Canon is finally entering the vlogging camera arena, and it’s doing so with a quirky new point-and-shoot aimed at a mindless “set-and-forget-it” crowd that I’m not sure even exists. The $429.99 Canon PowerShot V10 is a cute little camera the size of an extra thick deck of cards that packs a fixed 19mm-equivalent f/2.8 lens and pairs it with a 20.9-megapixel one-inch sensor.
It shoots 4K at up to 30fps and is geared towards filming yourself with a hinged screen, front and rear record buttons, stereo microphones with a 3.5mm mic jack, a Micro HDMI port, digital image stabilization and a stand to hold it on. to make . It is expected to launch in June.
What makes the V10 interesting is its throwback design, which kind of reminds me of those old Flip Video cameras. And like those long-dead cameras, when held upright it films horizontally, making it seem more suited to creating YouTube content than TikTok or Instagram Reels. You can, of course, flip it sideways for vertical shots, but the built-in kickstand isn’t really designed to hold it up like that.
The PowerShot V10 doesn’t have many buttons, relying in part on touch controls using the stamp of a 2-inch 3:2 LCD. The simplistic array of controls reflects the V10’s approach to entry-level content creation. It’s not a camera designed to offer control over every little setting, which is a shame as that could be useful for beginners to grow and learn with.
For example, the ISO range of 125 to 12,800 in photo mode can’t even be selected manually, and the camera doesn’t support manual focus of any kind. Maybe those are fine if one is just shooting videos on the go, but the V10’s limitations remind me of the bad old days of point-and-shoot digital cameras – where settings are limited because you can’t be trusted or respected enough to use them correctly. By the way, that ISO range is reduced to a maximum of 3200 for 4K movies and 6400 in 1080p. Also, the 20.9 megapixel sensor uses only an effective 13.1 megapixels for video and 15.2 megapixels for stills. Oh, but don’t worry, it has five levels of software skin smoothing.
Being video-focused, the V10 has some useful features, such as a built-in neutral density filter, and its contrast-based autofocus supports face detection which can detect when you hold up a product to focus on it. But there’s no eye detection to speak of, and no log recording or raw recording for stills either. You are limited to Rec.709 color 8-bit recording with MP4 files. And the V10’s diminutive stature (weighing just 211g) means it only supports microSD cards, with a built-in 1250mAh battery that charges via USB-C and is good for an estimated 55 minutes of 4K video recording .
The V10’s limitations and omissions might not be deal-breakers if you’re using the camera for portable vlogging and basic live streaming and don’t care much about fine-tuned controls. But content creators, even beginners, are not stupid. Many of these creators are already filming on their very capable phones, which offers some room to grow if you opt for third-party accessories like a gimbal or apps like Halide, and the move to a dedicated camera should respect their capabilities and take more advantage show than just a larger sensor to record on.
But as this is the start of a new line for Canon, this might just be a first look at what’s to come. When I asked Canon if we can expect more vlogging cameras to come, Drew MacCallum, senior manager of camera product planning for Canon USA, said “absolutely”. With this new line, Canon seems to be aware that vlogging is one of the last remnants of dedicated point-and-shoot cameras, so we hope future models don’t revert endlessly to the same PowerShot trappings of yesteryear. There’s a reason why most of those point-and-shoots are extinct.