In case you are in line with the budget, then two of the best bargain deals for you would be the Sony CX405 and Canon R800. Both the items are the best value for money and come with lucrative camcorder packages.
No matter if you’re new at using a camcorder or want the tool for an advanced level of photography, both the arsenals can serve your best interests. As the items won’t cause you many bucks, you can easily
make both of them included in your camera collection.
Sony CX405 vs Canon R800
But, if you want to pick only one, then you need a closer look at Sony CX405 vs Canon R800, right? I’ve used both the items in recent times and found some distinctive attributes between the two. Here, I am going to present you with a detailed comparative analysis of the items for you. Let’s go!
Body Construction
The camera body of the Sony CX405 model weighs only 6.7-ounce which provides great mobility to the users. There’s also an additional hand strap being attached to the body to ensure more user convenience and comfort while carrying it along with you for shooting. You’ll love the easily usable features of this camcorder. There locates a joystick for camcorder control and a preview button just beside the screen display of CX405. They help the users control your camcorder easily and effectively.
Another lightweight and convenient camcorder design comes with Canon VIXIA HF R800. Due to its compact body and user-friendly construction of 8.29-ounce weight, it’s one of the best camcorders for live streaming videos. You can easily fit them in any of your tour-luggage. But unlike the Sony HDR CX405 model, R800 doesn’t feature any hand strap to support user mobility.
Display screen
Due to the lightweight construction of both the models, they also come with a smaller screen compared to other units. CX405 provides a display size of only 2.7 inches of dimension. On the contrary, Canon VIXIA HF R800 features a 3-inch LCD screen along with a touch panel. Both the screens are quite clear for working with camera settings effectively, even at the outdoor or with the bright, scorching sunny condition. Unlike the R800 model, CX405 supports screen rotation at 90° with a turning angle of 270°.
Battery
R800 comes with a high-capacity rechargeable 2760 mA-h & 3.6 VDC Lithium-ion battery pack allowing the user to capture shots for a longer session without any hassle. CX405 also comes with a rechargeable battery pack. It additionally supports the USB cable charging option, unlike the R800 unit.
Optical Lens
The CX405 model is equipped with a Carl ZEISS lens which I personally love the most due to its amazing wide-angle view. It captures absolutely everything and won’t miss a single object in front of it. If you’ve many guests gathered in a small room space or you’re up to shoot a wide landscape outdoor video, you can do it without any trouble. The focal length of the lens is 29.8 mm to record long-range videos perfectly.
As we’re talking about the focal length, let’s check the number for the R800 unit too. This model provides an extended focal range from 32.5 to around 1853mm. Moreover, its variable optical zoom settings make this camcorder a perfect one for shooting long-distance videos.
Image quality
Sony CX405 features a smaller yet powerful Exmor R CMOS sensor to present sharper images with minimal possible noise. This camcorder is capable of absorbing increased light by each image pixel and thus yields more professional capture. It shoots 9.4 megapixels still pics with the ability to shoot 60p video at 1920 x 1080 resolution. The basic zoom range of 27x is quite good to capture far objects efficiently. To add more precision, there’s also an extended magnification range of 54x.
Canon VIXIA HF R800 is designed with a powerful CMOS imaging sensor that presents a moderate 3.2-megapixel visual along with High-definition 1920 x 1080 video resolution. The best feat of this camcorder unit is its super-strong 57x zooming level that’s responsible for the dynamic variation of videos with the least disruption of shooting. This feature makes R800 an all-around option for indoor, outdoor, formal, informal shooting purposes.
Visual performance
The DIGIC DV 4 image processor of the R800 unit is famous for its improved imaging performance. It ensures capturing photos/videos with poor light conditions eliminating noise and other distortions. This camcorder is capable of shooting in both slow and fast motion videos, thanks to its customizable recording facility. You can capture slow-motion video at 0.5x speed, again the super-fast ones at 1200x with this camcorder. You would love the 15 variable zooming options of this unit. Additionally, there’s a file lock feature coming with this model that protects your precious videos from all unwanted operational errors.
Regarding the Sony HDR CX405 model, the best feat that I personally love most is its dual video recording option. You can either make your videos in mp4 or AVCHD format, depending on your sharing requirement. Enjoy the shake-free video shooting with its Steady Shot image stabilization and 3-way shaking cancel technology. Its intelligent auto scene selection facility allows you to choose the best camera settings for you from a varied range of 10 different scene settings.
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Audio format
Both the camcorders lack an external microphone jack, and you need to arrange them additionally. Sony CX405 supports both AAA-LC and Dolby Digital quality sound for their captured video, whereas Canon R800 supports only AAA-LC audio format. Unlike CX405, R800 supports a headphone jack on its body.
Storage & Transfer
There’s no Wi-Fi facility at any of these two camcorder models. There’s a USB 2.0 cable facility with CX405 to ensure faster file transfer and also to charge the item. There’re dual slots that support both micro-HDMI and micro-SD ports. You can use any of them to store or transfer your necessary files.
Nonetheless, RF800 comes with a USB option to transfer files despite its 1TB space. There’s no in-built Wi-Fi option, but still, it has ports to support the headphone or microphone jack.
Pros and Cons
Pros of Sony CX405
- Compact body with lightweight construction.
- Intelligent auto scene selection feature.
- Captures shake-free videos due to its amazing image stabilization.
Cons of Sony CX405
- No in-built Wi-Fi technology.
- Comes with no external microphone.
Pros of Canon R800
- Lightweight body with an attached hand-strap.
- File locking feature.
- Better image stabilization.
Cons of Canon R800
- No internal memory card.
- Not a suitable night-mode camera.
Final verdict
Honestly speaking, there’re no huge differences between Sony CX405 vs. Canon R800. Both units provide you the basic camcorder features, and both the items emerge as user-friendly options considering their convenient features. There are some marginal differences, as we already analyzed. You can pick anyone between the two. If you ask me, my suggestion would be Sony CX405. I think it marginally outnumbers R800. Now, the final decision is yours to make. Happy camera time!
