Nice. Reminds me of what I say when I see some ad suggesting I can save 50% or so off on something. I say to myself, “ I can save 100% if I don’t buy it at all.”
They found a large warehouse during an corporate audit filled with obsolete New old stock parts for a project that never took of years ago so they decided to build a product around the components.
I have the powershoot and I love it. I take it birding and it’s perfect to carry around with me as I sometimes hike up to around 8 miles while I’m out. Yeah, you’re not going to be able to get professional level photos but I just want to document the birds I see and it’s been great for that.
I've lived most of my life with a monocular because I have low vision and seeing Canon's ad for the first time I thought I had found what I needed. Thanks to this review I found out it's quite the opposite.
I own this camera and I generally agree with the video. I will just add that it works well for the reason I bought it - that is, as a wildlife photographer, I want to always be ready to get a picture of a cool bird that I come across in my day-to-day, and this camera is much much smaller and lighter than my dslr and telephoto lens. The image quality is admittedly mediocre, but it's a really convenient device to carry with me in my backpack if it's not feasible to bring along my full gear setup. It's a neat little device that allows me to get better zoom photos in a pinch than I will get out of my phone, so I'm happy with it.
When I first saw this I thought the same thing; it's not a camera, it shouldn't be compare it to cameras. It's a stabilized monocular that can take pics, which which is an interesting idea. Especially given that smart phone cameras are garbage at zoom, if you want to take some casual pics without the 10lb of gear you need something else and this fits that niche (as small as that niche is).
Or the Canon SX720 also with 1/2.3" 20MP and 24-960mm. And those 2 also have 4K video. Price isn't really that different so not sure why Canon released this unless it's really much more compact.
This was first on a Japanese crowd funding site and sold out in six hours. It got some press and I guess Canon decided to launch it. Sort of, I had to order directly from Canon.
@@LuigiVN DSLR video is a dead fad that no one except boomers have done after 2014. You can get a nice 1D Mark 3 or 4 that does 10 FPS and can get from around 400$. Still really great photo cams. Just use you iPhone for video or get a real camcorder.
Considering the price of stabilized monoculars and binoculars, I think this isn't such a bad deal. Especially since it gives you the option to take photos and videos with it compared to the former. It's clear that this is intended for a market of people who just want a camera that adds a little bit extra to their smartphone capabilities. For Instagram pictures etc having this little pocketable telephoto may be more than enough.
I love how professionally you are able to say: The focal lengths are too limited The battery life is lousy The side door falls off The menu is horrible It fundamentally doesn't have enough buttons It shouldn't be used outside because its not outside proofed where its target audience is going to use it The auto focus is clueless Etc.
Canon just baffles me in terms of what the hell are they doing? I'm glad they are trying to develop new products, and they need to as the camera market is changing. But when they come out with such half assed products It's difficult to understand where their head is at 🤷🤷🤷🤷🤷
Thanks for the review guys! This seems *almost* perfect for people like my in-laws, who are surrounded by nature and spend their time watching birds at the feeder, bobcats, coyotes, deer, turkeys, etc. They always try to take smartphone pictures to support, say, "Look how big this bobcat is!" but they're frustrated with the telephoto quality. However, those photos will mean nothing if they can't share them, and they wouldn't be able to. They might even playback the images on-screen, which is what they always did with their old Canon, but they would never use the menu interface. I already know the Canon smartphone app would be impossible for them (they're ~70) and importing pictures from a micro SD card is a no-go. BUT, if the Mk II version has a playback button, built-in memory, and EASY linking to a smartphone (like pairing AirPods), they (and millions of others like them) would love it.
It's an interesting product to fit a very small niche market. Monocular viewing and photography when you don't want to haul a DSLR with 400mm f/4. Sometimes I don't want to haul a full size camera around but I still like being able to take casual pictures. Previously I had a decent pocket camera to do that job but now I find a smartphone fits the bill as long as lighting is good; but the telephoto of a smartphone is garbage. Having a casual zoom to go with my casual phone is an interesting idea. Hard to say if it beats just carrying a pocket camera though. But monocular viewing wildlife is better than staring at the back of a zoomed pocket camera. Like I said, a small niche but I see a reason for it (now give it more than a 1hr battery life).
If you’ve ever been a soccer mom on the sideline trying to get a video of your kid on the field far away in bright daylight, I think this camera would be great.
My ideal bird watching tool would be a good binocular, with great autofocus, stereo photos, high MP, fast shutter speed, low light, and stabilized (two synchronized A73s maybe). or an invisible & silent drone I could just chase them with. Nice review, thanks.
