Customer Ratings & Reviews

The Canon VIXIA HF W10B has a lot packed into a small device. These days video recording can be made with cellphone cameras, DSLRs and point and shoot cameras, however, nothing beats the 40x optical zoom that the Canon VIXIA HF W10 brings. It is small and not heavy enough to tire the hand. I like the waterproof so I don't worry taking it to the pool, I don't know about the ocean yet but I'll be trying the beach water soon with this toy. The Canon VIXIA HF W10 only comes with 8GB of internal memory so it tends to fill up quickly with long videos. It take HD videos but no 4K but for the price it is well worth it. The video and sound quality are excellent but not 4K quality. The still images are not impressive but good enough for memories. Unfortunately, it only has a standard size memory card slot as opposed to microSD, but still good to expand the memory. I added 128gb to mine so I got plenty of space. Battery life is very good and comes with a very odd USB charger. There's no real on and off button so the function is left to the opening and closing of the touch screen. The touch screen has all the function and buttons needed to operate this small device. This is a very good basic video recording device with an excellent 40x optical zoom.

It is made for simplicity of usage without worrying water splash. Scope of review does not include quality of image as it is standard common for all, and focused on the usage and practicality. Good: 1. Simplified functionality through touch screen 2. Has only two physical buttons. 1 for Zoom In/Out, second for video recording start/pause or in photo camera mode to take photograph. 3. Light to carry, small, can grab in different angle 4. Definition of video and photographs are acceptable range. (for some this could be Thumbs Down) Thumbs Down: 1. During zoom in it bit hard to focus on the object 2. Under dark it does record acceptable but not great if you are used to the clarity of definition from higher range definition. 3. The charging cover attachment appears weak. As it cover has the function of stopping water contact for insert of sd card, and connectivity for charging and HDMI. However one is not careful can accidentally detach it, then totally not useful for water. 4. Battery is not replaceable. Experience: Use experience is practical from moment of opening the touchscreen to recording. Unlike other device, as open the touchscreen, it is on mode ready to start recording. All of functions of control is via touchscreen, and as you record can change some of attributes. But as the purpose of the camera would be mainly for under water, it seems to make sense having all the control centralized in the touchscreen as you can edit afterward. In one case, to test the practicality, I attached it in my wrist while riding the bike. Although first it look bit big, as you ride bike can record while still controlling the bike. Naturally, it take some prep and adjustment, but wasn't big of deal. Its recording was reasonably stable, could be better if can have stable position to record. The experience of using the touch screen to see and adjust recording, it would be bit frustrating in the beginning due to its size and all the control in the reduced space. But can overcome as get used to. Regarding recording video, although I haven't worked technically on it, it seems very good for the range of price point As soon as touchscreen opens, it start capturing the sound in stereo mode and has indicator bar that tells you which side has more sound. Upon recording, it is crispy sound for recording of main object within 12 ft to 20 ft. Use under water, only had time to use under a swimming pool and for that short experience, after having left out of water, it does perform without any issues. The slop that contain SD card, connectivity area were all dry as nothing happened. In bottom line, good practical camcorder to use without regular water damage but due to quality of touchscreen that center all the function, and its material, I recommend if price point less than manufacture suggested price.

