Canon and Sony are the two very prominent names in the camera industry. Both the brands presented many popular and effective camcorder models over the years. Two of such items are Canon VIXIA HF R800 and Sony HDR CX405. If you’re a regular camcorder user, you certainly know how different the features of two different camcorder models can be. These two devices are no exception as well.
As both the models are very much effective for serving all your camcorder purposes, Canon VIXIA HF R800 vs. Sony HDR CX405 is definitely a topic that frequently pops up in your mind. The argument of which one of these two models would suit your purpose even better is very much obvious. So, here is a detailed comparative analysis of these two models. After going through this, it’d be easier to pick one for you.
Construction and Design
The best thing that’s common for both Canon VIXIA HF R800 and Sony HDR CX405 is their compact yet capable construction. The main unit of Sony HDR CX405 weighs 6.7-ounces only, whereas Canon VIXIA HF R800 is a bit heavier, containing 8.29-ounces. These small ranges of weight ensure better mobility of the camcorders while recording your videos. There’s also a hand strap coming with HDR-CX405 that allows better holding capacity.
There’s a built-in and high-speed USB cable coming with HDR-CX405, which benefits the users by transferring their videos or charging up the whole unit without any need for a separate cable. VIXIA HF R800 provides a higher space of 1TB to contain all your photos and videos. There’s also USB connectivity with this device. You can charge your camcorder in just two minutes.
CX405 comes with a relatively smaller display of only 2.7-inch in dimension. It also provides 230k dot resolution to ensure clear visual previews and also enables the user to better control different settings. The clear photo tech improves the video previews even more. There are both micro HDMI ports and SD memory card slots coming in this camcorder.
On the contrary, VIXIA HF R800 comes with a powerful DIGIC DV 4 image processor to provide enhanced imaging performance. It leads to noise reduction and produces brighter visuals in dark conditions. The 3-inch capacitive touch screen produces a clearer preview. Also, there are SD card slots available in the camcorder. Use a 32 or 64GB memory card to ensure higher capacity.
Video Performance
Sony HDR CX405 Handycam is equipped with a wide-angle Carl ZEISS lens along with an Exmor R CMOS image sensor. The lens has a zooming range of up to 30X and delivers high-quality 9.2 megapixels images with 1920 x 1080 HD-resolution. The lens provides a focal length of 26.8mm, which is equivalent to 35mm. This camcorder can deliver the best service even in low light situations, thanks to the image processor.
This camcorder features a dual recording of both the AVCHD and MP4 formats at a 50Mbps bit rate. You can capture both these formats simultaneously. The smart SteadyShot image stabilization technique associated with intelligent, active mode helps in compensating greater degree of tilting or camera shakes and thus offers smooth recording video. The level of illumination will vary from 3 to 6 Lux keeping the camera speed constant.
The Canon VIXIA HF R800 model equips a full HD DIGIC DV image sensor to ensure improved visual quality. It provides a visual resolution of 1920 x 1080. This high-resolution sensor provides real-life image capture, even in the poor light situation due to its on-chip noise elimination technique. It ensures better clarity at each frame and displays a clearer and vivid presentation. Get rid of the entire manual shake with its sophisticated SuperRange image stabilization process. It’ll automatically correct all such effects.
You will definitely love the advanced 57X zoom settings of this unit. The focal length of 32.5 to around 1853mm of the wide-angle lens covers a wider range. Enjoy the better convenience and more creative control over the videos you shoot with this camcorder. There are also dynamically variable zoom options with different zoom speed settings that will allow you to capture more innovative shoots. You can record both the slow or fast motion videos effectively with this camcorder.
Other Features
Both Canon VIXIA HF R800 and Sony HDR CX405 camcorders come with different innovative attributes that make the products so popular to the users. HF R800 is equipped with Highlight Priority Mode that comes with gamma settings to provide high-level HDR video quality. You won’t lose any details of your visual. This feature is even more bolstered with the backlight correction to deliver perfectly exposed visuals.
Locate the subjects in your videos more efficiently with the framing assistance function. You can also protect your videos with the lockable file function. You can save your videos from unwanted occurrences like deletion, trimming, dividing, copying, etc. Especially if you get small kids, this feature will help you guard your videos from them.
Sony CX405 comes with intelligent auto features from where you can choose any setting from the available ten different ones, including portrait, landscape, twilight, macro, spotlight, tripod, backlight, low-light capture, etc. Thus, you can choose the best model for your desired shot. You can also create a highlight video in MP4 format. The 3-way shake canceling feature adds more stability to your video. Enjoy the smoother video capture ever with CX405. If you don’t have a tripod, you won’t face much difficulty with these features.
Pros and cons
The best thing about the Sony HDR CX405 unit is its compact, easy-going construction and easy-to-use features. It can deliver the best visual within this small body size. You’ll also love all the user-friendly attributes coming up to help all the users. The only drawback of this model is the lack of any in-built Wi-Fi connectivity. Though the USB and HDMI cables will solve the transfer problem to a great extent, you would miss the Wi-Fi facility for sure.
Canon VIXIA R800 also delivers a great user-convenience and easy-to-go nature. The image stabilization and focus assistance are top-notch. Memory lockable features also add more security over the use. But just like the CX405, this unit lacks a Wi-Fi option and also misses an internal SD memory card. They need to work on these, I personally think.
Bottom Line
Whenever you look for an expert camcorder for multi-purposes within your budget, the top two effective devices that would come into your sure consideration are the Sony HDR CX405 and the Canon VIXIA HF R800. You can pick anyone from these two as both the items can deliver you the best camcorder experiences. Have the best shooting time!