Wow, for everyone who was disappointed in the Sony A7Siii this is very exciting -- exactly what we're waiting for! Thanks for calling it to our attention. I imagine Jordan will be using for all of your vids from now on.
I really feel Chris' pain in this video; he can't show it but he's dying inside having to review this absurd gizmo. Great job, Chris; you even managed to make a review of this POS entertaining!
Oh you mean the international event where the Japanese Government are intending to force non-Japanese to download an app (failure to do will result in entry to the country being barred) so that they can keep tabs on them on the premise of Covid-19 track and tracing? At this juncture, Japanese and residents like myself (possibly) will not be required to use the app. Seriously - this isn't a daft conspiracy theory.
@@andrewjones-productionsThe “daft conspiracy theory” is imagining that this is something more than a desperate gesture to make holding the Olympics in 2021 seem anything less than totally negligent. “Ah, coronavirus. At last, we can track tourists for a week each.”
Hey Chris I've been watching you and Jordan for the last 12 years it's amazing man I'm actually watching you guys grow older I remember watching you too you look really young 12-15 years ago it's amazing how time flies thank you for sharing this video I definitely will not buy that 👍
I use this as a biologist when I’m out on the field I usually have only a smartphone with me but I sometimes see a interesting bird or a mammal in the distance and just get a casual shot of the animal to share the pictures with a college and have a little conversation with colleges. Also I have prove if I see a rarer species per change even I don’t research this species in particular.
What I don't understand is, if you're only gonna have two fixed focal lengths available, why not just use two prime lenses and a moving sensor instead of a zoom? Maybe it's cheaper this way, but the optical design must be way more complex (and compromised).
The sensor is going to be tiny and cheap, so instead of moving it, I think they could have also just gone the smartphone route and implemented one sensor for each prime lens.
GAH! RU-vid just recommended me the promo video for TCS that you guys did right at the inception of TCSTV. I watched it and now I feel super weird (old)! You both were baby face! Ev looks about 20 and even Dave didn’t have much grey hair.... 2009 wasn’t that long ago was it 😭
I'm kind of tempted to get this as a gift for someone with no interest in photography, but who would probably get some use out of it for wildlife viewing. Thing is, I could just buy them binoculars, and when you compare this camera to binoculars I kind of think the binoculars are the better buy.
I gave my parents a coolpix a900 a couple years ago so they could get more usable pictures of birds and wildlife on walks to identify and look at later - this MIGHT be interesting for them as a tool like that. The camera is more complicated than they need most of the time, and they don't use it as much as I use mine for that stuff. But they do bring binoculars. If this could be more like binoculars that can save a frame than the camera is, it might be useful. But the battery life and usability problems (navigating those menus looks horrible) probably outweigh any simplicity benefits, at least with this version.
Hi! I really love your channel, I think it’s one of the best out there and I don’t miss a single episode. You should be careful with equivalent aperture, however. This could lead to misconceptions of the product: this is not a 400 mm f/6.3 equivalent, but a (real) 55 mm f/6.3 or 400 mm f/25 FF equivalent. The crop factor is roughly of 7 😉
I only watched because Chris was presenting... The GH5 footage was great as usual. I remember thinking this device might be interesting if the price was really low, then I saw that the zoom was fixed 100 or 400 and the sensor was a 1/3 instead of a 1/2.3. I guess there's a market somewhere but most of the photos look like something out of a P&S cam from 2004 to 2008 so I'm wondering who will actually be happy with these photos.
I think it is a great recreational tool. Something this small is not going to have the best tech specs. It is handy to use when a camera is not available. I had mine for about a year and a half and it just stopped working, essentially wouldn't power on. Fortunately, I had purchased the care package so it was quickly replaced. Oh, its nice to be able to transfer the images to a smart phone via the Connect App.
Great review! I think you missed the best use of the Powershot Zoom though. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology offers a free app called "Merlin" that uses deep learning AI software to identify birds in a picture. If you can take a picture of a bird with this camera, send it to your smart phone and use Merlin to id the bird on the spot, that would be a great learning tool for birders. If you still have it, it would be great to try that and tell us how easy or hard it is to send the picture to an iphone or android phone. It would be perfect if you can set it up to send every picture you take to your phone.
Good point, come to think of it, what if they built in Merlin into the firmware, and it would ID the bird in real time? That might find some takers - I know lots of people who enjoy birding with traditional binocs, but they struggle with ID sometimes because they have only their memories of the bird, no record. Most birders don't really want to become photographers, especially with the size of tele gear.
In 2007 I bought a Panasonic FZ50. It wasn't an amazing camera even at the time, but it was a super zoom camera with up to 420mm zoom. And the image quality looked better than on this!
