If you’re to make a shortlist of the best camcorders that currently reign the market, then obviously, you’ll pick the Canon VIXIA HF R800 and Panasonic HC-V180K in your list. These two camcorders are two of the widely-used and most popular choices to the videographer community.
No matter if you’re a beginner or at an advanced level of videography, both these cameras will come as handy for your operation. Owning both these items in your arsenal will surely benefit you for the long-run, but my suggestion is to pick the one that can deliver your current requirements.
To choose a single one from the two options, you need to make a thorough analysis. To make your task easier than ever, here’s a comparative analysis of Canon VIXIA HF R800 vs. Panasonic HC-V180k. So, let’s begin!
Let’s start with the comparison of all the important features that work as the crucial camcorder factors.
Optical Lens
The Canon VIXIA HF R800 is a perfect camcorder for shooting long-range videos, thanks to its advanced 57X digital zoom range. These zoom settings make this camera a perfect one for different occasions like wildlife recording, Hunting, shooting formal occasions, capturing family moments, snapping live-action moments, etc.
You can access in the manual mode of these zooms settings and make efficient use of the real imaging area. The variable zoom settings will also allow you to have creative control over your operation. The extended focal length of the camcorder from 32.5mm up to 1853mm also allows for achieving flexible shooting capabilities.
Panasonic HC-V180K comes with both 50X optical zooms along with an advanced 90X intelligent zooming range. It makes the users capable of capturing further subjects without any hassle. There’s no compromise with the quality and crispiness of the images due to the perfect combination of the dual zoom settings along with modern visual up-scaling technologies.
You can accommodate larger subjects in the 28mm wide-angle optical zoom lens of this camcorder. This feature makes HC-V180K a better option for social events, gatherings, or reunions.
Verdict
Clearly, Panasonic HC-V180K is the winner, considering the optical lens settings and its capabilities.
Image Sensor
Canon VIXIA HF R800 comes with a CMOS image sensor that allows it an impressive 3.28 megapixels visual and full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution. Enjoy the realistic video quality even in the faintest light condition. Get rid of the signal disturbances by the on-chip noise reduction technology and ensure better clarity in each frame.
On the contrary, Panasonic HC-V180K features an NMOS image sensor to deliver sharp image quality. NMOS is famous for lower energy consumption, whereas CMOS provides better power dissipation. Overall, this camera unit captures videos with 2.1 megapixels and still images of 10-MP. You can record full HD crystal clear 1080p videos using this unit. The back-illuminated sensors also allows efficient capture in poor light.
Verdict
Canon VIXIA HF R800 comes out as a better choice than Panasonic HC-V180K in this optical sensor aspect.
Video Performance
Panasonic HC-V180k features variable video resolution including 540p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p HD etc. It comes with an amazing image stabilization technique. You can save your videos from shaking or jolting effects and remove unwanted blurriness. There’s also a lens cover to protect your video from lens flare. The dual-channel internal microphones produce high-quality audio performance.
On the other hand, both effective slow-motion effect and fast motion video capturing is possible with Canon VIXIA HF R800. Record slow-mo video at 1/2 x speed, whereas ensuring faster recording with 1200x rate. The 15 variable digital zoom options help in convenient video shooting.
Verdict
If you consider the video quality of both camcorders, HC-V180k would be ahead of HF R800 by the slightest margin.
Connectivity
Total storage of 1TB is supported by the Canon VIXIA HF R800 model, which allows video storage of 70-hour span time or 150,000 images. There’s also USB connectivity to faster transfer of your files to different devices. There are also additional inputs like a microphone or headphone jack to bring more flexibility to the device. But, the only shortcoming of this unit is the lack of any in-built Wi-Fi feature.
Canon HF R800 also doesn’t support built-in Wi-Fi settings like HF R800. There’s a USB 2.0 port into it to connect this unit to different devices. But still, we won’t get any headphone jack or microphone unit port like the earlier one in this unit.
Verdict
Considering the availability of an external microphone and an additional headphone unit, Canon VIXIA HF is also the winner here.
Battery and Storage
The rechargeable high-capacity 2760mAh lithium-ion battery of HF R800 allows shooting for a longer period. You can also check the remaining power of the battery. The possible memory card options are SD, SDXC, and SDHC. SDHC and SDXC offer a higher capacity of storage.
On the other hand, HC-V180K is powered by similar lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, but its maximum range is 1940mAh. You can get uninterrupted battery life for up to an hour. Despite the lack of any internal memory, this unit also supports SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory cards. All the cards ensure a faster transfer rate.
Verdict
Again, the Canon VIXIA HF R800 camcorder is the winner here for its long-lasting, powerful battery performance. Storage capacity is the same for both models.
Other features
Among the different creative additional features, Canon VIXIA HF R800 offers options like SuperRange Optical Image Stabilization to compensate for the effect of camera shaking, Dynamic Image Stabilization to correct rotational sways, Highlight priority mode to provide a brighter visual.
Panasonic HC-V180K allows a wide-range of filtering effects and other operational functions. The image stabilization is also a plus considering its earlier predecessors.
Verdict
You know it already; Canonis the winner again.
Pros and Cons
Pros
Canon VIXIA HF R800
- Great warranty coverage.
- Lightweight body with hand strap attachment.
- Lockable file options.
- Smart image stabilization.
Panasonic HC-V180K
- Improved microphone and advanced lens facility.
- Good price to go.
- AVCHD recording at 28Mbps speed.
Cons
Canon VIXIA HF R800
- No Wi-Fi connectivity.
- Not a great one as a night vision unit.
- No internal memory option.
Panasonic HC-V180K
- Lack of manual controls
- No headphones or microphone jacks.
Bottom Line
After having a complete analysis of Canon VIXIA HF R800 vs. Panasonic HC-V180k, it’s completely clear that Canon VIXIA HF R800 is a winner in almost all the categories. Despite being outnumbered, the Panasonic HC-V180k is a pretty good choice as your regular camcorder. You shouldn’t overrule the camcorder so early. But between the two, Canon VIXIA HF R800 should be your top pick without any shadow of a doubt.
