Canon Vixia HF R800 Review for Indoor Studio Conditons
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- Canon Vixia HF R800 Review for Indoor Studio Conditons shows the strengths and weakness of this camcorder in a studio type setting. I believe it is important to know the cameras poor low light performance issues before purchasing, while also seeing the camera perform in optimal conditions. This is what I'm trying to provide with this video. So you, the consumer can make an educated purchase by using as much information as possible.
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This is the Camera and the gear I use to film this video:
Canon VIXIA HF R800 Camcorder (Black)
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This is the gear I use on my Channel:
Canon Portrait and Travel Two Lens Kit with 50mm f/1.8 and 10-18mm Lenses
by Canon
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Canon 90D Digital SLR Camera [Body Only]
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Rode VideoMic NTG On-Camera Shotgun Microphone
by Rode amzn.to/2RumMCi
Sigma 35mm F1.4 Art DG HSM Lens for Canon
by SIGMA
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Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD for Canon DSLR Cameras (Tamron 6 Year Limited USA Warranty)
by Tamron
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Canon EOS 6D Mark II Digital SLR Camera Body - Wi-Fi Enabled
by Canon
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Kenko DG Auto Extension Tube Set for the Canon EOS AF Mount.
by Kenko
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Canon Speedlite 470EX-AI, Auto Intelligent Flash Photography
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Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Lens - Fixed
by Canon
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Zhiyun Crane 3 Axis Handheld Gimbal Professional Stabilizer
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Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 Art DC HSM Lens for Canon
by SIGMA
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Canon EOS REBEL T7i/800D EF-S 18-55 IS STM Kit
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Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM Lens
by Canon
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Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM Lens
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Rode VMGO Video Mic GO Lightweight On-Camera Microphone Super-Cardioid
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UK: amzn.to/2nGo7G0
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM Lens
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Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS II Telephoto Zoom Lens (discontinued by manufacturer)
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UK: amzn.to/2nFkrUM
Canon PowerShot SX530 Digital Camera w/ 50x Optical Zoom - Wi-Fi & NFC Enabled (Black)
UNITED STATES: amzn.to/2CATc3l
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Great review Aaron. I bought this camera in a "set" today. Nice to see a "real" review on this camera. subscribed!!!!!
Thanks for the video. Well done and you did show the R800 at its best.
Thank you for the honest demonstration of the camcorder.
I bought a this camera after watching your review to start my channel about spinal cord injury outdoors. I think it's doing pretty good but yeah indoors is ok at best.
First and foremost good luck with your channel! Second, I specifically made this video because I felt that people saw the first video and assumed it was better than it was, particularly indoors. I will say that changing the mode to P and altering the white balance definitely would have made me look much less blotchy. For the most part, the features of this camera and the zooming capabilities still make it a ton of fun to use outdoors in a bunch of situations. Anyways, good luck with your channel!
I just bought the canon vixia hr800. Can’t wait until it gets here. I paid $330 for the pro-pack. It’s got to be better than the crappy Lvquone pos I have. I use the Mount Dog 💡 for lighting-it’s great! & I bought a wireless remote for it, & a lavalier mic 🎙 (I think it has its own power source.) hope it helps make my TH-cam channel better..
I just got it today for my new channel. I’m heading over now to see how it’s doing for you. Wishing you the best for you channel.
!Thanks for the AWESOME REVIEW!... It's certainly a GREAT camera for the price... with some limitations, that can be overcomed!
Fantastic information, really helpful for my equipment decisions. Can't thank you enough!
Thanks! 🤗🤗
Thank you for the information
Great video.. 👍 What would be your advise for the next Canon model up from this model for low light situations without breaking the bank? Thanks
Thank you for the info.
Good lighting is cheaper than upgrading the camera. And White Balance!!!
Thanks for the great video. I have this camera and use it a lot. I use either a Takstar shotgun or powered lav mic (both are cheap - around $25 to $30 or so) and the audio is very good. As far as lighting goes, most cameras don't do so well in low light (like indoors) so some kind of lighting is needed (even for more expensive ones) but it doesn't take all that much. Sitting near a window during the day might be all you need.
2022/23, I still love my vixia hf 800.
