I hope you guys are ready for another travel video gear review- because I’ve got everybody’s
top choice for best vlogging camera- the Canon G7X
Hey there! Alicia here, creator of AMaeTV featuring both travel videos and the tools
we use to create them.
I’m here in sunny San Diego and today I’m going to review the Canon G7X to share my
thoughts on it as a vlogging camera, and also as an alternative to shooting with a DSLR.
Some might see this camera as a super step up for a point and shoot- and it definitely
is. I, however have always shot on SLR cameras, even before there was a D, so yeah, film SLR cameras.
And having never used one of these professionally I was really curious to see how good it can be.
I have often envied the small compact portability of camera such as the G7X, but I never actually
had a need to buy one. Until this year’s festival season came upon us. And since so
many great bands are playing at festivals around the US I thought I would go to some
of them and film some of the action.
The thing is, most music festivals have funny rules such as ‘no professional cameras’
as if that actually means anything. Or sometimes it just says ‘no detachable lenses’. I’m
headed to Bonnaroo next month and I was pondering one rule they had which said you can have
a detachable lense, as long it’s not longer than 2 inches. So I guess I’ll bring my
DSLR with my fixed 50 1.8 aperture lens. Nothing professional going on here guys!
Anyway, I’ve always been a Canon girl regardless, and with my attempt at going to Coachella
a few weeks ago, I just decided to go ahead and get the Canon G7X.
So let’s review.
This camera is definitely as Gucci as it gets for a point and shoot, it has a solid metal body.
It has a 20 Megapixel 1” sensor which is fairly large for the size of the camera
It has a 24-100mm lens which is fairly long and beats the Sony RX-100 which only goes
to 70mm
The Sony RX-100 is like, its main competitor.
The 24mm is the perfect amount of wide without much facial distortion, and the 100 is a great
zoom or perfect for shooting pretty little macro things
It’s also quite FAST which means that is has a WIDE 1.8 aperture lens that lets in
tons of light. It’s not only better in low light situations, but will allow you to narrow
your depth of field and create that lovely blurry background or bokeh effect that we
all love.
It also has killer built in image stabilization to reduce that camera shake effect that we
all hate.
Even though I’m walking fairly fast here it’s still pretty smooth.
And of course, most importantly, it has this convenient flip up screen.
Now, while vlogging, it’s best to use the flip up screen just as a way to set up the
shot, you can take a quick spin and determine what kind of lighting is best, but while you
are speaking to your audience you want to be looking at the lens, not up here because
your eye contact will be slightly off. I don’t know, can you tell the difference? I’m up
there, now I’m down here.
Focus is always a big issue while vlogging. I know I personally tend to side frame my
face to show off the place I’m talking about. So the focus might not necessarily know where
to go. Fortunately with the touch screen you can touch the focal point quite easily to
adjust it.
Now give me a thumbs if as a filmmaker you wish you just had laser light beams coming
from your eyes to do all that.
As far as audio it claims to have a built in wind filter- I’m not exactly sure how
that works, if there’s on of those fuzzy dead kitten mic covers inside, or what?
But it seems to do well.
Now, one major audio concern that actually Casey Neistat pointed out in a video about
the Canon S120- is the fact that the mic is right on the top of the camera. So if you’re
vlogging and you’re holding it like this your natural tendency is to cover it up. I
didn’t even think about that video and then of course I went and did it at Coachella.
So he created a hack in his video to glue some wood around it, but as a lady I don’t
even own a wood saw so I figured I would just carry it at all times on this thing which
I use to carry my GoPro because I’m not accustomed to holding a point and shoot camera
anyway. This probably isn’t the right Gorillapod it’s a little bit, uh it’s for my GoPro
so this camera’s a little bit heavy for it, but I will have to get one that’s a
little bit sturdier but still pretty small.
There are also benefits of using something like this for even better image stabilization.
You won’t have any problem with covering the audio because you won’t actually be
holding the camera at ay time. It also leaves plenty of room for the flip up screen so you’re
not trying to like, handle this thing. And of course it also doubles as a tripod if you
need it too. These things are brilliant.
I’ve also always enjoyed being able to just reach into my purse and you feel this whole
thing and you can grab it. And you’re good to go.
It also seems there are a lot of possibilities for customization on this camera, and it does
feature this excellent dial ring in the front, which can be set to adjust basically anything
from aperture to ISO to focal length. So yeah, you can actually zoom with this.
Of course as an SLR lover I love this because it’s a tactical way to change things and
I just like that.
You can also adjust the exposure in general using this fun little dial here.
Another great option the G7X offers is the ability to turn it into a wifi hotspot so
you can transfer your images and videos immediately over to your phone. Of course this is great
for Instagram and for editing videos on your phone, if you’re into that kind of thing.
There is no external mic input on this camera, but for me that’s what this camera’s all
about. It’s for those times you’re just grabbing it and you don’t have time to think
about an external mic anyway. It’s gonna capture pretty good audio internally, for
once. If you’ve been following my DJI OSMO story then you probably know what I’m talking
about.
And as promised here is a direct comparison between the Canon G7X and my Canon Rebel T6s
which is not the full frame DSLR, but it’s still much better.
But like I said, it’s much bigger too, my arm already hurts. And I’m definitely not
throwing this thing into my purse.
Which brings me to my next point, which isn’t so much about why the Canon G7X as the best
point and shoot camera for travel videos and vlogging, but why you should have a point
and shoot camera in addition to a DSLR, if that’s your thing. It’s my thing. In addition
to my GoPro and my OSMO. And my phone.
You see, when you’re making travel videos, just being able to grab a camera and quickly
start rolling is super important- because you never know what you’re going to see.
And it’s not really smart to walk around with a huge DSLR on your neck all the time.
There are definitely situations when you’re traveling where you don’t want to be flashy
about the fact that you have an expensive camera, and something like this is as small
and indiscreet and inexpensive looking as some $100 camera you can get from Wal Mart.
At least to an untrained eye.
So that brings us to price! This used to be about $700- it has now dropped below $600,
because there’s a newer version coming out. So that makes it a great time to buy this
one, or to check out the newer one.
I will link to these cameras and everything we’ve talked about here today in the description
below. If you do buy this camera or any other gear make sure you use my links because then
Amazon will give me a few dollars to go out and buy more gear that I can tell you all about.
Thanks for watching guys, leave me a comment below if you have the Canon G7X and let everyone
know what you think of it. Make sure you subscribe to this channel, I’ve got new travel video
delights each Friday night and sometimes we’re talking about the tools we use to make the
travel videos.
Let me know what you want to see more of. Bye!
Do you know I actually have a Bachelor’s Degree in Photography? From Kale.