, using MGI VideoWave, a 4 min clip took up 875 MB (yes, that's right.) However, Windows Movie Maker take up only a fraction of that. I haven't explored making VCDs due to the limited memory on my computer (Win ME) but it should go smoothly.You'll find that the zoom allows you to read the text on a newspaper up to about 30 feet away clearly, and that this product is sturdy, reliable, and has excellent value.I think the new line of Canon camcorders has come out already, and if you are thinking about buying one, don't hestitate: it's the best deal out there!

This Little Camcorder Rocks This is a great first digital camcorder. I bought it to upgrade from a Hi8 camcorder, and to use it to convert my Hi8 film to digital. I have had no problems using this camcorder to convert my Hi8 film to digital, and burning it onto DVDs. Send in for the Showbiz software for exceptionally easy movie making.Con: The motor noise is there, but is easily overcome with a camcorder microphone. There are many inexpensive microphones out there to choose from.

Awful Company. Awful Product. Run! Run! Run! Well where do I begin? After a month of use, the battery stopped working. Contacted Canon via email. They replied battery is not under warranty. Would you like to buy another one? Please.6 months later. I started transferring video to my computer only to find out this stupid camera eats tapes. I have lost two tapes so far. One of them was my son's birth!!!!The eating tapes issue is a major problem with this unit. They have known about it and continue to ignore it. Do a search on "zr40 tape problems" to see what I am talking about. There are even more results on sister product, zr10. I will never buy a product from Canon again. They are idiots for doing this to their customers.

Great Camcorder Excellent camcorder, does very well in all kinds of light. I have had no trouble with it indoors, and I find that it performs very well in low light. Flawlessly performs with Windows Movie Maker 2 through firewire. The sound is outstanding, considering the picture is it's strong point. I did not need the digital camera built in as I already have one. Effects are fun to play around with, especially with the handy scroll button. I have not heard the motor noise at all, so I can't see where that is coming from. My only complaint is that it shuts off too quickly if inactive, but it's really not that much of a problem. Image stablizer works really well, as I often have an unsteady hand but it is hardly noticeable with this camcorder. I just wish they made a VCR that could record the footage as well as it was taped!

Works great! I bought this camera after reading many reviews talking down the microphone and the battery life. I have not noticed a problem with either, yet. I am primarily using the camera to record middle school music performances with a tripod and AC adapter. It worked just fine to get the music, although I had a harder time hearing the adjudicator's comments at the solo & ensemble festival. I may invest in an external microphone, but for now I'm happy with the results.

Lots of effects, lightweight & easy to use. Awesome Camcorder & Camera functions in this lightweight, easy to use camcorder make it a breeze to shoot great memories for a novice like me, right out of the box. This camcorder also has a huge selection of special effects, and options to make really interesting video effects. I love this camcorder!

Zr40 Cannon The camcorder was little dirty, and had a missing lens cover...Joanne did not have the missing cover and did not know why it was dirty...The power cord was defective...ordered a new one...Looked like it was chewed into...The case (cassette) compartment was slightly bent and unable to open at first...made some adjustments to it...Fred

Worst Product I have Owned As many others have reported, this Zr40 began eating tapes with only a few hours of use on it. I have lost many precious moments recorded on tape because of the tape loading problem.The only good thing I can say about this camera is the bag was large enough to hold my Nikon P100. The Canon is going in the trash.

Piece of junk I own one of these cameras and it has very low hours on it. The transport mechanism has failed and will not properly load and play tapes. Not only that, the tapes now appear to be damaged for playback on another machine. I have owned many Canon products and have been satisfied with them, but this unit at $600 should be avoided.

Neat package but very grainy indoor quality Things I like...- price- sizeThing I didn't like and made me return- performance under regular indoor house lighting very grainy and considerably worse than my 8mm analog. Doing further research it appears this is likely not unique to Canon but common to DV camcorders. I am going to stick with my 8mm for a couple of years until DV tech improves since much of my use is indoors filming kids, etc.

Eats tapes After about a year of use, ZR 40 started eating tapes. Do a google search on the topic, there are hundreds of people with the same problem. 'Remove Cassette' and 'Eject' (use those as keywords combined with 'Canon ZR' to view message boards postings) will appear on the screen, and that's the end of the toy.

Sent mine back the next day I just received my ZR 40 and really liked its size and low weight. But once I tried it, the fun was quickly over. Low light recording (in my apartment with lights on) was horrible and even with low-light mode selected, it was unacceptable. And in night mode, everything moves in slow motion. Overall, the quality was not that great, even in day-time shooting.I have a regular Sony Hi8 cam, and its low light and night capabilities are 100 times better. I would seriously hold out for a better camera, even if it costs a bit more.The image stabilization also makes the picture look strangely un-lifelike.