Even in low light its still crisp
Hi Aaron. Thanks for all of the info on the HF R800. I have 2 HF R500s and 2 HF R600s. I'm thinking about finding some 800s but am also wondering if you happen to know the next step to go from here with Canon camcorders? Like something I can find for $100 to $300 more? Some of the factors I would be concerned about would be which ones are a bit better with low light? Which have a bigger sensor. Also, could you tell me if the Vixia audio inputs are stereo? Any insight would be most helpful. Thanks again.
Too bad the lav mic needs its own power source to work with this camera. Almost purchased... thank you for your review!
Can I connect a wireless lav mic to record a video audio with this video camera ?
Ya but u can record music directly line in from mixer or piano, instruments etc.
it will work with condenser microphone which has own phantom power
When I shoot board game demos indoors on my collectibles channel with an R400. I use the Programmed mode to set the White Point against a piece of white paper or Bristol board art paper I have. I also have a photo gray card but white works fine. I use I think they're 60-75W tungsten light bulbs in metal clamp light reflectors on stands made for them with white T-shirts cut and duct taped over them to diffuse the light. The WB makes a big difference over Auto in that situation. Auto works well otherwise especially outdoors.
I used the R400 on a solid tripod the supplied power cord most of the time.
I sometimes end up using a gaming headset with a foam wind sock on the mic to do voice overs in iMovie for a richer sound. I don't have a great speaking voice but it sounds better than the camcorder. (Much more time consuming for a channel I can't monetize anymore since it doesn't get enough views). Regardless that setup worked well for indoor make shift 'studio' TH-cam.
I've used the R400 for 5 yrs it finally gave out on me. something about the connection between the camera and the LCD panel maybe. I've since heard that issue. So that would be one thing to note to be careful with opening & closing and tilting. I usually was careful so chalk it up to normal wear & tear.
I'm picking up an R800 from Best Buy this weekend. The GUI looks less cluttered but it still has too much on it and it's not symmetrical I wish you could turn off. The R400-600 GUI was inexcusable to the point people would look at it and say what do you look at? Yet you could scribble on it. Unbelievable Canon would do that for an otherwise best in it's class camcorder line.
On my amusement park channel "amusement420" I upload a lot of live shows. The internal mics do OK depending on where I'm sitting indoors or outdoors. They sound kind of thin and tinny sometimes. I like bass. iMovie or FCP adding bass boost doesn't work for my ears that well. It made a clicking sound for a little while which I thought was the auto focus. The SONY's did that. It stopped doing that after short time so I don't what caused that.
My SONY TRV30 MiniDV had a nice rich sound. The best prosumer MiniDV camcorder ever made imho It lasted 2003-2009 before the tape mechanism wouldn't open the door it was used so much.
It's interesting seeing what gear you use in your description. The mic sounds good.
My primary reason to use a camcorder is for the zoom. These Canon camcorders have a very smooth zoom. So did the SONY.
Jacking up the brightness for outdoors and using the zoom suck up the battery imho But I can get 2hrs out of the bigger battery. But again for indoors TH-cam I plug it in to a power strip.
Very helpful video review. Thanks.
Great video. Thanks for showing all aspects of this camera.
Nice point, great 👍 video...when I use that camera I have to use a lot of light 💡 yeah I
Great video. Having used to Canon Vixia HF R800 for a few years. You did a great job showing the strengths and weaknesses of this camera. I want to add one thing to this review and a common complaint I receive. You can not use the SD cards that have micro SD inside. This camera will not record with those. Use a decent SD card with a 10 in the circle.
"You can not use the SD cards that have micro SD inside. "
It's not true. The camera works perfect with micro SD card with SD card adaptor. I use it so, too.
say I were to make a low budget film for a film festival, like a found footage documentary type thing. Would this camera be good for that? And what's the cheapest mic that would improve audio on it if so.
I made an extremely short clip similar to a found footage type film called "the shed". It's a few videos back on my channel. That may answer your question, or at least give you an idea.
The low light examples in this video are remarkably better than those on the older video. My footage with this camera, shooting in P mode looks similar to the somewhat lit samples from your “one year review” video. The image is grainy and blurry. However, the low light footage in this video looks so much better. I’ve tried flooding my live-streaming setup with light and it doesn’t come close to your footage. It’s still blurry. Did you discover something else besides adding huge lights since that older video? Thanks.