I have mixed thoughts about this camcorder. Its claim to fame is in being waterproof, shockproof, dustproof and freeze-proof. As a rugged outdoor camera, it gives you a lot more options than those ubiquitous action cameras or any cell phone. It does this by being a full-featured consumer camcorder. You can take video and stills with a 40:1 optical zoom, time-lapse, tele-macro, self-timer and so on. It can be fully auto or provide manual control over focus, exposure, white balance, backlight compensation, etc. It does all this while being capable of shooting underwater and tolerating drops, snow, sand and general abuse. What are my reservations? I found the 40:1 zoom is only useful up to about 20:1 while handheld. Go beyond that and it better be on a tripod, and the focus seemed to hunt at times. The stabilization has three levels, but it’s digital and cuts down the image area as it becomes more aggressive. It’s possible that optical stabilization wouldn’t be able to withstand the shock and drop resistance, but there’s still a quality loss. As far as quality, this camera shoots in 1920 x 1080 HD in either 60i or 60p. If you want 4K, you’ll need to look elsewhere and spend a lot more. The 60p mode gives nice smooth video, and that’s what I mostly used. However, there are no size or quality variations when shooting 60p, and some of the special features only work in 60i mode. On the plus side, the internal battery lasts up to 5 hours it has 4GB of internal memory and will accept SD cards, but only up to 128GB. Don’t wait until the last minute to charge it up. A full charge can take up to 6 hours. The build quality seems good and it’s quite small and easy to carry. The only buttons are the start/stop and the zoom rocker. Everything else is controlled through the touch screen. The screen feels a bit unresponsive, but that’s due to it being a pressure response and not a capacitive screen. That apparently was necessary to be able to use it down to its maximum of 5 meters underwater. To make use of its variety of features, it’s really necessary to download the full manual and do some reading. It comes with no software, but when you connect it to your computer, it shows up as a mass storage device. Any video editing system which accepts AVCHD format will handle the .MTS files it generates. The stills are standard jpg. The technology feels a bit dated because it is. In reality, this is a rebadged JVC Everio camera that’s been around for several years. It seems to me to be a big miss not to have provided an easy way to directly upload files to social media. Canon could have done a little updating to make it more current. The bottom line to me is that this is very much a niche product. If you want to take videos in places you wouldn’t risk a regular camcorder or your $1000 phone, it fills that bill. You do need to be a bit tech-savvy and understand video editing.

