13 Apr Canon G7X Mark II – The Best Vlogging Camera?
Right before I left for the Tour de Forty, I accidentally dropped my vlogging camera and had to buy another one for the trip. I settled on the Canon G7X Mark II.
This camera never left my side for the 3 months I was traveling across the Southern Tier. All the video blogs you’ve previously enjoyed during that time was shot on this camera.
The Features
The Canon G7X Mark II is an amazing camera which features a very useful flip screen to help frame your shots. The video quality is superb with high-definition quality at 1080P at 60 frames per second.
Pictures are at 20.1 megapixels and can easily be accessed with your mobile phone and shared straight to your social media account instantaneously.
The multiple camera settings are modeled after larger and more expensive DSLR which gives you the flexibility to stretch your creative side by allowing you to adjust your aperture, ISO, shutter speed, exposure, etc.
It weighs in at 11.4 ounces so under a pound with 4.2x Optical Zoom. The facial recognition feature is very useful especially when you’re trying to stay in focus while vlogging. It can be annoying when the camera decides to focus on other things.
The 3” LCD display is clean and crisp and the feature menus were not complicated to learn.
I thoroughly enjoyed using this camera but with the exception of some really big setbacks.
The Issues
After about 7 months of usage, the camera lens started to act up. Apparently the dust and sand from being outdoors and in my handlebar bag had gotten into the lens itself so that it was struggling to retract when you power it off.
Dust started to leak into the lens causing mysterious dots on my shots. This was unacceptable so I had to send it to Canon for repairs. Instead, they just replaced my camera. I bought an ND filter cover for my lens to prevent something like this from happening to my second camera.
The video record button is placed in a very awkward location for when you are using it to video blog. It’s a tiny little button that is hard to find when you operate the camera in selfie mode. I typically would have a few seconds of recording running before I start talking. It just means I need to cut out the first few seconds of every clip.
The battery and SD card door is blocked if you are ever using a tripod. I’m not sure why they can’t move the tripod hole a few millimeters over. This is super annoying when you are trying to change out a battery or memory card on the go.
A common complaint from other Canon G7X reviews and from me is the lack of an external microphone. The built-in microphone is okay once you add the fuzzy wind protecting stickers on but it would nice to have the option to attach an external microphone.
Having clear sound and audio is crucial to any video piece I put out there.
The Review
- Vision 5 / 5 – The camera is perfect for those who are looking to do more video blogging. Canon did a great job in creating something that is targeted towards budding YouTube influencers and gave them a plethora of features to work with.
- Innovation 4 / 5 – The features of the Canon G7X Mark II are very similar to its competitor, the Sony RX100 Mark V. The main exception between the two cameras is that the Sony can shoot in 4K and performs better in low light but does not have facial recognition and costs about $200 more than the Canon.
- Ergonomic 3 / 5 – With the issues I’ve listed above, it is hard to say that this camera really works with my bike touring setup. I’m constantly worried about the dust so hopefully, the filter lens can prolong the damage from happening. I’m hoping the next iteration will address most of these issues.
What Do You Use?
Video blogging is a great way to bring your audience into your life on the road or at home. In all honesty, you really don’t need to buy a Canon G7X Mark II for your first bike tour.
Use what you have to document your trip. I’ve seen epic videos from people who would just shoot straight from their mobile phone or GoPros. I believe it’s not about your equipment but rather the story you are trying to deliver to your viewers.
Unfortunately, my iPhone is pretty old and I am running out of space for video files so this was my preference to have a dedicated camera for my trips.
At the price tag of about $700, it is a costly investment to get a dedicated video blogging camera like the Canon G7X Mark II. But if you’re ready to step up your vlogging game and shoot really great content, I would still recommend picking up this camera despite the few issues above.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.