Sanyo Xacti VPC-WH1EX Camcorder Review

Very few of this type of camera come across my reviewing bows and I see even fewer that can shoot High Def video as well as stills … the Sanyo Xacti VPC-WH1EX Camcorder is the first.

Fully weatherproofed and waterproof down to three metres, it’s a great example of water sealing: not only the battery compartment but tiny hatches that conceal the card slot, USB port and the DC input are cleverly protected from water intrusion.

The Xacti is also very tiny and nearly disappears in the average male hand. Fully kitted up with battery and card it weighs about 350 grams. The bright yellow body décor is a masterstroke: no danger of this puppy getting lost.

The lens has a 30x optical range, stretching from the 35 SLR equivalent of 43 to 1290mm. Capture is to 43MB of internal memory or to SD and SDHC cards.

In total, it offers a useful mix of JPEG stills capture, up to 1600×1200 pixels, and MPEG4 video recording up to 1280×720 pixels. That means it can shoot stills printable to 10x15cm and record video playable on a High Def TV screen, via a composite, component or HDMI output. Note: it is not Full High Def 1920x1080p.

Test shot taken at ISO 200: 1/248 sec setting.

Test shot taken at ISO 800: 1/316 sec setting.

Test shot taken at ISO 1600 setting: f7.0 1/286 sec. Notice extreme pixillation.

The 6.4cm LCD screen has a 16:9 ratio, swings out 90 degrees, tilts 90 degrees downwards (to hold the camcorder above your head), then 180 degrees forward (so you can shoot yourself).

For stills, there are some useful features: a small flash cell is built into the Xacti’s base; you can fire off a single still while shooting video; a ‘face chaser” will boost focus and brightness in capture in shots with up to 12 faces.
For video, you can trim unwanted footage from clips and join them, saving as a separate clip.

Comment

The camera is a delight to hold, especially underwater. It is possible to straddle your fingers across the top and operate both stop, start and zoom controls.

I do have an issue with the zoom. For underwater work I feel the wide focal length is not wide enough … sub aqua it becomes a 35 SLR equivalent of 60mm!

I also feel that a 30x zoom is much too long for stills and video work, with the image stabiliser unable to steady the vision.

Quality

At first, I felt that stills and video shot with this gear looked a little less than perfect … then I reminded myself that the CMOS is populated with little more than a million pixels.

I shot a very extensive range of locations with the Sanyo — dusk, night, full sun, slight overcast, in rain etc — and all showed that the camcorder is a basic, bare bones model.

It won’t shine when faced with a daunting environment, when you have to face the surf, cascade kayaking, abseiling … any sort of rough stuff. It will not shine when you’re after high res stills or top quality video.

Colour quality and resolution are only barely adequate; pixellation, particularly in stills, is very visible. But I can hardly wait for the moment when Sanyo breaks the ribbon and fully equips this gear with a larger, higher res sensor, large image size and Full High Def capture. That will make my day!

Sanyo Xacti VPC-WH1EX Camcorder Specifications

Image Sensor: 1.1 million effective pixels.
Metering: Evaluative, centre-weighted; spot.
Sensor Size: 4mm CMOS.
Lens: f1.8-4.3/2.5-75mm.
Shutter Speed (stills): ½ to 1/1500 second.
Focusing Range: Normal 50cm to infinity; super macro 1cm to 1m.
Exposure Control: Program AE, aperture or shutter speed priority, manual.
Image Stabiliser: Electronic.
LCD screen: 6.4cm (230,000 pixels).
Memory: SD, SDHC.
Image Sizes (stills — pixels): 1600×1200, 1184×888, 1280×720, 640×480. Movies: 1280×720, 640×480 at 30/60 fps.
File Formats: JPEG, MPEG4 (AVC/H.264).
ISO Sensitivity: Auto, 50 to 1600.
Minimum Illumination: 11 lux (1/30 sec) auto; 3 lux (1/5 sec high) sensitivity.
Interface: USB 2.0, AV (PAL/NTSC), HDMI, component, DC input.
Power: Rechargeable lithium ion battery.
Dimensions: 58.7×112.4×62.8 WHDmm.
Weight: Approx. 354 g (inc battery and card).
Price: $699.