Sanyo Xacti HD2 Camcorder Review

Sanyo Xacti HD2 Camcorder Review

I just received this device yesterday. I got to play with for about an
hour so far. So, this review is going to be "first impressions" or
"initial quality" review.

Quality, packaging, instruction manuals, and supplied accessories all
look good quality.

I couldn't find an SD card in the packaging. I did have a 2GB memory
card with me, so I was OK.

I could put in the battery, charge the device, take a couple of
pictures, and a couple of videos without even reading the quick
reference manual. I would call that intuitive enough and user
friendly.

Quality of the pictures and video is acceptable considering that I
used the device straight out of the box without adjusting any
settings. Actually pictures and video looked much better on my home
LCD monitor, but looked pathetic on my work CRT monitor. (This is not
the first time I have experienced this.)

I have played the video on a 61" widescreen HD TV using S-Video cable
and the quality was acceptable. Nothing compared to off-the-air HD
programming, but it was not bad at all.

I have placed a couple of pictures and videos at this URL:
http://skarkada.googlepages.com/sany...ersuscanons1is

I will come back here and update the review over the next week.

On 11 Apr 2007 07:31:17 -0700, wrote:

Sanyo Xacti HD2 Camcorder Review

Thanks for sharing your comments and photo/video samples. I've been
interested in this camera as a possible replacement for a Canon S2 IS
(which has ended up being used for much more video than was originally
intended).

--
S. Whitmore [Omit -bounce to respond]

Show off your best videos at:
http://www.MyVidsRock.com/

Sanyo Xacti HD2 Camcorder Review

You know there is another NG: uk.rec.video.digital with many people playing
digital video who could be much more interested than the people here in this
newsgroup. Just my opinion.

Just D.

On Wed, 11 Apr 2007 22:53:04 -0700, "Just D" wrote:

Sanyo Xacti HD2 Camcorder Review

You know there is another NG: uk.rec.video.digital with many people playing
digital video who could be much more interested than the people here in this
newsgroup. Just my opinion.

Why use a UK-specific newsgroup for something this general?

--
S. Whitmore [Omit -bounce to respond]

Show off your best videos at:
http://www.MyVidsRock.com/

"S. Whitmore"
Sanyo Xacti HD2 Camcorder Review

You know there is another NG: uk.rec.video.digital with many people
playing
digital video who could be much more interested than the people here in
this
newsgroup. Just my opinion.

Why use a UK-specific newsgroup for something this general?

Maybe just because I didn't find anything more appropriate on the Internet
for the digital video. And I really love this group, I spent there several
years and I'm still there. The team is looking very professional. Some guys
spent their lives working at BBC, other TV and Video companies and they know
what they are writing about. Also there are many other guys who love that
and all they are always ready to share their personal experience, opinions,
skills and to listen for others. What's the difference if it's the UK based?
Are you sure that you wouldn't understand this language? PAL/SECAM/NTSC
are not very critical when we're talking about digital video there. But the
video related people is a much better place for discussions.

As I said it's my personal opinion, it can be easily ignored if you think
that the video camcorder review/experience should be shared to photo guys
instead of video ones.

Just D.

On Wed, 11 Apr 2007 23:17:32 -0700, "Just D" wrote:

As I said it's my personal opinion, it can be easily ignored if you think
that the video camcorder review/experience should be shared to photo guys
instead of video ones.

I don't doubt that the UK newsgroup participants might be interested
and have valuable input, but you mentioned using that newsgroup
instead of the current newsgroups. But the current newsgroups include
one for photography (the camera does 7MP stills, so this is relevant)
and two for video, all of which are global in scope and UK users can
use them just fine. So, I thought you were suggesting moving it from
the global video newsgroups to the UK-specific video newsgroup, which
didn't make sense. But I think you probably didn't realize that this
thread exists in two (global) video newsgroups in addition to the
rec.photo.digital newsgroup.

--
S. Whitmore [Omit -bounce to respond]

Show off your best videos at:
http://www.MyVidsRock.com/

"S. Whitmore" didn't make sense. But I think you probably didn't realize
that this
thread exists in two (global) video newsgroups in addition to the
rec.photo.digital newsgroup.

Yea, you're right, sorry, just noticed the header.

Just D.

Original Thread for the benefit of uk.rec.video.digital:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.p...c1f3f37c231690

Update:
I have uploaded a couple of low light videos. Results are
disappointing.

I could quickly and easily compile and burn a DVD using the supplied
ULead software. I didn't try any bells and wistles, just used the
simplest path and I was done with the production process in about 10
minutes. Burning process itself (with an 8x burner) took a long time
(unattended). DVD played fine on a regular Panasonic DVD player.

MiniDV based camcorders probably produce much better HD footage. But,
that is not of much use for me, because burning a DVD out of MiniDV
footage is very hard. I don't think I could have posted sample clips
on the Internet so quickly if I were using a MiniDV camcorder. So,
should we compromise on quality of the video or ease of sharing the
footage?

wrote ...
Update:
I have uploaded a couple of low light videos. Results are
disappointing.

I could quickly and easily compile and burn a DVD using the supplied
ULead software. I didn't try any bells and wistles, just used the
simplest path and I was done with the production process in about 10
minutes. Burning process itself (with an 8x burner) took a long time
(unattended). DVD played fine on a regular Panasonic DVD player.

I wonder if it was the burning itself, or the behind-the-scenes transcoding?

MiniDV based camcorders probably produce much better HD footage. But,
that is not of much use for me, because burning a DVD out of MiniDV
footage is very hard. I don't think I could have posted sample clips
on the Internet so quickly if I were using a MiniDV camcorder. So,
should we compromise on quality of the video or ease of sharing the
footage?

Only you can answer that qustion for your situation. It is a classic
tradeoff
issue.

wrote:
Sanyo Xacti HD2 Camcorder Review
[...]

One question: The tech specs. at
http://www.sanyo-xacti.com/produkte/....asp?Xacti=HD2
claim that the HD2 is capable of recording clips at 640x480 in _60_fps.

The manual, downloadable at the same page:
http://www.sanyo-xacti.com/support/m..._Kamera_en.pdf
says 30 fps is the maximum and even states at page 78:

* Video clips recorded using model VPC-HD1A or VPC-HD1 with the mode
set to XXX (640 x 480 pixels, 60 fps) will be played back on this camera at
a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels and frame rate 30 fps.

Either of those two statements must be wrong.

Can you tell us which statement is true?

Regards,

Peter Niemayer