Canon G5x | Ultra Compact Camera for Vlogging And Streaming [REVIEW]

Canon G5x - Overview

The Canon G5x has been released in 2017 but still holds its grounds despite the small sensor size. The main reason for its popularity is the feature-rich package, which makes it an excellent all-around camera favored by many vloggers. Compact size, great auto-focus, wifi, hot shoe adapter, articulated screen, and image stabilization make it the perfect camera to take with you every day.
Rating
3.3/5
Price
$699 USD
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Canon G5x - Specifications

  • 20MP 1″ Sensor
  • 24-100mm equivalent zoom range
  • wide variable aperture 1.8-2.8
  • 1080p 60fps
  • image stabilizer
  • 3″ rotating screen with touch
  • smooth touch autofocus
  • face tracking
  • built-in ND Filter
  • a lot of customizable hardware dials
  • great ergonomics
  • Hot-shoe and canon ETTL flash system
  • WiFi

What's in the box?

Canon G5x - PROS

  • very small form factor
  • feature-rich
  • image stabilization
  • EVF
  • Hot Shoe
  • 60fps full HD video recording
  • touch display
  • Hifi & NFC
  • Professional controls and dedicated knobs/buttons
  • flip screen (variable angles)
  • wide optical zoom range
  • built-in ND filter

Canon G5x - CONS

  • very small 1" sensor
  • no 4k video recording
  • digital video stabilizer (crops the frame)
  • no exchangeable lenses
  • no video overlays
  • only 60p video recording
  • variable aperture

Detailed Review

Released in 2017 But Still Relevant!

The Canon G5x has been released quite a while ago and even if 4K video is -and will be – a continuing trend in 2018 the small form factor camera still has its value and hard to beat for a specific type of user.

Canon has pretty much cramped every piece of technology in this little camera that even the bigger DSLRs do not always have included. However, it lacks the 4K video mode. While competing brands have jumped all in on 4K, Canon has not. So what’s the deal with this camera and who is it for?

Who Is This Point And Shoot Powerhouse For?

Vlogging

The 5Gx has some features which make it perfect for a userbase interested in a small camera that can easily fit into your jacket and allows for taking quality images and solid video. The focus here is, like I mentioned before, not the high-resolution video but a solid and easy to use allrounder camera. Touch focus is great and works super smoothly; the autofocus is one of the best in the market when it comes to video, as is the face-tracking technology.

When having a closer look at the zoom range, it is clear, the camera is perfect for taking on the road with you and using it as your daily camera. Perfect for vlogging. And speaking of vlogging, the articulating screen is an absolute must-have for filming yourself. At the same time, the image stabilizer makes your footage look buttery smooth without having to use any additional stabilizers.

Travel Photography

The Canon also shoots 20MP RAW images on SD cards. Ergonomics and button placement is very familiar to the Canon DSLR lineup. This means, if you usually shoot Canon, you will have a great experience switching to this camera and, at the same time, save a ton of weight on your trips. When thinking about travel photography, we might think of Landscapes and cityscapes first. Still, I would also consider this a great camera when taking very editorial-like portraits on your travels. Having a built-in ND and a hot shoe will give you options when using speed lights that otherwise would be reserved for having a lot more gear around.

Studio Photography

A small sensor camera is often overlooked by professional photographers because a bigger sensor is always better, right?

Taking a look at the disadvantages one is faced with when shooting small objects like in product photography, especially for catalog, those bigger sensors often force us into focus stacking images because the depth of field is getting so small.

The Canon G5x is perfect for those applications. the 1″ sensor actually does great in good lighting conditions, and the resolution is plenty enough not to have to focus stack images of small objects.

Video Streaming Camera

Combined with a capture card or capture dongle, the small canon camera offers options to streamers, which no other webcam does. You will get a superb image quality of yourself or whatever you are filming for your live stream.

We have not yet talked about the price but being around $700, the camera is hard to beat when it comes to suitable cameras for streaming.

As a streaming camera, we need a clean signal via HDMI. Most DSLR cameras cost a lot more and do not come with clean HDMI out whereas the tiny camera does.

Being as small and compact, it also is straightforward to mount this camera on all sorts of arms, brackets, and places around your desk / gaming rig. A huuuge plus here.

Best Use Case / Verdict

We think the Canon 5Gx is a well-rounded, small form-factor camera best suited for video loggers and the occasional travel photography. Canon is not pushing the boundaries with any feature but overall, this is a solid camera with no fuzz.

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Daniel
Daniel
I have a background as a touring musician, and in the tech industry, working in tech support for internationally operating brands. When I was a child, I started opening up every device I could get my hands on. Later, this lead to me building my own computers out of other people's trash computers. Today, I still like tech and gear, talking about it, and sharing my knowledge.

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2 thoughts on “Canon G5x | Ultra Compact Camera for Vlogging And Streaming [REVIEW]”

  1. Were you able to get the AF area to not display on the HDMI stream? I’m trying to set this up as a webcam for video conferencing but I can’t get rid of white box in either face AF or 1-pt AF, or in MF mode.

    1. Hey, I cannot recall how to do this. From the top of my head, I think it is possible with this camera to go into the menu and disable the overlays. But I am not 100% sure about this and currently have no option to check and validate

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