Canon VIXIA HF R50 Full HD Camcorder with Wi-Fi and 3-Inch LCD (Black)

The media could not be loaded. This review is of the HF R50 but should be applicable to the HF R500 and HF R52 as they are all the same camera but have a few minor differences:The HF R50 (this one) has 8 gigabytes of on board flash storage.The HF R52 is the same camera but with 32 gigs of on board flash storageThe HF R500 is the same as both the 52 and the 50 but lacks the internal storage (requiring a memory card that's optional on the other two) and also lacks the WiFi.The bottom line is that if you want this camera get the HF R500 as it's really the same as the more expensive 52 and 50 and only lacks the built in memory and completely useless wifi feature. More details are below:I am a big fan of Canon's cameras in this price range and use them extensively for my own video production. I own the old HV20, HF100, HFS200, and the HFS20. In fact I haven't needed to buy a new one in over 5 years because these cameras work so well for me. I picked this one up to see what Canon has done more recently.Video quality hasn't improved all that much from where things were a few years ago. And it may be that there's just not much to improve upon at this price point. Low light is still pretty bad and grainy, but daylight shots are nice but a little over saturated in some of the auto modes. There still are some manual white balance and other controls to get a nicer image.I really like how the camera feels. It's /very/ light weight and fits very comfortably in the hand. Improvements in the size of the sensor have dramatically improved the camera's ability to maintain a steady shot even while handheld.I also like the zoom - especially since it's possible to disable the digital stabilization and remap the focal length of the sensor to dramatically increase the optical zoom length. It's the equivalent of an 1853mm lens on a 35mm camera! The image isn't all that sharp at that zoom level but it's certainly passable and impressive for a device so small. I do suggest putting it on a tripod as it'll be nearly impossible to hold steady when zoomed in that far.Battery life has also improved over older models. The battery can power the camera for over 90 minutes which is dramatically better than the standard battery on prior models.All three models have memory card slots that take SD cards.The WiFI feature is pretty much useless.. It does allow camera control via a smartphone or tablet, but the video comes in choppy and delayed by a few seconds making realtime control impossible. And while it does stream fluid video that can be recorded on your smartphone or tablet via WiFi, it's horribly compressed and looks terrible. You cannot stream to anything other than the app, so using online services with the camera are out of the question.With SD cards so inexpensive and the WiFi feature so useless, there's really no need to go with the 50 or the 52 unless you'd like to have some extra emergency storage. Otherwise the HF R500 is the best value of the three.

Great little camera! I have been using it as a beginner camera for film. It's definitely not a professional video quality my biggest thing with it being that the picture gets grainy if it is not well lit whereas my sister's Cannon G1X is fine but the reason why this does not bother me or qualify to lose a star is because of the price point. At $219 this makes a remarkable picture and to get 60FPS at the same time is amazing. It has a slot for my shotgun mic, an hdmi for a monitor and an image stabilizer that works just fine, so everything I needed to start out! I plan on using this until I can afford a nice DSLR.

It's the best camcorder for that money. Excellent video quality, great zoom. All of its settings are accessible by the 3-inch touchscreen viewfinder. Its face-detection feature forces the camera to recognize and focus on faces, rather than motion, so you won't have to worry about the camera losing focus just because your subject moves around a lot. I recommend it, delivers what it promises.

The video is great. I did not care for the way that you have to take pictures with it, having to press the screen to take a quick pic. Almost impossible to take good pics without a tripod. Also, battery takes about 5 hours to charge, and you get about 2 hours of video time! I returned mine.

This is a great camcorder for family and work moments. This is my first camcorder and It is definitely worth the few extra bucks to buy a cannon. It is incredibly user friendly and fun to use. My wife enjoys it and it has done a great job at capturing our new born baby moments in easy to format video. Small and easy to carry around, will fit in most purses and carry on bags. Takes a great picture and the buttons are really easy to reach even if you don't have giant hands. Would recommend this camcorder to friends and family.

Just used this on vacation and like it a lot - gone are the days of the big cameras - instead I was able to carry the camera and extra memory and battery in a small bag. I have yet to try the wifi option as I have yet to have the need. The only complaint I have is the inability to look through a view finder rather than use the screen. I just hold it to my head and turn my head and it worked fine. I mention this because when the sun is behind you one can't see the screen. This can be important as the menu is touch screen. If you want a simple to use easy to carry camcorder this is a super choice for the price.

Both units I received were defective.I am going to hold off on buying - might wait till sony provided wifi integrationBoth units I received had their lens cover shutter stuck open and would not close on power off. the lens cover is supposed to open on power on and close on power off. Maybe the whole shipping container full of video cams got too hot and something warped.

Cannot attach lens filters, etc to camera. White balance is off. Does not have a hot shoe.