Does anyone here have a Canon ZR900, ZR930 or ZR950? Have you had problems with it and your PC?

Question

I'm looking to buy a mini-DV camcorder...preferably Canon. These models are in my price range (of course, the cheaper the better) but I've read some reviews saying that they don't work well with Windows...the editing software I use is Pinnacle Studio 8 by the way...on a Windows XP...have you all had any problems with these cameras, or any suggestions for other cameras?

Answer 1

As miniDV tape camcorders, they transfer video using the camcorder's DV port (not USB) connected to the computer's Firewire400 port (not USB) using a firewire cable. Firewire, i.Link, and IEEE1394a are all the same thing.

Mostly, the folks who have trouble transferring are trying to use USB because that is the cable that came in the box. USB is for video streaming and transferring stills off a memory card. Firewire cables are cheap. Firewire ports can be cheap if your computer has an available PCI slot (desktop) or PCMCIA slot (laptop. If you need to get an Express card for Firewire, they can get a bit expensive.

Of the three camcorders you list, I like the ZR900 and 930. They have a mic-in jack to connect an external mic (though they do not have manual audio control).