Canon PowerShot V10

Canon's new PowerShot V10 vlog camera may appear strange, but its design might just make sense. Andy Westlake and Joshua Waller take a look

- Andy Westlake, Joshua Waller

It’s fair to say that the Canon PowerShot V10 is quite different to any other camera we’ve seen. Unlike all the previous models in the firm’s PowerShot range of compact cameras, it’s not designed for capturing still photographs. Instead, this is a vlogging camera, which Canon says is designed to be an easy-to-use, all-in-one solution to videoing yourself, and uploading or live streaming to social media. As such, it’s a direct competitor to the Sony ZV-1F, but with a very different physical design, and an attractively low price of £429.99 (for the basic ‘Essential Kit’).

The key point to understand about the V10 is that it’s designed almost entirely for video– and in particular, videoing yourself. It’s also capable of shooting still images, but that’s almost beside the point. Currently, most vlogging cameras look much as the same as conventional cameras but are used with the lens facing the opposite direction. Clearly, Canon has looked at all those people awkwardly pointing a camera back towards themselves and decided it’s time for a rethink of the shape and layout.

As a result, the V10 is designed so it’s easy to operate one-handed, with a shape that makes it more secure to hold. It can be used in either hand, with its prominent central record button falling nicely under your thumb, either left or right. It has a flip-up screen and built-in folding stand, which allows the camera to be set down on a table at almost any angle. As a result, you don’t necessarily need to carry a tripod or grip.