Sanyo VPC-CG10 HD Flash Memory Camcorder w/5x Optical Zoom review (Pink)

Performance is, on the whole, slow. When recording movies, the AF system is pokey even in bright conditions. The same goes for shooting photos, plus it seems to take an eternity to capture a shot and get ready to take another. It can shoot continuously for up to 11 frames, but the speed improvement isn't worth the trouble. The movie AF sluggishness is more tolerable, because it's typical of pocket camcorders. Those buying this as a primary still camera looking to improve over their camera phones will likely be disappointed.

The CG10's video quality, though somewhat soft, is on par with or better than other HD-quality minicamcorders in its class. Colors are natural and exposure was typically good, with only an average amount of highlight clipping; dark areas proved a little trickier for it. Noticeably better than most pocket camcorders was its low-light performance. It's by no means perfect, but artifacting/noise was more under control than I'm used to seeing from these devices.

Despite having all the features necessary for a competent digital still camera, the CG10 just doesn't have good photo quality.

The CG10's photo quality is pretty below average even for a cheap 10-megapixel still camera. Thanks to what appears to be some heavy-handed noise reduction, photos look smeary and soft regardless of shooting conditions. The camera has a selectable ISO range from 50 to 1,600; however, detail and the modicum of sharpness in photos are gone by ISO 200. Colors are generally dull, too, which doesn't help things. Basically, the results might be fine for very small prints and for Web use at reduced sizes, but the quality--regardless of the camera's capabilities on paper--is on par with a good cell phone camera.

The Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG10 comes close to being a good option for both photo and movie capture--more so for its design than the results it produces. If you're looking for a relatively inexpensive HD pocket camcorder with an optical zoom, it's certainly the way to go. The video quality is considerably better than its photos, though, and its movies are only very good considering its sub-$200 price.

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