If you're in the market for your first camcorder, this one should make your shortlist. This camera is incredibly simple to operate; literally anyone can figure out how to use it. By default, opening the screen turns the camera on and closing it turns it off and stops the recording (this can be changed in the settings). The record and zoom buttons are placed right where they should be making one-handed operation a breeze. Plus, the built-in 8GB flash memory allows you to start filming the moment you take it out of the box. At the default setting of 1080i, the camera can take up to 54 minutes of video or 5780 photos before it runs out of space. If you turn the video resolution up to its maximum settings, you can still capture 34 minutes of video using only the on-board memory. If you require more storage space, all you need to do is insert a microSD card (up to 128 gb). The camera fits nicely in my hand and is feels very light without feeling cheap. You shouldn't have any problems if you choose to carry it around with you all day. On top of this, the camera is available in a brilliant, almost anodized looking blue like the one I chose. Obviously, everything product looks good in the professionally lit, studio taken photos the manufacturer provides; they're supposed to. That's why I've included a photo I took with my cellphone the moment I received it. No special lighting or editing, just the camera sitting on my porch steps on a mostly sunny afternoon. It does actually look as good in person as the studio shots make it seem, if not better. Besides the awesome blue color, what helps this camera stand out is that it's waterproof to 16.4 feet and shockproof to 4.9 feet. I was curious to see how accurate these claims were so the first time I used mine was at a pool party. As soon as I arrived I turned the camera on, pressed the record button, and immediately chucked it into the deep end of the pool. Admittedly, the deep end only goes down 6 feet but the camera worked flawlessly even at the bottom. The camera spent a bunch of time underwater in the pool and even some time underwater in the hot tub. I was surprised how well the camera handled transitioning from above to below water and vice versa. The microphone picks up sounds adequately even while submerged. Also, the lens is pretty good about shedding water when you resurface; I only had to blow off some stubborn drops a couple of times. The flip-out monitor is a touchscreen that you use to see what you're filming, adjust settings, and to review your footage. Not only can you easily see what's on the screen in direct sunlight, the touchscreen works perfectly even when both the camera and your hands are wet. It does require a firm press to respond but it's well worth the trade-off. It also has a high refresh rate; I didn't observe any stuttering of anything in frame while using the monitor as the viewfinder. These are important aspects considering how this camera is designed to be used. At the end of the day, I had nearly filled the internal storage with 47 minutes of footage and I still had 70% of the battery remaining. The camcorder can be operated in either video mode or camera mode. Pressing the record button starts/stops filming in video mode and takes a picture when in camera mode. Whichever mode it was in when you turn it off is the mode it will be in when you turn it back on. However, there is an onscreen button you can press to take a picture regardless of which mode you are in. While I'm at it, I have to talk about the 40x optical zoom, image stabilization, and the auto focus. I've included a random photo of some windows which by itself doesn't seem all that special. What makes it impressive is that I took that picture using the camcorder freehand with the zoom all the way up to 40x. Those windows were on the second story of a house over a tenth of a mile away from where I was standing. I'd have to imagine that the picture would have looked better had I been using a tripod but it's still far from the worst photo I've ever taken. In the settings, it is possible to turn on an additional 160x worth of digital zoom for a total of 200x magnification. To be honest, I haven't tried the digital zoom because 40x has been more than enough. Plus, optical zoom always looks better than digital zoom anyways. As for the image stabilization, I immediately turned it to its highest setting since I don't have the steadiest hands. At the pool party, the camera was passed around until everyone had a chance to try it out for themselves. I am pleased to report that the image stabilization is quite capable of keeping the majority of the footage usable regardless of who is operating the camera. I'm not saying that it is not possible to overwhelm the stabilization; you just have to be trying to do so. In regards to the auto focus, it reacts reasonably quickly and is able to focus in on things less than an inch away from the lens. Plus, you can set it to be track faces, color, or even a particular area. It can also be turned off completely if you desire. With all that being said, this camera is not perfect. The maximum resolution is 1080p and 60 fps. Personally, I would've preferred an integrated shutter-style lens cover opposed to the clip on cap that comes with it. The cap has a tendency to float into frame when filming under water and will continually bounce off your wrist when filming above water. The built-in speaker is quiet even at maximum volume and doesn't sound very good. If you are filming in quieter settings, the microphone picks up the auto focus servos as well as the ones for the optical zoom. When you are reviewing photos and video on the camcorder, files only appear according to which mode you are in. Photos can only be viewed while in camera mode and video can only be seen in video mode. The footage gets grainy and color accuracy decreases dramatically in low light situations such as filming at dusk and there is no night vision. At the end of the day, this is a simple to use camcorder with great battery life that would make some decent looking home movies or vlogs. The water and shockproofing will keep the camcorder safe in most situations, it is light enough to comfortably take with you wherever you go, and the auto focus and image stabilization work well enough to make you seem like a better filmographer than you actually are.