I noticed the camcorder video started getting blurry and grainy for no apparent reason. So I did a factory reset and for some reason it cleared the picture up, and looked normal again. Also I always shoot in the highest video settings, I believe it's 1080p@60fps.
Is it possible to change the frame rate?
Excellent review
Is there a way to charge this camera through the USB port by the SD card slot?
Hello. The sound is great. Is the Rode NTG mic mounted on the camera? Or is it on the table on a small tripod? If it's on a table top tripod, do you need a 3.5mm audio extension cable? If you are using a table top tripod, do you have one you recommend for this mic? Is the mic easy enough to use with the camera overall? Is there an auto audio level option on both the camera and mic that work well together? Thanks!
Can you tell me if I powered up this camera would it immediately start transmitting HDMI video? The camera seems fine for our needs, id like to perm mount it up on a wall and have a simple setup that someone could plug it in and it would just start working? Or do I need to push buttons on the camera to make it work? (want to avoid a step ladder)
Great tip about mic
Hi Aaron just got a canon vixia r800, a tripod and a takstar. I need a shoe mount that can work seamless without need for adjustment. You know a kind of plug and play shoe mount. Can you send me a link of where I can get it?
What do you mean by the mic needs an external power source?
The microphone has to have batteries or a plug in order to work on this. Where as my DSLR's can use a microphone with only a microphone and a 3.5mm cable hooked directly to the camera.
Do you think this is better than a smartphone camera for general indoor TH-cam video capture?
No, not even close. Newer smartphones, say 2017 and up, are generally much better. Sharper, better in low light, more resolution. Especially with an external microphone, a smartphones picture quality will be noticeable better.
@@FitsandFun Awesome, thanks for your reply!
Are the colors warped when in things like typical yellow ceiling lights indoors. Does the lighting still look natural with anything other than sunlight/white light? Also, does it record well if it’s night time? I know you need lights, but if I was filming, say a forest at night, would it be color warped or distorted in any way. (Not graininess, distortion or color warping)
I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with color warping. As far as distortion, I'm not sure how lower light would cause distortion, I've only seen distortion on very wide angle lenses.
Other settings besides auto work better in low light.
What microphone did you use for this video?
I used the Rode Videomic NTG. It cost more than this camcorder, but it makes a huge difference in overall quality of any video I make.
@@FitsandFun thanks for the reply. the audio was better with it for sure
nice
thx for the heart!
Can it record without stopping with an SD card?
I don't know, I've never recorded for a long period of time. Sorry
What do you mean the mic has to have it's own power source? What if i have my mic in a zoom h4n first, then from the h4n to the camera, will it work ? the h4n has phantom power
That should work because the zoom has to be powered.
If I decided to buy this camera, it would be for outdoors only
Which microphone do you use on your vixia r800? I couldn't find that info.
I use a Rode powered microphone. The Rode videomic NTG.
@@FitsandFun thanks! I'm learning a lot through videos... yours have good info!
Can you mount this camcorder?
Yes, fits all camera tripods
what microphone are you using for this camera?
Rode NTG Videomic
@@FitsandFun thanks man
@@FitsandFun how much did it cost? also where did u buy it
@@FitsandFun wow, that microphone costs as much as the camera! But it much be pretty good and it can be used for other cameras of course. Cool that you can use a fancy microphone for this camera and there are cheaper ones too that I'll look into...
Great review. Thanx!
What kind of SD card do you use for this camera?
I use any standard sd card with a minimum write speed of 90mbs.
Aarons Practical Reviews Thanks!
great video. Can this be used while charging?
Yes.
Aarons Practical Reviews thanks a lot
Thank you
My band bought this to shoot HD livestreams, we'll see how it goes indoors under a lightshow. Also, any passive mic should work fine with the input, just condenser mics would need the power.
I only tried a clip on lav mic and an old Rode shotgun mic, with no luck. If you have any luck with one please let me know, so I can pass on the information.
Helpful review for those considering purchasing this model. Regarding the microphone input, the Legria HF 806 made for the European market is the same model as this but without the microphone socket. The absence of a microphone input has arisen due to a legal case involving Canon. See eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=ecli:ECLI:EU:C:2007:553
Thanks for uploading.