CanonVIXIA HF R700 Full HD Camcorder (Black)

The last video camera I had took one of those little tapes, so this is an improvement to say the least.After doing my research I decided that this was a great deal for the cost and boy, was I right!The picture is great and with my 128 gb memory card I don't have to worry about running out of recording space.It records in two formats, one for easy posting on social media (like youtube), the other for a higher quality video.The actual size is very comfortable to hold, although it may seem too small for a person with large hands (I'm a 5'2'' woman with little girl hands).The battery is easy to slip on and off the back and does not place a weird weight on the camera while using it.First time charge for the battery was about 7 hours (the instructions say that too) so I was a little disappointed that I couldn't try the camera right away, but it worked fine the next day.Battery life is reasonable, but if you plan on filming hours at a time you may need a spare. I recorded several hours before switching over to my spare battery.Don't count on this camera to take great still shots - I find that I still use my normal camera for that, but in a pinch, the stills are easy enough to take.If you use a tripod, the screen rotates 180 degrees to point forward, so you can easily see what the camera is recording while standing in front of it.If you have a Windows 10 machine you can get an app that works with the camera software to take your videos off your camera and organize on your pc very easily.My biggest complaint is that in direct sunlight the LCD screen can be really hard to see, but that by no means is a deal breaker.Over all, great deal!EDIT:A year later and I love this camera just as much as I did when I purchased it. It is easy to travel with and easy to use!

I love this camera. I do agree with other commenters that is is sad that they don't have better use of this when its super light outside (i think you can buy film for that like they do for the iPad not sure if camera has such)but its great otherwise easy to use. my first one had a rattle and although the replacement also rattles, it is much less pronounced.just remember it is still a cheap camera (like my hand was shaking so much so I switched the hand strap for a larger more sturdy one) but its taken some good videos and is a nice size, holds charge long,

My application uses two HDMI cameras to feed a live video switcher (Cerevo Livewedge). I purchased both the Cannon HF R700 and the Sony HDCRX 405 to compare and evaluate. I ended up returning the Sony and getting a second Cannon HF R700 instead. The Cannon is a bit more expensive, but slightly better built and better matched to my application. If you are using the camera as a normal portable Camcorder, the Sony is a bit less expensive and would probably work for you. See below for details.While both the Sony and the Cannon can be operated to produce a live feed via the HDMI output port, there are numerous advantages to the Cannon. First, the Cannon can be operated without the battery being present using the supplied AC adapter. The Sony can be powered via an extension USB cable plugged into the supplied USB brink, but the battery must always be present. In my environment I wanted to be able to just turn the power on and off using a plug strip that turns all the video equipment on and off. When the power to the Sony was turned off, the camera continued to run on battery power. To turn it off you needed to unplug the HDMI cable and close the fold out screen. There is no power switch on the Sony.Second, the Sony micro HDMI connector on the camera was very flimsy. If I moved the camera slightly with the HDMI cable connected, the video would often drop out and come back as the cable was wiggled.Finally the Sony has a slightly inferior picture quality when compared to the Cannon. This is more noticeable in low light conditions. (Nether camera does very well in low light, but the Sony does have a bit more noise.)The Sony does have one advantage. It has an optical zoom of 60x, whereas the Cannon optical zoom is only 32x. When zoomed all the way in the Sony is slightly closer to the subject and when zoomed all the way out it has a somewhat wider field of view. This may be an important advantage for some users.Both cameras have the ability to turn off any automatic power saving (so you can keep it running when on external power). Both have the ability to turn off the on-scree-display for the HDMI output port, but the Sony hides this feature by calling it "HDMI Control" instead of the obvious "On-Screen-Display".The Cannon is slightly heavier and feels a bit more substantial. Both cameras have reasonable optical image stabilization, though when zoomed all the way in, neither is quite up to the task.