Over all I am happy with the camera and its performance. If you are looking for a good camcorder that can go anywhere, provide decent images and is simple to operate this is the one to get. I chose the blue version and it really stands out due to its blue metallic body. This camera is actually a cross between a full-sized camcorder and an action cam. It gives you the portability and weatherproof capabilities of an action cam and the optical zoom capabilities and side LCD monitor of a full size camcorder. The camcorder build feels rock solid and fits nicely in your hand. Its about half the size of my other camcorders so it’s easy to pack and go on all the family activities. It has many advanced features but also works just fine on auto for those who just want a simple point and shoot camcorder that is outdoors friendly. I like being outdoors and in the past I have had cameras ruined by sand and water. Because this camcorder is weather proof it is good to go whether you are headed to the beach or the trail. Things I really liked: • It’s Weather proof so it can go anywhere you go and still record good video. • It has a nice sized LCD monitor and yet its small enough to fit in my hiking short’s pocket. • The 40x optical zoom allows you to get up close when far away. It also has digital zoom capabilities but I found that it has limited use unless you are using a tripod. • The image stabilization works up to about 20 x with reasonable image quality • The camcorder has Macro capabilities like my SLR so I can get up close images • The camcorder feels natural in your hand is easy to operate • The lens assembly is threaded so you can add filters and lens protectors if you like. • The side LCD monitor can be rotated so you can see the monitor while recording yourself for v-logging purposes. • The facial recognition and auto focus worked well in and out of the water. See the photos. Things that made me pause • The menu system isn’t the most intuitive luckily there is a good manual on line. • There are a lot of icons on the menu screen that indicate various functions. It took me some time to understand what they were and their functions. • No external microphone connection • No mini HDMI adapter or cable. If you want to play your videos on your TV you will need to purchase the cable or pull the memory card out of the unit. • To charge the battery or access the hdmi port you have to open the “water tight” seal on the back compartment. I am not sure how reliable that seal will be over time. • To take a photo when recording video you have to press the camera icon on the side LCD monitor. This means you have to change your focus to find the icon and use your other hand to press the screen to take the shot. • The sound quality of just ok. This camera is so close to being the perfect travel companion but It misses the mark in two areas. It doesn’t support 4k which is a debatable issue. I have other 4k camcorders but due to battery consumption and file size I will often shoot at a lower resolution. The highest resolution this camera supports is 1080 which is still good quality video for the typical user. The second issue is that the battery is not replaceable so when the battery runs out you have to either plug it in or use the usb cable and charge it using a power brick while on the go. Note that to power the camera you have to open the water sealed compartment so you need to be careful if you are charging it in the open. I attached a couple of photos. The one photo is under the water in my pool and as you can see the focus and image quality are quite good. Another photo shows the camera as it is coming out of the water. The lens is still half in the water. This shows that the autofocus has already locked in above the water line because the flowers in the back ground are clear. The last photo is an up close shot of a flower. The autofocus really did a good job with that photo.

I really like the Canon Vixia HF W10 Camcorder. It is a weather and shock resistant small form factor camera that fits nicely and securely in your palm. Unboxing- Picture included, this has all the cables with adequate lengths as well as lenscover and cable filters. Manual is easy to understand but could have done a better job at highlighting features. First use- Zooming back and forth was easy. There is some obvious lag in focus but that is normal in this range. Video quality was very good and snapshot capability produced very good quality output. Internal storage is 8GB but you can easily add an SDXC card up to 128GB. On a 2nd and third use, it was sprinking rain outside and the camera performed great. It did not get too wet and the door seal around the connections is exceptional and left me comfortable no water could penetrate it. I would have liked to attach a video but only still shots were able to be uploaded. Overall, I really like the Canon HF W10. I got the Blue one! It looks cool and not boring!

I have used other knock off Sport Cameras and have had better success. If you are migrating from an older DV camcorder (which I do have) this is leaps and bounds. Low light video footage is poor and still shots in low light is poor. Outdoor quality is really good. Viewing on a PC is different than viewing on a 4K tv. PC is better picture quality. While viewing on a 4K tv, colors seem to be over saturated and has tones of orange and red that overtake the footage. The 40x zoom is really good, but you can hear the mechanical zoom as you take the footage, which I kind of find annoying. Hand stabilization is pretty good. Touch screen display is ok not as smooth as a smartphone. Onboard menu is pretty easy to navigate. Initial setup is pretty straightforward. Touch screen can swivel around to to selfies pretty easy. Charge time is half decent upon first charge. Access to ports and SD card is pretty easy. The unit sits in your hand pretty good (well balanced) and the strap is easy to adjust. The only thing with the zoom it is a bit far back and is harder to adjust and causes for a wobbly shoot when zooming in. It should be placed a bit more forward in my opinion. This is assuming a 1 hand operation. On board 6 GB of memory is sufficient for short shoots and not for long shoots. Access to download via PC is pretty straightforward after learning how the files are stored. Viewing on 4K tv and plugging using medium HDMI cord was pretty easy. I have not tested underwater yet. I will provide additional feedback for underwater shooting at a later time.

