- Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 18 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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6 out of 6 people found this review helpful
3.5 stars
"Great Value, has some quirks"
Pros: True HD, tapeless, Great 5MP Dig Cam w/flash
Cons: Poor low-light video, shaky video
Summary: I have owned this camera for a week and took it on a fishing trip. It shoots great video in the bright outdoors. The may I quote Owen Wilson from I Spy "Size Matters!!" Seriously, the small size is very nice, and the portability helped me get shots that I would not have otherwise (ie. while biking). The included case makes it easy to carry it safely on my belt. The Digital Image stabilizaion needs improvement (no optical stabiliztion). Also, it's harder to hold smaller cameras steady - so this will continue to be a problem wilth all camcorders as they get smaller. Before I bought this camcorder, I had 2 big questions: How much video on an SD card and Battery Life. I get at least 40 min of HD video in SHQ (highest quality setting) on a 2 Gig card. I have not had a chance to try out my 4 Gig card yet, but many say that it woks in this camcorder. Battery life is great. When you close the LCD screen, the camcorder goes to sleep. I never truly turned it off for 2 days, recorded about 40 min of video, took about 20 pictures (some w flash) and used the camcorder for viewing as well. After all this 2-day "trial," the battery life meter was only down to half. I doubt I will ever need a second battery. This is likely due to the fact that there are hardly no moving parts. The main problem with this camera is that I have to tweak the light settings for indoor/evening shots. Then the picture is quite grainy. In the same setting, however, a still shot looks great. This is because if the incuded flash. The flash doesn't double as a video light however. It's only for still shots. While shooting video the image is so shaky that I will probably buy a tripod. For daylight and a steady hand, the video is fantastic. The 5MP digital camera is good in practically all settings. Probably not as good as my Digital Rebel w/$500 lens and attached flash, but not far off. This is the best camera I have ever seen in a camcorder. The SD card imports to my computer in a couple of minutes. I'm a mac user, and iMovie imports the MPEG-4's into the HD mode just fine. My DVD's look great on the TV. This Camera is for the dedicated DVD compiler. And you will need a powerful computer to handle the HD. Even quicktime jumps while watching clips. If you just want to store these on an external HD, it's a little quirky, because your video is stored In many different clips as separate files. Great for compiling a movie on a computer, but tedious if you want to watch them on you computer unedited. The camcorder had a great docking station. however, that allows "all play" and you can view everything you just took on your TV in a few seconds. The included remote is very nice. The only problem with this method is that you are limited to your SD card space. Originally, I thought about returning this item because I shoot a lot of video indoors (kids & stuff). But as I shopped around, there is nothing else in this class. I'd have to spend thousands more to get anything better. I'll keep my house well lit, keep my camcorder, and keep it steady.Updated
2 GB SD card holds 23 minutes of HD video at highest quality. I had a difficult time doing a Full Format on my 4 GB card, but I eventually got it working. It holds 56 minutes at highest setting. The battery lasts about an hour, including photos and video viewing. The indoor lighting problem can be fixed by having good lighting in the house. You can also adjust the aperature/ISO/white balance and a few other things on the camera to fix this problem. Even at sunset, I was able to get the subject appear brighter than what I could see with my own 2 eyes! I'm happier with the product now that I have figured out how to tweak it to take in more light in the evening. Shawdows are still very dark, and I have learned to brace my hand/arm on something to keep the camera extremely still. Still rate it a 7
Where to buy
Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1:
$259.95 - $999.95
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$999.95 | Yes |
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$259.95 | Yes |
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