 Solid, affordable HD camera for amateur use |
| Review Date: December 13, 2009 |
| Reviewer: C. Wynes, Dyersburg, TN |
I found this to be a decent camera for ordinary home video use. You'll get fairly good results just pointing and shooting. (Which is a good thing, since the manual is very difficult to navigate.) The camera is small and lightweight, easy to carry about, and fairly comfortable to hold.
For playback, it comes with a mini component cable, but I found that to be pretty wonky trying to connect it to my Samsung LCD. It does NOT come with a mini-HDMI cable, so I couldn't test that out. It DOES come with a mini-to-A USB cable so you can easily connect it to your computer. Trying to view the videos on the PC while streaming the date from the camera is not practical, unfortunately, as the data transfer speed of USB is too slow to correctly handle HD video. Your best bet is to transfer the files off the card to the PC, provided you have a card reader, or copy them to the PC via the USB cable (this will be slow), then watch and edit them with whatever software you like later. You can also edit the videos a little, cutting or joining clips, on the camera itself.
As you can see, it has no viewfinder, you have to watch the LCD screen to frame the picture while you're recording. This can be a problem, as sunlight reflecting off the screen will make it difficult to see what you're filming, and the LCD screen suffers from the viewing angle limitations you're probably familiar with if you own an LCD TV set.
Bottom line: It's easy to use, produces good quality videos, and it's relatively affordable for an HD camera. If you're looking to pick up an HD camera for run-of-the-mill home videos, vacation videos, etc., give this one a shot. |
Loses 10 seconds of video every 22 minutes
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| Review Date: December 11, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Lucy Z. Regan, Bellevue, WA United States |
As others have pointed out, the Sanyo VPC-FH1 (and VPC-HD2000) will lose about 10 seconds of video every 22 minutes (or so) when the file size hits the 4Gb limit for the FAT filesystem. At this point, the camera opens a new file and loses about 10 seconds of video in the process.
Other camcorders (Canon, Sony, etc.) don't seem to exhibit this issue. One way manufacturers work around the issue is to buffer the video input during the switch over so that no frames are lost. I'm assuming that, given the price, Sanyo had to cut corners here.
I like to set up my camcorder on a tripod and just let it run for the length of an event. If I'm filming a recital, for example, I don't want random 10 second chunks missing. For me, this is a deal breaker.
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Excellent HD Camcorder
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| Review Date: November 23, 2009 |
| Reviewer: midnight821, Kentucky |
The Sanyo VPC-FH1 HD Camcorder is a top notch piece of equipment. The size is wonderful for travel and for this price point, it would be hard to beat this unit. It lacks a couple of features, but the quality and performance more than make up for a few downsides.
I love the size of this camcorder. It is very easy to pop in a bag or carry around with you in your hand. Even though it has a small impact in terms of size, the LCD does not suffer. I was impressed by the size of the screen. Overall, the camcorder seems to be very steady and well-built. Another great feature is the startup time. The VPC-FH1 is ready in a snap after powering it up.
Quality, in both video and still shots, is pretty awesome. At 1080p and 60fps, the video is great and does not disappoint. Throw in the ability to do 8MP photos and you have a great package. The digital photos don't compare to a DSLR, but it can beat out most mid-range point and shoot cameras. It also packs in 10x optical zoom, which is sufficient for most users and for the size of this camcorder. It seems to perform pretty well in low light conditions, as well. The controls and menus are easy to follow and use, and the battery life is on par with similar camcorder models I have used in the past.
My one complaint would be image stabilization, but I can't complain too much. It does a decent job, but after using Canon cameras and camcorders I'm spoiled. You might also miss the ability to connect an external microphone, but I don't consider that to be a decision maker in this instance. In this price point and model range, it would be hard to find a camcorder that performs better. |
Do you really want HD with this lens?
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| Review Date: November 8, 2009 |
| Reviewer: fatmav, |
I have used this camcorder for over three months and in two trips to Asia. I find the camcorder to be very usable in terms of its ergonomics and its menu system and the huge LCD display is bright enough even in direct sunlight. However, I must honestly say that I am not impressed at this camcorder when used in its HD mode, which I believe to be the most appealing factor for those who will pick this camcorder for its affordable price. Yes, it can record a ton of data per second and give you a lot of details, but if anything I find that the HD-ness only amplifies its less-than-stellar lens performance. In particular, I find a lot of chromatic aberrations around edges when compared to an SD Canon that I purchased at more than double the price only 1.5 years back, and the lens easily loses contrast due to internal flare at bright conditions. My advice is to use this camera only at SD, which tames the optical flaws by not capturing them in high resolution. The files will be smaller too and your battery will run out before you fill a 16GB card.
This brings me to a small nuisance: this camera does not seem to have an internal battery to keep its settings. Every time I unplug the battery the clock gets reset. It minorly ruined my travel experience but it is not a deal-breaker. Another small problem is that the electronic image stabilization works well only if you keep it to the low zoom levels. I can really appreciate the difference between electronic and optical image stabilization once I get pass 4x. I must stress that this is not a big limitation in practice, but if capturing at high zoom is important then it is easy to justify the extra expense in an optical image stabilization system.
P.S. I never bothered to capture stills with this given the lens performance. |
Great camera for the money
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| Review Date: November 2, 2009 |
| Reviewer: J. Foster, Greenville, SC |
| I bought this camera for its compatibility with Mac computers which seems to be rare among consumer grade video cameras. I tried several other brands and models without success. This one is recognized by my Mac and iMovie. iMovie produces files that can be used in Final Cut Pro. The video quality is not exceptional but it is adequate for the price and functionality. Its ability to take photos while shooting video is really handy and the photo quality is adequate as well. Its smallness makes it difficult to keep steady and requires you to steady it with your body, a tripod or a large sturdy object. This is common among other cameras of this size. There are probably not too many cameras that are easily held steady that you can also put in your pocket. With a 16 or 32 Gb SD card 11 hours of standard definition video can be stored. With flash memory it gets into action quickly and and the battery last for over three hours of continuous running time. |
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