In a world of smartphones that have great cameras built-in, why would anyone buy a camcorder?! Here are a few reasons: 1. 40X optical zoom 2. It's waterproof up to 16.4 feet under water 3. It's Shockproof up to 4.9 feet 4. It's quick and easy to use 5. The top four attributes make it great for outdoor use and comfortable enough to let my 8 and 9 year old daughters use it! What do I like about the VIXIA HF W10? - It's small and light weight, comfortable to hold in the hand - 8GB of built-in flash storage is enough to get some nice video and stills - The 64GB MicroSDXC I had, when put in a full size SD card adapter, worked very well with it. - It takes great video under water! We haven't tried much but we got some great video of the bottom of a creek today, very bright and clear - Battery life! I haven't used it enough to give you numbers but it seems to use the battery slowly. My daughters were playing with it and taking 20-30 minutes of video today and it's still at 80%. For the quality it gets I think that seems very good. - The black plastic looks good, doesn't feel cheap, isn't a finger print magnet, and it does't look "ruggedized", no extra thick rubber cover or anything Recording video at the default quality setting (Canon calls it "XP" 7:44 left on my partly used 64GB card), which I thought was takes very good quality video, uses about 1GB for 8 minutes. There is one higher quality setting (UXP 5:29 left at the same point in time) and a lower quality setting (EP a crazy 27:26 left on the same 64GB card at the same point in time) that greatly reduces files size. All of those settings are at 1920x1080 60fps interlaced. There is a 60fps progressive mode but recording at that only has one quality option and on the same card at, again, the same point in time it dropped the recording to 4:52. There are no resolution options for the video, it's all 1920x1080. The video was good inside and out. Better lighting gave better color accuracy in the video but it often did well with video inside when I wasn't sure it would. It adjusts pretty quickly when you move it from brighter to dimmer lighting or vice versa. If there is a bright light behind something that will throw it off but most cameras have a really hard time with that. I was very pleased with the video quality, especially outside. Though I had less testing of sound so far it seems to pick up audio very well. This does take photos. You need to have good lighting and if there are different light sources, like sunlight coming in through the window and other lights inside the white balance may not be right and the colors could be off. With lower light the photos they tend to be grainy too. I haven't noticed the same graininess in the video. Outdoor they can be pretty good though. I didn't really dock the camera for photo quality because everyone has a cell phone that they use for photos most of the time. Still this can take good photos and that optical zoom could come in handy when you're trying to get a picture of wildlife at a distance and no cell phone will work. I've uploaded two outdoor pictures I took with it. You can see what you think. There are four resolution options, up to 3680x2760 (10MP if you care). The default of 1920x1080 (2MP) seems good in general. Again, the key to good photos on this will be the lighting and in general, it's just better outside. There are a lot of settings but you don't need to mess with them most of the time. There is a timer for both photos and video. I set it to 2 seconds all the time for photos so there is less chance of blur. There are other options too like time lapse, wind noise reduction, image stabilization options, and more. If you are going to use an SD card with it, as I expect most will, it's simple but you need to set it to save photos and videos on it. By default it will continue to save to the built in 8GB flash storage. The settings for photos and videos are independent so you can have photos go to the built-in storage and videos go to the SD card if you want. The physical controls are simple and work well. To turn the camera on, open the screen. To turn it off, you close the screen. There's a rocker switch on top that's used for zoom, volume up/down when viewing video, and next/previous when reviewing photos. There's one button on the back that's used to start/stop recording and to take photos. You can also use an on-screen button to take photos. The touch screen is pressure sensitive. While you need to press harder than on your phone it's easy to get used to and works well. It has three ports: mini-HDMI, microUSB for data and power, and a port for analog video out. I used the mini-HDMI to connect it to our TV and that worked well. For the TV output to work you need to turn it on in the camera settings first and then connect it to the TV. There is also the SD Card slot obviously. The VIXIA HF W10 is a good video camera for the price and is especially well suited for a camping trip, hike, and countless other outdoor activities!

