Sanyo Xacti C6 reviewed
By Evan Blass 
posted Jan 23rd 2006 7:00AM
posted Jan 23rd 2006 7:00AM
Steve's Digicam gives Sanyo's Xacti C6 camcorder/camera their
typical thorough going-over, and come away fairy pleased, calling it "awesome" and "a great choice for
anyone." The $600 C6 records both 30fps VGA video and six megapixel stills onto an SD card and features a 5x
optical zoom and 2-inch LCD display, but no optical viewfinder. Despite its small size, Steve's give the C6 a thumbs up
for picture and video quality, as well as ergonomics and image stabilization, when compared to other products in the
same class. Also nice is the Wind Noice Reduction feature, which supposedly works well for outdoor shots, although
indoor shots are a different story, with the flash coming across as pretty weak. Nonetheless, Steve's gives us the go
ahead to break out our credit cards and buy yet another camcorder that we swear we'll really use this time.
I currently have a C5 that I have been using for about 6 months for both video and photos. It is a great camera. Low llight pictures have some noise, but not too bad. The videos are great.
Last week, I ordered a C6 from warehouse123.com. I decided to upgrade because I like the C5 very much and the new version claims to have a new lower noise sensor and the movies are much better. The C6 is so much brighter in low light that it looks like it someone has turned on a light compared to the C5. I use a 2Gb high end SD card in my Sanyo. I have also tested them with other cheaper SD cards and they work fine as well.
The Xacti C6 is great for several reasons.
First, it is so small that it easily fits in your pocket. I tend to even forget that I have it with me.
The video is better than what you generally will find with a hybrid camera and most importantly, it records in MP4 format. That is wonderful, because (to answer someone else's question) it makes it a breeze to impot the vidoe into Apple's iMovie. Just make sure that you set the initial iMovie to mpeg4 format and not DV. Simply drag the clips into iMove and edit. It works flawlessly.
Damn, this is one of those gadgets that I irrationally want, though have no real use for it. But I can't help picking it up and playing with it everytime i see it in a store.
I don't get it. 640x480@30fps is standard for even the basic cameras these days, and the one shown on Steve's page isn't anywhere near the best kind of VGA I've seen. Those still images aren't anything spectacular either.
Am I missing something here?
Btw, since VGA capturing has been around for a few years already, has anyone spotted any pocket cams yet that could capture 720p?
Sanyo will be shipping it's 720p-capable VPC-HD1 very soon.
See it here: http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Sanyo-VPC-HD1-First-Impressions-Camcorder-Review.htm
I was lucky enough to get one for Christmas. It's an amazing little camera. Of course if you are serious about your movie making then you should opt for something better. I just shot short videos from my blog so it works perfectly for me!
Engadget needs to fix their site - it keeps placing a "" tag at the end of URL's that are posted and linked to, causing links not to work properly.
So for anyone who clicks on the link I posted, in the address bar, just erase the "" you see at the end of the URL and it will work.
Arrrgh!!! This site is driving me nuts!
What I posted, was that the Engadget site is placing a "{br}" tag at the end of URL's.
Erase the "{br}" and you should be OK.
Can you edit the video from this camera with iMovie or other software?
Can you edit the video from this camera with iMovie or other software?
Has Steve ever seen or reviewed a camera/camcorder that he didn't like? Take his reviews with a huge grain of salt.
I find Steve's reviews to be pretty good. This one reads like a press release though, so I do take it with a grain of salt. Better to look at the metareview.
As for the "why this camera" question, it appeals to me primarily for the 5x zoom and image stabilization, combined with the pistol form factor and flip-out LCD. Good video quality is actually not as easy to find in a camera as you might think - lots of cameras cheap out on it or put limits on it, which this doesn't appear to do - good framerate and excellent playback, no limit on the size of the recording, stereo sound, etc. As a video device it's not going to be a replacement for a DV cam, but as a camera with solid video capabilities and what seems like good still-image quality, it looks like it could be a great device.
That said, I'm not prepared to spend $600 on it. $400 is my pricepoint on a great camera, so when it drops down that low, I'll probably buy it or something very similar.