Sanyo's Xacti HD1010 1080i camcorder shoots 300fps slow-mo

In its battle with Sony for 1080i pistol grips, Sanyo just announced a minor, but notable update to its premium HD1000 Full HD MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 camcorder. The new HD1010 adds improved image processing and stabilization, new "face chaser" technology for stills and video, and amusing new 300fps slow-motion mode. Nothing compared to Casio's freakish EX-F1 but a nice novelty for shooting the kids' sporting adventures. Sanyo also tossed in a new 7fps continuous still shot mode which snags images at the sensor's maximum 4 megapixel resolution. A minor bump for sure but it makes for a compelling offering at the (relatively) low asking price of $800 when it hits the US in July (Japan, June 20th).

Update: Akihabara News went hands-on in the video posted after the break.

[Via Impress and Akihabara News]

[Gavin @ Jun 5th 2008 1:17AM]

I'm not a fan of Black and Gold but that looks like sexy wee beastie

[Jason Collin @ Jun 5th 2008 1:32AM]

I'm with you in not usually going for black with gold trim, but it does look pretty sweet on the 1010...a bit of late 80's retro bad-ass look to it.

Have the Xacti HD700 and love it....don't know if the 1010 is quite enough to get me to upgrade yet though.

[videonevin @ Jun 5th 2008 1:30AM]

I wonder what the 720 60p from this cam would look like slowed down to 24p.

[pbase @ Jun 5th 2008 1:59AM]

I'll need the neon orange version, so I'm not shot as I record a NY cop beatdown of some poor chump…

[Joel Stephen @ Jun 5th 2008 4:41AM]

lol indeed indeed

[Hellios @ Jun 5th 2008 2:12AM]

Full HD and 1080i are the opposites, not synonyms!

But the 300fps sounds delicious.

[Clinton @ Jun 5th 2008 3:10AM]

300fps @ 448 x 336 is worth it? that's not even 480p?

[LondonConsultant @ Jun 5th 2008 3:53AM]

"Full HD" is just a marketing term that can mean almost anything a PR department wants it to mean. There is no right'n'wrong...

[LondonConsultant @ Jun 5th 2008 4:05AM]

Plus, even though Engadget's description doesn't mention it, this video camera actually provides a 1920x1080p 30FPS 12Mbps option...

[tylernab @ Jun 5th 2008 2:26AM]

looks pretty cool

[rektide @ Jun 5th 2008 2:28AM]

The EX-F1's dark secret is that it only shoots high frame rate for a very limited amount of time. Its buffer fills in 60s of 1200fps 320x240 postage stamp sized recording.

If this can maintain 300 FPS and do it at something like 480p resolution, it'd say its probably better than the $1000 EX-F1. Also, it looks cooler.

[Phil U @ Jun 5th 2008 4:19PM]

448x336 @ 300fps is what the video shows

[peestandingup @ Jun 5th 2008 2:51AM]

4 MP stills = Still not enough to replace a point & shoot camera.

Canon TX1 still gets my vote for all around hybrid camera.

[Reader @ Jun 5th 2008 3:27AM]

This will likely outdo most poorly made point and shoots with more MPs. The build and lens quality ought to be many times better even if it's not dedicated to stills.

[peestandingup @ Jun 5th 2008 4:58AM]

True, megapixels arent everything, but they are still very important. Especially when printing to larger sizes & cropping. Even if an image at 4 MP is better quality as it is, you will run out of pixels more times than not at that size. You cant deal with pixels that aren't there.

[Ethan @ Jun 5th 2008 7:25AM]

Yeah, those extra pixels of noise are really handy.

And I'd say the same for video. Get an SD camcorder for the same price.

[beaker @ Jun 5th 2008 3:23AM]

The problem I see with pistol grip cameras, is that if you are filming the next Rodney King style incident of police brutality, you might get shot for pointing a dark ominous pistol looking object at them.

[heffeque @ Jun 5th 2008 1:49PM]

I'd actually be scared of using a camera like that in the US.

[Razor @ Jun 5th 2008 3:36AM]

The pistol grip brings new meaning to shooting the family.

