got there to find pretty stuttery qtime.

test looks pretty average, very flat lighting - don't know the camera so can't tell if it's as good as it gets or not. sorry

I got a similar problem to Grazie, video flipped out IE8 or maybe it was QT. I did hear some very uninspiring audio though, for a few seconds.

Bob.

When playing your clip in IE8/Quicktime, I did not see graininess, however I got lots of stuttering on my old/slow laptop. I'm pretty sure the problem likes in the Quicktime player.

So, I downloaded the file & played it in VLC and everything looked fine. Local play still stuttered in Quicktime.

btw, if this was a test, the lighting was pretty flat.

...Jerry

" I don't know if it's my camera, Canon ZR-85 mini DV, or something else. IT just seems blurred and grainy."

Finally got to see the video. Sorry but yes, the camera is probably not helping at all. That was a very cheap consummer camera that didn't get good reviews when it came out nearly 6 years ago. Low light is the nemesis of cheap cameras.
You also need a good tripod. Shaky video and low bitrate encoding is not a good mixture.
If you're stuck with that camera then avoid using tungsten / halogen lights. Those cheap cameras work better under daylight light sources. All cameras do in fact but the difference is more noticable with the cheaper ones.
You also need a camera with some way to get external audio into it. On camera mics are bad and the ones on cheap consummer cameras are tragic.
Again if you're stuck with the camera because of finances try to light flat, throw more light into the background. It's not a good way to light, it's boring however if you want to encode for streaming content and you only have that camera then avoid shadows and darkness in the frame.
I hate to scare you more but I have a very similar model Canon camera here that belongs to a client. It's the only way I can play her tapes. Canon cameras of that vintage have a bad reputation for the guides going out of alignment and that can mean only that camera or very expensive VCRs can play the tapes recorded in it. Soooo..when you do buy a new camera make certain your old tapes will play OK in the new camera before throwing the old one away.

Bob.

I don't know if it's my camera, Canon ZR-85 mini DV, or something else.

Hehe, I bought a ZR-80, and since testing it, I have never used it to shoot video. It sits hooked up to my computer by firewire, waiting to transfer mini-DV tapes and pass through analog video. I wipe the dust off every year or so . . .

Thanks for the replies everyone! It sounds like the number one problem is the camera. I'll post another clip today from the same test session where I used 5000K fluorescent along with my halogen work light (with diffuser)....just to be certain.

But if it is the camera...is it low-bit-rate recording that is the main problem? OR just a combination of things (the way it handles light, etc.).

Thanks again!

Ken

DV is the same bitrate no matter what camera it comes from -- 25Mbs. In fact the correct reference is DV25.

The ZR series had fairly decent glass, but a really cheap Chinese CCD. In fact, Canon has replaced thousands of them for free when they failed. The replacements aren't any better quality, they just don't fail as often.