- Canon PowerShot V1 quietly announced on the Canon Japan website
- It features an all-new 22.3MP sensor that's effectively Micro Four Thirds size, and a 16-50mm F2.8-4.5 lens
- Its price converted from Japanese Yen is roughly $990 / £785 / AU$1,550
We've been following rumors of an exciting new Canon compact camera for some time, and that camera – the PowerShot V1 – has just been unveiled on the Canon Japan website.
Canon's latest PowerShot is primarily a vlogging compact camera, and on paper it looks like a Sony ZV-1 II-beating rival. It features a 16-50mm F2.8-4.5 lens and new stabilized 22.3MP sensor that's essentially the same size as Micro Four Thirds, save for its narrower 3:2 aspect ratio.
It offers 4K / 30p video and Canon's C-Log color profile, or 4K /60p with a heavy 1.4x crop – but that latter shouldn't be much of an issue considering the ultra-wide perspective of the 3.1x optical zoom lens.
There's also a built-in 3-stop ND filter, 5EV in-body image stabilization, mic and headphones ports, plus record times with a heat limit that starts at 25 minutes, but which can be extended to unlimited with the built-in cooling fan in action.
Photographers won't find features such as a viewfinder or built-in flash, but that doesn't mean they should ignore the PowerShot V1, because it has some incredibly powerful photo features. These include burst shooting at rates of up to 15fps with the mechanical shutter (that's incredibly fast – only a handful of cameras can go that fast using a mechanical shutter), or up to 30fps with the electronic shutter.
Overall, the PowerShot V1 has a solid feature-set squeezed into a compact body with comfortable-looking hand grip, and here's why I think it'll be a hit: it's likely list price. At the time of writing, we only have the 148,500 Japanese Yen price, which converts to around $990 / £785 / AU$1,550 – assuming that the actual prices are in that ballpark, that's pretty competitive considering the features on board.
Could the Canon Powershot V1 be the one compact camera to rule them all?
From the Sony ZV-1 II compact to the gimbal-stabilized DJI Osmo Pocket 3 and the Fujifilm XM-5 / Nikon Z30 mirrorless cameras, there's no shortage of sub-$1,000 vlogging cameras. And it's into this market that the Canon PowerShot V1 steps.
We haven't tested the feature-stacked PowerShot V1 yet – it's set for an April / May launch – but on paper it looks super impressive, and it's likely to enter the market at an enticing price point that I expect to make it very popular.
It's stabilized sensor is larger than the 1-inch type used by Sony and DJI rivals, while users still enjoy the convenience of a built-in lens that you don't get with mirrorless cameras such as the Nikon Z30.
And its image-making capabilities are supported by what looks like a complete user experience for video, with in-body image stabilization rated up to 5EV, a built-in ND filter, a cooling fan, mic and headphone ports, and a hotshoe for accessories such as external flashguns.
At 15oz / 426g with card and battery inserted, the PowerShot V1 is a little weightier than I expected, but it's the complete package idea for video-first users who also want a highly competent photography tool.
We'll be publishing our in-depth review as soon as possible after we get hold of the camera for testing, but even at this early stage the PowerShot V1 looks set to win a place in our best vlogging cameras guide.
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