Great little digital camcorder! I bought this camcorder to replace an aging 8mm GE unit that I've had since '96. I can't believe how far technologies come in such a short time. The video is amazingly clear with the optical zoom (although it does get grainy when the digital zoom kicks in) and quality is good in many lighting conditions. I just got a firewire interface and even though I'm only using the two "(inexpensive) and free" software packages (the firewire card came with ULead Video Studio and the Canon comes with ArcSoft Showbiz), I'm having a blast editing video with my computer (in near realtime). Quite a difference than just 4 years ago when I was using a Truevision Bravado card and my 8mm (Quality was never that good and it took FOREVER to preview/compile video).

very, very solid!!! I've had this camera for almost a year now. I'd say that all of the features that I would expect from a digital camcorder meet and exceed my expectations.Things that I like the most:1. Perfect companion for my iMac.2. Great quality analog-to-digital conversion. A must if you want to play with analog videos in digital world.3. Solid Canon design, made in Japan if anyone cares.4. Price.5. No useless features like in more popular brand.Things I don't like as much:1. I think indoors quality is reasonable but it's average with low light. I don't really know if any cameras in that price range do well in low light.2. Some people complained about motor noise? It's possible, I haven't tried to make any silent movies yet. I add music to all my movies that don't already have some sound.3. Battery life is short but recharges quickly.4. Shuts off quickly if idle.5. You probably wouldn't want to use low-resolution Photo feature espesially if you have a good digital camera but this is probably the only "useless feature".If you are like me and just like to point/shoot/watch on tv/edit on your computer - it's great.

Excellent quality Love this little camera. Video taken outside is outstanding, inside can be a little fuzzy without bright lighting. Zoom is fabulous. The only thing I don't like is the fact that you can only charge the battery while it is mounted to the camera, which defeats the purpose of having multiple batteries if your wanting to have one battery charging while still using the camera with another battery.

Great camera for the money I have used the camera for a month and am impressed by its features and picture quality. I agree with the other reviewers that indoor shoots require good lighting. I bought a video light and it helped a lot. Outdoor footage with sunshine is superb! If you are new to the video world (like I am) this camera is all you need to get started.

Love it. I can't complain--I absolutely don't need still capabilities as I already have a much better compact digital camera than any camcorder offering. Being able to plug-and-play with iMovie on my iMac simply is amazing.

WOW!!!!!! Well, I recently purchased a Canon ZR40 at J&R, not amazon, too expensive. Anyway, this is a great camcorder. It does everything possible for the price. The digtal effects are great and the playback is great, too. The only very minor problem is that it has a short battery life. You have to recharge it a lot, but it's really fast to recharge. GREAT CAMCORDER!!!!!!J&R, thanks.

Worked Great - eats tapes after some use Like many who have found this camcorder, I liked the canon name and bought based on Canon and value. It was a mistake because I don't feel I should have already used up the life of this camera yet. If you go to several discussion groups you will see it has several issues with the deck, i.e. "transport". Just google zr20/40 etc. and "eat tapes". Suggest you try Sony or Panasonic.

IT IS DESEPTIVE , IT IS NOT WHAT I THOUGHT IT WASIT DOSE FIT THE CAMRA BUT I THOUGHT THAT IT HAD A USB END ALSO , SO THAT I COULD HOOK TO MY COMPUTER

fabulous! needed to connect a sony cam to my computer by firewire - this was just what I needed. It works and has delivered as expected.

Great cable I was able to plug this cable into my video camera and download my videos in HD. This allowed me to see my videos in true HD and not just SD.

excellent product-VMCIL4415 can't go wrong with Sony. Great speed and visual. Don't think twice about buying it.

not a review: A QUESTION Can you tell me if this firewire/i.LINK cable will connect properly to a digital8 camera, from Sony? I have heard that with a firewire you can connect a digital8 camera with no problem and it will upload automatically, with no software. Since I am seriously considering purchasing a DCR-TRV280 Digital8 Handycam I need to know what I have to get for the best ease of use.This was confusing though because the wire is not included in the purchased material, and it does not indicate which wire should be used although it does say it can be. I hope someone help tell me what's going on because I don't have very much experience in dealing with anything but USB cables.

HD3 to S400 iLink TV Works Perfect Bought it to connect my new Sony HD3 HDV Camcorder to my Sony KDF60XBR950.Works perfect.

match with HDV signal transfer I found SONY i-link most suitable for SONY HDV camcorder. I use FX1 with 1080i recorded signals, others could not match with SONY high data transfer rate.

Cable is a cable is a cable Buying a Sony cable wasn't worth it. I could have spent less buying any 4pin to 4pin 1394 firewire cable. Search around. Buying name brand may not be worth it.

Great Great product The product arrived ontime and it was what I was looking for

Not HAPPY I purchased this for my sony camcorder. I have windows XP on my laptop and this cable does not work. My laptop does not even detect my camcorder when attached.............Its a waste according to me

Sony I. Link 4Pin Digital Video Cable I ordered the Sony 4Pin to 4Pin Digital Video cable for my Sony digital camcorder and it came with a bent pin in one of the connectors. I specifically ordered the Sony rather than a generic one because I thought it would be more likely to be of higher quality. It was advertised as new. When I plugged it into my camcorder it did not work. On examining it I found that it had a bent pin. When I looked at the camcorder connection I found that the bent pen had ruined the connection in the camcorder. What a bummer. I contacted the seller and they were willing to send me a replacement for the cable but took no responsibility for the defective one ruining the camcorder connection. I did not bother to get another one for obvious reasons.

Finally found the right cable for connecting my videocamera with the DVD recorder This item was just what I needed to be able to use my older Sony digital DV-8 videocamera (which uses mini-tapes) with my newer Sony multi-function DVD recorder. It took me awhile to figure out that this was the cable I needed to make it work, and the people at Best Buy weren't any help, so I ended up buying an S-video cable they recommended that didn't complete the connection before I found this correct one I needed buried in the literature. They did not carry this product at the time.It's nice how well things work when you have the right equipment!