Hey really love your content this is awesome . What is your preferred camera you use for filmmaking, I'd love to have a conversation and maybe even collaborate on different methods in telling stories through video !
Few years ago i got this idea, that a monocular would be nice with a good stabilizer. So i threw that idea to Olympus then. Anyways, the idea was that monocular could have the good stabilization, maybe activated on a push of a button (half-shutter like). That it could take pictures and maybe even video would be a nice bonus. Well, here's maybe a first modern take on that. Maybe there's something to it. It could surely be bigger than this, if it would allow better battery and sensor.
This feels like it could grow into an interesting niche if it was released in 2012 maybe. Now, for the similar price I can get Panasonic TZ90 which reaches up to 720mm ff equivalent with optical zoom alone and shoots raw.
Great review. Is there anything else like this on the market? Had a look but can’t find anything so will probably buy it for taking pictures of birds in the garden and stuff like that. I don’t really need a top of the range camera.
This feels like a camera that's great for an older audience who just want to get a good snapshot as a keepsake. The vast majority of us get good shots using our phones, this little telephoto is the same but just has the reach for the subjects that are further away. This isn't for people with DLSR or Mirrorless systems.
Wonder what kind of a product is this, what problem is solves or what convenience it brings to photography, what goes through the minds of Canon designers.
Actually, it would have been good to compare this to a Sony Handycam HDR-CX405. The Sony on paper is a lot larger, but when you have it in your hand, it would probably be less of a difference. The CX-405 zoom reaches around 800-900mm equivalent optically (O P T I C A L L Y) and pushes out further digitally. It has 50 mbps XAVC-S FullHD video at up to 30 fps. It has IBIS that works really well. It has replaceable batteries. It does NOT have an optical viewfinder, but it does have a fully articulated screen. And it probably costs around $200 US (I haven't checked lately). And Sony has a couple of better camcorders almost about as small for more money. The sensor is 9.2 MP and the still photos are, bigger. Roughly 4K size I think? Panasonic has camcorders in that size range too with even longer zooms.
Sad, I didn't expect it to be great, but was it was a good step better. I hoping to grab one to supplement my iPhone 12 Pro Max to have a telephoto while cycling.
I mean, it makes sense in a way to me. The reason to have a non-smartphone camera is to get something not offered. Reach is a big one, and this theoretically could be an easy to carry option. But just seems like this has way too many compromises in practice. Battery life, awkward controls, lack of close-focus, no weather sealing. Something like a SX740 HS is about the same price, nearly as small, with a better zoom range (24-960 vs 100-400), usable controls, a bigger sensor, more megapickles. You'd be missing an EVF, which would matter when hiking about in bright sun, but it really makes me think that the Zoom is just lacking in execution, even if the concept is reasonable.
Canon, recycling left over sensors again. But thanks for the review. It’s actually a neat little device to carry when you go to a bird sanctuary or a zoo.
I want to stalk from faraway and report my findings. I would take full advantage of this device single-hand, stabilized, pocket-size, digital eye relief feature. Or is there anything else I better go with like 100x zoom smartphones?
2:39 So this is a digital monocular with a giant zoom for getting facial expressions or kids doing stuff … got it 🤨🤨🤨 This is the weirdest camera in years, and the only noteworthy thing about it is its creep factor
Should have move the budget to make more eos m lenses or a better m50 or put a better heat solution for r5. Now the r&d budget is wasted and canon will never make it back
They seriously only have 100, 400 and 800 equivalent modes in this? I just want a quick and easy 28-200 equivalent 35mm frame pocket viewfinder thing so I can just pull that out and look around instead of always getting my camera out and then not have the best framing.
I just bought a Nikon "portable" binocular and immediately regretted it - it's the smallest model and still feels a ton, and I feel drowsy looking at the (fix 10x zoom) images for more than 10 seconds! It's so hard to get a stable image. So I think Canon has a great alternative here and it's perfect for my application, just an occasional spotting of wildlife and sporting events. I am going to put the Nikon on sale and get this Canon instead. I think your review was too harsh and you are missing the point about this camera!
Hii!! I got this camera and I noticed that when you see your pictures directly in the camera you can kinda of focus pictures that are already taken. My question is do you know if this can be like a like a permanent adjustment? Because it improve the quality of some of my pictures
It has a lot of cons, but I love mine. I haven't seen it in any stores on the web, I had to order directly from Canon. It's fantastic and weird. I do hope Canon continues and gives us a Mk2 with better sensor and 4k video. I don't care if it grows a little in size if the specs improve.