Bought this camera after my previous 8 year old JVC and I got caught in a heavy downpour while at my son’s lacrosse game. That camera did not survive. This unit being waterproof eliminates that fear. Works great. It produces a great picture. Excellent zoom and stability and shutter speed is sufficient to capture the action on the field. I really like that the long lasting battery is internal as it reduces the size and weight. I have not had an issue with it not lasting all day, however I carry a portable charger block with me just in case.

Great price for a camcorder that is waterproof. It's a compact size and takes great video. Some smaller camcorders have a giant external battery that bolts onto the back (which they don't show you in the pictures). With this one, it's exactly as the picture shows. Great for bringing along on any activity because you don't have to worry about getting it wet. It's also easy to use. I'm pleased with this purchase.

This is a handy little device -- compact, easy to use, and I like that it's waterproof. However, I was dismayed to find that one cannot attach an external microphone for better audio. Image quality is great, mic not so good. It picks up a lot of ambient sound.

Small and lightweight. I think this would be a good camera for someone starting out. I like the idea that I can be out in a rain shower and not worry about it because it is waterproof. I carry it with me most anywhere I go and so far am not afraid of bumping it into anything because it is shockproof. Device is sealed so that it can be waterproof. So the battery cannot be swapped out if you run out of power. Things I would like to see in a future model. 4K video, a way to connect an external power-pack so that I could recharge on the go. Future models from Canon that are like the more $800 to $1000 models but have the waterproof and shockproof features included would be nice to see.

Small and easy to use. Basic camera without all the bell and whistles. Full 1080p. It's waterproof to 16 feet. Got it on clearance and it's last year's model.

We bought this to record our kids' ballgames, as well as to take with us on vacation. It is waterproof which is great for outdoor sporting events - but it needs some kind of rain shield if you expect to get any decent images in the rain. Battery has great life, and images are clear. Great family camera!

Very nice lightweight camera. Easy to use by someone who doesn't know much about cameras. Microphone is decent. Picture/recording quality appears to be very good. I like it a lot.

Haven't used it much yet. Had trouble getting it to record to SD card so had to google/youtube it. Like that its waterproof but have to use that "feature" also. I like that it is very light so its really easy to handle.

If your going to be taking a lot of videos, especially for a extended time, its nice to have a actual camcorder. They are a lot more comfortable in the hand and typically record better sound than a phone would. This one fits in my hand very nicely and feels like a quality piece of hardware. The fold out touch screen is actually pressure sensitive. It took me a while to figure this out as it wasn't registering my touches half the time. But this makes sense since this device is waterproof. The ports are all hid behind a door as well to keep water out. I did test it in the rain and it worked fine. Rain and snow will probably be my extent of waterproof testing though. As for video and sound I thought the HD video quality was fine. Nothing to rave about but also nothing to complain about either. Its 1920x1080, 60p, and you can adjust Mbps in the settings. Seems to do a pretty good job of focusing as well. The sound on the recordings is better than my phone so no complains there. Below are some pros and cons based on my personal usage. Pros: clear video and sound Small size lightweight waterproof comfortable in hand 40x optical zoom can also take still photos touch screen and folds out long life battery comes in two colors has HDMI built in Cons: only has 8gb of internal storage To me this is a nice all around camcorder and I'm not afraid to take it out into the elements with me. Since its waterproof I would suggest anyone looking for more of a outdoor classic style recorder to consider this.

Got this on a saw. I could not be any happier with this product, it is so easy to use and shoots very crisply. Little expensive still.

Really like the internal Battery. No protrusion in rear of unit that hampers camera use. An easy to maneuver palm held camera. Just wish it had a built in lens cover with a side of lens open and shut tab. The lens cover has to be manually put on and taken off, which is not convenient.

CAMERA WORKS GREAT EASY OPERATION. GOOD PHOTOS UNDER WATER THE PRICE WAS THE BEST THING