Sanyo's Xacti DMX-CA8 waterproof camcorder drips VGA weak sauce

Not much to get excited about here unless you've got a thing for shooting 640 x 480 VGA video underwater. Shipping in May for a bit less than $500, Sanyo's latest waterproof Xacti packs a 5x optical zoom and 8 megapixel CMOS sensor for stills and MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video recordings at 60fps to SDHC media. It also carries JIS IPX5 and IPX8 waterproof ratings which means it'll go to a depth of 1.5-meters for up to 1-hour without electronic seizure. Video riot after the break.

[Via Impress]

[stefan @ Apr 18th 2008 1:55AM]

so essentially it's a nice still camera with a weak video function to top things up. How is that anything new?

[jas @ Apr 18th 2008 2:12AM]

you can gert a Flip camera and an underwater housing for it for about half that, and it WILL go deper and not leak or be ruined or have an hassles with warranty if you go to deep or if your child decides to se how it looks from the deep end and you go past the pathetic 1.5m depth limit

[Johan S @ Apr 18th 2008 2:19AM]

The guy on the video suggest scuba diving .. at only 3 or 1.5 meters depth? That's gotta be a new low, .. I mean high,

Anyway the video didnt even show the camera in operation after/during the time it was in water (but i'll trust them anyway).

If what they say about it being waterproof is true then it could have some uses (like in a swimming pool or in the rain). Either way I think video cameras like this should be price super low (under $50 IMHO) given that most decent cell phones have mediocre quality video capability that may compete with it.

[Farwest @ Apr 18th 2008 2:37AM]

Now.... how about dropping that lil device just a weeee to the left of the bucket? Eh? Shall we drop it multiple times and THEN submerge it? :D

I was just thinking about it's durability.

[ugg.tryptophan @ Apr 18th 2008 2:59AM]

i tend not to accept things from strange balding men with wet
hands; the only use i could imagine for this is to make high quality youtube videos

[jeppe @ Apr 18th 2008 3:03AM]

My Olympus (mju/stylus) 1030SW goes to 10 meters, takes one helluva beating (I bet it can be used as an assault weapon), and costs 340$. It only does 30fps, though.

[Tom Chandler @ Apr 18th 2008 3:28AM]

That man is craaazy.

I guess the camera puts a whole new meaning to watersports.

[BeyondtheTech @ Apr 18th 2008 9:22AM]

Would it kill them to make a widescreen one? Who the heck has a 4:3 TV anymore? Not everyone who buys a Sanyo uploads to YouTube. Maybe the same people who are still high-speed dubbing club mixes on cassette?

[Rob @ Apr 18th 2008 9:47AM]

I remember back in the days when watches were either water resistant or water proof. By those standards, this camera would not earn the "waterproof" label. I yearn for those days.

[K Kumar @ Apr 18th 2008 11:36AM]

His arm looks like a wet dog. Hey, is that Phil Collins? Su-su-sudio!

[Jeff Williams @ Apr 18th 2008 12:04PM]

Anything that is "waterproof" to a depth of 1.5 meters is basically designed to be accidentally dropped in the bathtub, or in a puddle, or in the snow... etc. For every 33 feet of depth, pressure increases 14.7 pounds per square inch, or one atmosphere.

1.5 Meters is nearly 5 feet, or .15 ATM - worthless.