Canon PowerShot V1: Canon’s New Vlogging Camera That You Can’t Have

Over the past few years, video content creators have opted to buy Sony’s ZV-1 vlogging camera and its successor, the ZV-1 Mark II vlogging camera, instead of Canon’s PowerShot V10, Canon’s first vlogging camera. However, Canon has built a decidedly more robust new camera, the Canon PowerShot V1, that will be very enticing for vloggers.

Unfortunately, Canon will only be selling this model in Asia, at least for now.

Canon PowerShot V1 Features and Specifications

One reason the new PowerShot V1 is so intriguing is that it comes with a brand-new type of imaging sensor: a 22-megapixel, 1.4-inch CMOS image sensor, which is larger than the more commonly used 1-inch sensors found in most vlogging cameras. Since it’s an advanced point-and-shoot camera, it has a fixed, non-interchangeable zoom lens, which also has wide-angle capabilities: When shooting photos, it has the 35mm-equivalent of a 16-50mm zoom, and when capturing video, that range is 17-52mm. To frame your photos and video, it comes with a 3.0-inch swiveling touchscreen (with 1.04 million dots).

It's also equipped with Canon’s powerful Dual Pixel CMOS AF II, which includes eye-detection technology for people and animals. It also has an electronic shutter (with a top shutter speed of 1/16,000 of a second) and a mechanical shutter (with a top shutter speed of 1/2,000 of a second). 

In terms of video performance, videographers will like that it can shoot more than two hours of 4K-resolution video (at 30 frames per second) without cropping or cropped 4K video (at 60 fps). One of the reasons it can shoot for such a long length of time is that it’s designed with a cooling fan to avoid overheating. Canon says the PowerShot V1 also uses both optical (lens-based) image stabilization and electronic image stabilization to capture smooth, jitter-free video footage. (Only optical IS is used with photos.) It will also ship with a windscreen accessory, which helps prevent audio distortion, and also has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.

It doesn’t have every bell and whistle, though. For instance, it lacks an electronic viewfinder, which can be handy for framing your shots when bright sunlight might wash out your display.

Here are some additional features and specs for the Canon PowerShot V1:

• Imaging Sensor: 22-megapixel, 1.4-inch CMOS image sensor
• Processor: Canon’s DIGIX X image processing engine
• Maximum Aperture: f/2.8 (wide); f/4.5 (telephoto)
• Lens Construction: 9 elements in 8 groups
• Exposure Compensation: ±3 stops (in 1/3-stop increments)
• Captures both JPEGs and RAW files: Yes
• Hot Shoe: Yes
• Electronic Viewfinder: No
• Built-in Flash: No

Pricing & Availability

The Canon PowerShot V1, which will be available in late April, is listed on the Canon Japan website for 148,500 Yen, or about $990, which is relatively pricey for a vlogging camera. (The Canon PowerShot V10 costs about a third of that at $350).