[granun @ Jun 5th 2008 4:23AM]

look pretty

[Can @ Jun 5th 2008 7:22AM]

Is it only me who finds the new style of most "handy"cams extremely ugly and non-professional. I find "normal" looking handycams more useful and technologically improved.

Well besides that, I would actually prefer 150fps progressive instead of 300fps interlace. Not sold.

[Aaron @ Jun 5th 2008 7:56AM]

this is funny because I was going into akihabara on sat to pick up the 1000... maybe I will wait... nope... probably not seeing as how the 1000 will probably get a price drop now!

[Dan @ Jun 5th 2008 9:33AM]

This article really downplays the fact that the HD1000 only did 1080i/720p and this does 1080p.

[michael.syree @ Jun 5th 2008 11:05AM]

regarding casio ex-f1 recording time, the 60s limit is applied to full frame 6MPixel images

The 30/300/600 and 1200 fps modes record for unlimited time (i havnt hit an issue with this yet) the limit is however the resolution which is reduced further as the fps increases.

Light is another issue - you need a lot of it to get good footage at high fps - due to speed of the shutter.

if want to see examples of slow motion from casio ex-f1 see here http://uk.youtube.com/zxc101010101010

[Kei @ Jun 5th 2008 12:07PM]

I was going to get the 1000 during my trip this July, so this is perfect timing.

[rattler @ Jun 5th 2008 12:47PM]

The Casio ex-f1 is primarily a camera while the Xacti is more towards the video side. One of the main reasons I guess why the EX-F1 has the speed is to support the pre-shot feature which starts taking photos even before the user presses the shutter button.
But I guess the Casio EX-F1 is a better bet at that because you wouldn't want to keep on recording in slow motion for more than a minute or so.

Here's a video of a balloon filled with water being popped. The Casio is able to capture it beautifully. You can see the water keep the shape of the balloon for a few seconds before it splashes down.

The video is at http://www.livegrids.net/?p=72

[Some Kid @ Jun 5th 2008 1:01PM]

Sony vs Sanyo
round who the hell knows
Fight

but seriously, does this top the mini-1080 champ they talked about a couple of weeks ago from Sony

especially because this is 1080p, not 1080i like the sony mini HD camcorder

[beq @ Jun 5th 2008 3:49PM]

I'm more interested in how this Sanyo Xacti HD1010 compares with the Samsung SC-HMX20C (which was announced at CES back in January and has recently become available in stores for $850):

http://www.sanyodigital.com/specifications.aspx?v=22

http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/detail/spec.do?group=camerascamcorders&type=camcorders&subtype=highdefinition&model_cd=SC-HMX20C/XAA&fullspec=F

The Samsung has 8GB built-in memory and a touchscreen interface, as well as a swivel barrel-grip design vs the Sanyo's angled pistol-grip. But both are MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 camcorders with an SD card slot and similar specs:

- 300fps low-res slow-mo
- EIS not OIS
- 1080p30 or 1080i60 on Sanyo, 1080p60 on Samsung (both can do 720p60)
- 1/2.5" 4MP CMOS sensor on Sanyo, 1/1.8" 6.4MP CMOS on Samsung (both shoot stills at 4MP)

On the other hand, the Sony HDR-TG1 is an AVCHD camcorder which is not as drag-and-drop convenient as H.264. The Sony does have OIS but only shoots 1080i60 and to a Memory Stick PRO Duo card. The sensor/processor technology used garnered great reviews in other Sony models, but the HDR-TG1 has a smaller 1/5" CMOS sensor.

I'm interested to see how the low-light performance compares among these models...

[Elomet @ Aug 5th 2008 2:23AM]

Still, the Sanyo may be one of the best family camera ever. I loved the interface and control. The camera can be easily operating by one hand.

Price cut already, the HD1010 is now only $600
http://www.warehouse123.com/ProductInfo.php?pid=SANVPCHD1010-BLK

[JYMC @ Jun 9th 2008 3:58PM]

hey doodz......ya gotta see this polaroid instamatic
I just bought....wow....man....pictures, in an instant!!!!!!..WHOLY SMOXE

[David Peterson @ Jul 31st 2008 8:10AM]

For the same (or less) money, I'll take the Canon HF10