Sanyo VPC-FH1A Full HD Video and 8 MP Digital Photos (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Pros
Superb low light response.
Excellent Mac compatibility
Reasonable price
Generally good set of options in the menu.
37mm threaded front lens so it it is compatible with a large assortment of attachments
Reasonable HD performance
Also functions as a pretty good and easy still cameraCons
Zoom speed cannot be slowed or controlled in any way. (I stand corrected on this point - read below)
No mic or audio line input.General Discussion
All things considered, this is a fine product. If you are a Mac person this will save you many hours of work. The MPEG4 file format is very mac friendly. But there are a few things to keep in mind.
This camera has an unusually large sensor; as such this has some interesting consequences. On the positive side, this produces stunning low light capabilities. Furthermore, one can isolate the subject from the background very easily by carefully controlling ones exposure and focus; few other consumer camcorders have this ability. However this places great strain on the auto focus. If one is simply wishing to place it in an auto mode and leave it there, it tends to have a lot of focus problems.
The zoom speed is too fast. Aside from the fact that I feel, that it is aesthetically unpleasing, in every case except bright sunlight, the zoom is faster than the auto focus. Therefore almost any attempt to zoom in while shooting will yield out-of-focus pictures. Consequently you must consider the zoom on this camera to be essentially useless.
For some inexplicable reason, they chose not to include an external mic/ audio in jack. This severely limits its usability.
David Courtney
Houston, TX

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The Sanyo Xacti FH1 is truly the benchmark in high definition, offering 1920 x 1080 pixels, and 60 fields per second to record crystal clear and smooth motion for videos. This highly advanced dual camera not only offers the regular 1080i format, recording at 60 frames per second, but with the Sanyo proprietary CMOS engine, recording is possible in 1080p format - this means recording at a full 60 frames per second. With this higher frame rate capturing ability, videos look more professional, and offer smoother, higher quality images.

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Sanyo VPC-HD2000A Xacti 8MP High Definition 1080P (Black) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I received the unit and have been testing it out in various shooting settings and resolutions. Right away I really appreciated the .mp4 format of the recordings and the simplicity of working with the files (on a Mac w/iMovie9). Honestly, on a fast mac, working with any of the size/formats the camera records seems to be quick and easy.
I'm a little disappointed that the iFrame format doesn't turn out to be a big of a deal as I thought it would be. iFrame is a nice compromise between 720p and 480p with low file size and a wide screen format. Shooting 720p @ 30fps seems to work just as well, with Quicktime deftly handling bouncing the clips down to a variety of formats including ipod, appletv, 480p, 720p, etc.
There are two slow down modes, the slowest the files do not play natively on my mac.
The transfer speed seems a tad slow thru the USB connection to a known USB 2.0 connections. Remedied with the purchase of a third party card reader, which is also mush easier than using the base stand for transfers.
The unit lacks a usb or video connection on camera so you have to use the stand or a card reader for transfers.
On tripod this cam works well. Hand held noticed some camera shake issues that seem to be inherent with the xacti line as opposed to the Canons (based on reading other reviews). Turning the motion stabilization of or off didn't seem to make much of a difference in informal shooting sessions. iMove seems geared to take a very long time to analyze clips for shake. best to get a tripod or monopod for better shots.
The still image quality is just ok. The 8 megapixel claim falling far short as the camera bumps it down to 2 megapixel while shooting video. Even in photo shooting mode the images leave a bit to be desired. Adequate for trips and events, but not worthy of replacing a good point and shoot.
I noticed some bluish glowing spots in some videos early on. The lens is wide angle enough to have some reflection problems. Zooming in, just a little, get's rid of the glowing spots.
The various shooting modes worked fine for around the house and yard. The 1080p highest quality mode seems to be struggling to remain sharp, even in good light. For the price you almost can't compare this cam to those costing thousands more. Despite this subtle flaw the hat tips to the Xacti when taking into considering the time and HD space saved using the native .mp4 files, along with easy archivability, and native playback with no transcoding.
Under studio lighting it was easy enough to use the many menu controls to set the white point and exposure, as well as adjusting the settings. One trick I've found that can dramatically improve low budget set shots is to use the exposure and focus lock commands to keep the Cam from hunting or altering the exposure while shooting in a attempt to get the best shot. The little thing, means well but sometime you have to think for it.
Overall a nice and small, modern, consumer cam. With some tweaks high quality shots are possible. For mAc users the easy accessibility makes the Xacti a strong contender - though the iFrame format, at least for now, may be more hype than feature. Last years model might do for those not willing to for out extra to early adopt.

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Take stunning Full 1080p High Definition video at 60fps and amazing 8 megapixel digital photos! The Sanyo HD2000A Dual Camera is also the world's first camcorder that is compatible with iFrame. The new iFrame video format can dramatically speed the process of importing, editing, and sharing your videos. The HD2000A delivers high performance results with multiple features normally found on much higher priced video and photo cameras. The HD2000A packs tons of features which are sure to please the most discerning user; including 600fps slow motion mode, face chasing technology which automatically reads and corrects focus and lighting for up to 12 different subjects, and 16x optical zoom for video. Its compact design makes the HD2000A extremely portable and easy to use. Videos, still photos and the various settings and menus can be easily accessed with the user's thumb.

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