Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1 6MP Waterproof MPEG4 Camcorder with 5x Optical Zoom (Blue) by SANYO
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Digital camera reviews of Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1 6MP Waterproof MPEG4 Camcorder with 5x Optical Zoom (Blue)
Digital camera Review: Great camera
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been looking for a small video camera to use and simple to use. My wife and I travel a lot and are in our golden years. Was very simple to operate and easy to play back. We love it. Not sure if we will use the waterproof feature but who knows.Digital camera Review: Great little performer
Summary: 4 Stars
I have now taken several hundred photos and a couple dozen videos with this little camera. It has functioned very well with no problems. I have been impressed with battery life and the quality of the images is realy quite good. Sound could be better but is fine and this should not be bought for purposes requiring great quality sound. I have used it in the rain and while kayaking and though I have not submerged it entirely, it has perfromed without a single issue. I used another's smaller version of the Xacti (not H2o proof version) and though they commented on the size diferrence I thought it was hardly noticeable. It fits easily in a shirt or pant pocket and spent much of its time recently in my zippered eyeglass pocket in a light raincoat (ie it is that small). I can highly recommend this camera for travel and all around use.Digital camera Review: Great little unit, perfect for vacations
Summary: 4 Stars
A few comments about this camera. I took it with me to India, and the standalone battery recharger was fried by a power surge after a short time. Fortunately, I found a cheap universal charger in a local shop which saved the day. Since the recharger would appear to be easily damaged by power spikes I recommend a good quality surge protector when travelling to countries where fluctuating voltage or power outages are common (e.g. India, China, and other developing countries)
The camera itself is very compact and straightforward to operate. The zoom buttons are tricky to operate with one hand without causing camera shake, so I suggest using a second hand to stabilize the camera when zooming in or out.
You have to be careful to protect the lens because there is no lens cap. So the lens will need to be cleaned regularly.
The camera adapts very well to different lighting environments automatically, even in dim light (e.g. dusk) the image will be quite acceptable. As others have pointed out, it can sometimes lose focus in dim light, but switching to "Normal" focus mode (rather than "Total" focus) will generally solve the problem.
I have not tested the camera underwater, but I have used it in heavy rainfall and it didn't skip a beat.
The quality of the H264/AVC codec is superb, especially when you record in the highest quality mode (640 x 480 resolution). However, at the moment this codec is not very widely supported by standalone players.
Sony Blu-Ray players and Xbox 360 can play these mp4 video files directly however. Other DVD players claiming "MPEG4" compatibility will NOT work with H264/AVC (i.e. when the mp4's are burned straight to a data DVD/CD or accessed on a memory card).
This means conversion to DVD-VIDEO format will be necessary in most cases. For this purpose, I do not recommend the software that comes bundled with the camera as it is quite poky and the converted quality is not great.
Instead I suggest you download the software "Total Video2DVD Author". This converts the H264/AVC mp4's in very high quality (virtually no pixellation/artefacts) and is no slouch either.
** But be sure to configure the target for NTSC DVD-VIDEO and not PAL, otherwise fast-moving sequences will appear jerky **
(same goes if using the bundled conversion software)
I assume the reason for this is that Xacti's native video format conforms more closely to NTSC standard in terms of framerate, etc. All DVD players can handle NTSC discs anyway so this shouldn't be a big deal.
I tested the Xacti with 8Gb SDHC card (generic brand) and 16Gb Toshiba SDHC card and both worked perfectly.
By the way, the recorded sound quality is very good. When zooming in/out, some mechanical noise will be picked up, but otherwise is great.
Still image (camera) mode works quite well, sometimes the photos appear over-exposed in broad daylight but you could manually adjust for that. If you try to take a photo in the midst of recording a video, the photo will be limited to 6MP resolution (2816 x 2112). If the photo is taken when no video recording is taking place, the resolution can be up to 10 megapixel (3280 x 2760). Even though it is claimed to be a 6MP camera, somehow it can manage the 10MP resolution, which is a plus.
Digital camera Review: Great product - unexpected video quality
Summary: 4 Stars
I purchased this after seeing an ad in MacWorld detailing it's waterproof capability which would be useful for skiing and kyaking. The video is of a higher quality than I expected - like a much larger camera. It zooms well and the image is very sharp. The still pictures are very good but the shutter button takes practice to smoothly operate. The on screen info is very complete and will become more useful as my experience grows. The moveable screen allows a great deal of versatility and ability to do candid shooting. I bought a 2 gig SD card for $20 which I think will be adequate for an upcoming vacation.Digital camera Review: Great product and Easy to use
Summary: 5 Stars
It's very simple to use and you don't need to read a manual.
Multi use for photos and video so it's the only thing you need for travel. Waterproof makes it great for rainy days and any water related activities even you are not in the water literally.