I a Nikon D5500 with a 70-300mm lens to make videos. I'm looking at a Canon XA10 with a 10x zoom. How does the 10x zoom compare to 300mm?

I a Nikon D5500 with a 70-300mm lens to make videos. I'm looking at a Canon XA10 with a 10x zoom. How does the 10x zoom compare to 300mm? - 1

The focal length on the XA10 is equivalent to 30.5-305mm on a 35mm (full frame) camera. The D5500 is a crop sensor camera with 1.5x so your 70-300 will equate to 105-450mm on a full frame camera.

Lens-wise, at the high end, the Nikon would be 450mm beating the Canon at 305mm. At the wide end, the Canon would be better at 30mm with the Nikon still telephoto at 105mm. There's no comparison actually because the Canon has an all-purpose long zoom lens while the Nikon is a telephoto zoom lens. For video, if your shots are taken always from afar, you will survive with the telephoto lens. If you vary your shots, some taken near and some taken far, the Canon would do better.

Another point of argument is the camera itself. The dSLR was never meant to do video. You'll see that clearly when you start looking for video controls. There's none. The XA10 on the other hand is a camcorder, which is the correct tool for shooting video. Although it doesn't have enough video control for selecting more settings, it will allow you to autofocus much better and shoot much longer compared to any dSLR.

Nikon D 5500 is a DSLR where are the Canon xA10 is a dedicated camcorder.

Canon XA10 10X optical zoom lens of the Canon camcorder is quite handy where as the Nikon D 5500 300mm lens is big,

Nikon D5500 features LARGE APS-C semsor on the other side the X-A10 uses finger nail size sensor

I personally recommend you to get HybrD sensor based camera if you are in making videos

GET CANON 200D with kit lens that will cot you less then Canon XA10 camera.

Indeed it is always good to use a proper camcorder for shooting video footage.

When you read 10x, all that means is that the strongest focal length is 10x more than the shortest. For example, a 1-10mm or 2-20mm, or 10-100mm or 100-1,000mm are all 10x zooms. So without knowing what the minimum focal length of the lens in the Canon XA10, it's not possible to say. Of course, the range on the lens will be something like 4-40mm because it's not using a 35mm-format sensor. You have to find out what the crop factor of the lens first, then multiply the range by the crop factor to get the equivalent in 35mm format.

On a separate topic, Nikon is without question one of the worst cameras for video. They use an antiquated focusing system when in video mode. Canon, on the other hand, uses an advanced dual-pixel system on many of their DSLRs for vastly superior focusing. Nikon has never made their own video equipment, which is why they're the worst on the market next to Pentax for video. Do yourself a huge favor and either sell your Nikon for a Panasonic GH5, Sony A6300, or a Canon 80D. Or better yet, spend your money on a camcorder. Any camcorder in the same price range as a 70-300mm will easily outperform a Nikon D5xxx series DSLR.