Canon Vixia HF G50 Review, Unboxing, User Manual
HIGHLIGHTS:
CANON VIXIA HF G50 UHD 4K CAMCORDER - OVERVIEW
The Canon Vixia HF G50 is one of the best entry-level professional 4K camcorders; designed for people wishing to get professional 4K filming without having spent over $1000. It lets you zoom in long-distance, while the autofocus function makes the camera always ready to use and makes you able to capture crystal clear pictures or videos in no time.
The video camera delivers an impressive HD performance during live video broadcasting; plus, the effective image stabilization system makes it super easy to get clear and steady footage on the run.
Take a look at our detailed reviews to get more information about this 4K professional camcorder.
CANON VIXIA HF G50 REVIEW
Design & Features
Everyone would love to shoot with such a palm-sized camcorder; thanks to the ergonomic design, and the quickly accessible control features of this video camera. On the camcorder's body there are five assignable function buttons, lens rings, and a large custom dial.
These function buttons enable you to set creative compositions with ease; while, the manual control lens ring lets you adjust the focus and zoom.
The 3" LCD touch-enabled display, 45-degree upward tiltable viewfinder, and handy joystick gives you a comfortable shooting. The tilting 1.56 million-dot colored EVF provides 100% field coverage to fit more scene into the frame and judge the frame compositions in detail.
Moreover, the 3” LCD touch screen displays a natural color-rich preview of what the video cam is recording; it also streamlines the focusing, zooming, and camera setting process. You can also adjust the camera settings using a handy joystick while looking through the viewfinder.
The Canon G50 camcorder has a wide-angle zoom lens that gives you a 35mm equivalent wide-angle view with 20X magnification capability. The advanced glass elements and anti-flare lens coating reduce most of the distracting effects and make the lens capable of capturing sharp images with minimal distortion.
The lens comes with a rounded 8-bladed aperture, which makes the video camera perfect for filming a wedding or other live event in creative manners. The circularly blurred points-of-light in the out-of-focus area genuinely give the images or videos an artistic feel, which your clients would like for sure.
The combination of Canon DIGIC DV 6 image processor and 1/2.3” CMOS sensor gives you stunning picture quality, even in low light. This highly-sensitive image sensor and powerful image processor of the lens analyze scenes based on dozens of imaging parameters, capture every detail, and reduce imaging noise.
The super active 5-axis optical image stabilizer truly complements the mobile-friendly design of this camcorder. It lets you capture clear and sharp videos in a handheld position even while you're moving by reducing handshake errors from 5 different angles.
The Canon HF G50 gains popularity among beginners for the automated functions, specifically for hybrid autofocus mode. The advanced autofocus mode enables you to select the focus point just with a single touch, while it also makes it easy to track a moving subject through the color-rich touch screen display.
Image and video quality
The digital video camera can record 4K ultra HD video at 30FPS frame rate and 35 Mbps bit rate in MP4 format; it also enhances the recording speed up to 60 FPS for 1080P / 8 Mbps HD videos.
The camcorder gives you everything. The strong sense of details, eye-catching color contrasts, and balanced tonal gradations really make your videos attractive; plus, it virtually eliminates the diagonal noises. The camcorder excels in tracking fast-moving subjects with their every move and pattern. So, you can use this camcorder for filming hunting videos or use it as a sports camcorder as well.
You can start recording just after turning the camera on without peddling with a lot of settings. The auto-setting mode genuinely works fine most of the time; but, it is better to set the white balance manually while shooting indoor. Otherwise, you need to do a minor color correction in the post-production editing phase.
On the other hand, the longer 4K ultra HD video files make the editing process easier than its previous model (Canon Vixia G40).
Storage
The Canon HF G50 comes with a BP-820 lithium-ion battery pack; that only has a 1780mAh power capacity.
The camcorder has two media slots that support SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory cards with 32GB to 2TB memory capacity. Both media card slots are available for writing and rendering memory cards at ultra-high speed.
Connectivity and Compatibility
The camcorder provides clear output through a mini type-C HDMI port and a mini-USB. You can set up a LANC connection via the LANC terminal, while the 3.5mm jack port takes input from the microphone. It also has a cold mounting shoe and an advanced mini-show that supports a range of external accessories to ease the shooting process.
Also, checkout the Canon Vixia G60 review, to know the difference in features.
BEST FEATURES OF THE CANON VIXIA HF G50 VIDEO CAMERA
Firstly, unlike the Canon XA45 or a Canon XA55 camcorders, this isn't that costly. In a nutshell, the Canon G50 video camera is one of the top camcorders you can get under $1000. In my opinion, the best part of this camcorder is 4K / 30P video recording and live-streaming in 1080P resolution with crystal clear picture quality. The impressive telephoto power, attractive bokeh quality, and intelligent autofocus function are enough to catch one professional videographer’s attraction.
SPECIFICATIONS OF CANON VIXIA HF G50
LENS SPECIFICATION
Focal Length | 3.67 to 73.4mm |
Zoom | Optical Zoom - 20X |
Maximum Aperture | f/1.8 to 2.8 |
Minimum Focus Distance | 0.8” / 20 mm |
Filter Size | 58 mm |
Control Rings | Focus Zoom IRIS |
Focus Control | Autofocus Manual Focus |
IMAGE SENSOR
Sensor Size | 1/2.3” |
Sensor Type | CMOS sensor |
Effective Resolution | 8.29 Megapixel |
CAMERA SPECIFICATION
Image Stabilization | Optical 5-Axis Image stabilization |
VIDEO RECORDING
Recording Formats | MP4 |
Video Resolution | MP4 via H.264 / AVC: |
DISPLAY SCREEN
Screen Size | 3" |
Resolution | 460,000 Dot |
Display Type | Articulating LCD Touch Screen |
Viewfinder
Viewfinder Type | 45-Degree Upward Tilting LCD EVF |
Screen Size | 0.24” |
EVF Resolution | 1,560,000 Dots |
Connectivity
Wired Connection | LANC Terminal, Mini Type-C HDMI, Mini USB, Microphone and Headphone Jack |
Mounting Feature
Accessory Mount | Cold Shoe and Mini Advanced Shoe |
Power
Battery Model | Canon BP-820 Lithium-ion battery packs |
Battery Capacity | 1780mAh |
CANON VIXIA HF G50 TEST FOOTAGE
CANON VIXIA HF G50 UNBOXING
CANON VIXIA HF G50 USER MANUAL
You will be receiving a detailed user manual while purchasing a Canon Vixia HF G50. But, you can also view the user manual from the Company's official website. The user manual will have a complete guide on the different camera settings, firmware, and safety precautions you will need to follow while using this camcorder.
If you wish to check the official user manual of this Canon Vixia HF G50 camcorder, click here.
CANON VIXIA G50 accessories
External Microphone
The internal audio recorder also picks decent sound from surroundings but isn't that great for minimizing the background noises. So, we suggest using a dedicated microphone; while recording video at crowded places and noisy environments.
After attaching a good-quality microphone, you can use the camcorder for shooting YouTube vlogs, or even use the video cam for recording live music videos.
Extra Batteries
The included batteries of the Canon G50 camcorder have a short battery life; so, it would be better to keep an extra pair of the battery pack to continue the shooting.
Conclusion
If you want a high-quality 4K filming camcorder but don’t wish to get superior low light performance, you would find this Canon video camera to be the perfect fit for your budget. It gives you all that you expect from your dream camcorder. I have used this camcorder and I genuinely like the Canon Vixia HF G50 UHD 4K Camcorder for its high-end flexibility and versatility. The manual and automated modes make this portable camcorder ideal for amateur and experienced videographers.