Canon Legria Mini X Review

Canon’s Legria Mini is designed as a vlog camera with the focus on usability for video blogs.  I’ve had Canon’s Legria Mini X on loan for just over 2 months and have put it through it’s paces in a variety of situations, beyond just video blogs.

First impressions

When I first took the camera out it seemed a strange shape and I was also very reluctant to give the flip up screen the pull it actually needed. (I’ve got used to it by now.)

Out of the box, it asks you to go through the settings when first switched on.  I got quite excited and was keen to use it immediately, only to discover I didn’t have an SD Card to hand.  The Legria has no built-in storage and needs a separate SD Card.  Without that I couldn’t play with this little gadget.

I got used to the unusual shape very quickly.  The flat little box shape fits really well into the palm of my hand and, with nothing sticking out, travels very well in a handbag. I actually love the shape now and the camera is with me more often because of its practical shape!- it slots perfectly into one of internal pockets of my handbag.

Battery Life

Couple of weeks ago this little vlog camera came on a day long adventure with us exploring Budapest.  On the day I made 91 clips varying between couple of seconds to 13 minutes for the longest one.  I recorded 79 minutes of footage between 9 am and 4:57 pm, which was when the battery totally gave up on me.  (Still editing those clips, but I will link it to the follow up post on this.)  The results were fabulous!

All I can say, is I wish my phone would do half as well!

If you need the Legria battery to last longer, the battery is removable and you can have spares charged.

Buttons

The camera has a record button and a playback button on one side (there is also a hidden HDMI & mini USB slot here) and an on/off switch, microphone and headphone jacks, a charging point and a microphone level dial. All other functions are accessed via the touch screen.

The record button is quite practical if you are using the camera as a vlog camera pointed towards you.  If you have it pointing away from you, it’s a little more fiddly to press, just for being right-handed. Although the screen shows the second counter running when recording, I have had times when I thought I was recording when, in fact, I wasn’t and via versa.

Touch screen

The camera settings are controlled by the flip screen which is a touchscreen.  I found this screen really responsive and accurate.  The screen was visible in varying light conditions and sunlight when out and about.

Positioning the camera

You have two options to position the camera- you can use the little bar at the bottom or screw in a standard tripod.  Both have worked really well for me.

Lens

The fish eye lens took some getting used to, I guess I’m not a GoPro gal.

I love the fact that by flicking the off switch you get an actual phyical cover over the lens.

Functions

It’s very easy to switch between photo and video mode.

However, accessing some functions I found frustrating.  For example how you activate timelapse and slow mo modes, as these shows up in video settings but are greyed out.  You have to go all the way over to photo mode to activate these functions.  I did not find this intuitive.

Adjusting to light

Outdoors I felt the camera is pretty good at adjusting to backlit, direct light and grey skies.  However, on my first vlog, which was indoors in the evening, with normal room lighting, I found the screen showed a well-lit situation, but when I came to edit and upload the video, it was a lot darker. (I probably need to experiment with this further.)

 Sound recording

With two forward facing microphones it records voice very well.  Outdoors the microphones are not to it’s advantage, as with the slightest wind the wind noise muffles the voice a lot.  Saying that the other day I was recording our cycle ride into Oxford and you can clearly hear what Max my 2 year old was singing and saying to me. That was while we were whizzing down a hill at 18 miles an hour.

Zoom

There is no actual zoom on the camera. It has two modes of recording- normal or zoomed in, when it creates a fisheye effect on the recording.  This has been quite interesting. It’s simplified making recordings immensely; no wondering if Ineed to zoom or not.  Zoom is foot zoom, ie you go closer.

So far I’ve been very pleased with this little camcorder:

It works as a vlog camera, but packs so much more in.  It’s handy, light, battery goes on and on. I’ve used it in different situations- travelling in a vehicle, on a bike, vlogging, just recording life going on- it’s worked really well for me though all of those.

I will be very sad to see it go back in 2 weeks’ time. (My loan will be up.)However, before I send it back, I will still experiment with some editing on the camera itself.  (Subscribe so you don’t miss my write up of that!)

What camera do you use for vlogging?  Do you have a camcorder?

Disclosure: I was sent the Canon Legria Mini X on a short-term loan for the purposes of this review.  I have not been paid or compensated in any way. All opinions are my own honest ones…just like I’d tell it to my mom. 🙂