Sanyo's 2009 HD Xacti camcorder lineup brings a trio of world's firsts

Engadget Japanese is attending a Sanyo presser where its much loved Xacti camcorders are being overhauled. The 5-strong mix of pistol-grip and new, horizontally-oriented camcorders includes several world's firsts according to Sanyo: the world's first to shoot progressive, Full HD 1,920 x 1,080 video at 60fps (models DMX-HD2000/FH11 pictured above), the world's first waterproof HD cameras (DMX-CA9 and DMX-WH1 with 30x optical zoom), and world's first HD camera to shoot 10 megapixel still images (DMX-CG10). All the cams shoot in MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 format for broad compatibility with devices and video editing software. The DMX-HD2000 will hit the streets first on February 6 with the rest to trickle out before April is up. No prices were announced but we expect these to be competitive, as always. The rest of the new models pictured after the break with full specifications just beyond the read link.

[Via Engadget Japanese]

[Rotaryfan @ Jan 21st 2009 2:10AM]

am I only one who is impressed? These sound good (if below $400)

[Mehul @ Jan 21st 2009 2:30AM]

No way these will be below $400. Expect to pay atleast $700. Thats still good though. I hope the video quality is good

[Twitchy @ Jan 21st 2009 2:39AM]

Sadly the high Yen will ensure that the 'competitive pricing' will not equal wallet friendly pricing.

[SOOPERGOOMAN @ Jan 21st 2009 8:51AM]

I have a jazz hdv 187 v3 cam and it shoots 10 mega pixel stills and outputs 1080i via mini hdmi. guess how much? $400 no, $300, no. OMG $200 hell no. $99.99+tax. So avoid these like the noid. Mmmkay.

[aldo @ Jan 21st 2009 11:52AM]

Gooman, you've posted three times slamming this camera, do you work for Sony or Canon or something? Your piece of crap jazz only records at 720p, so does not output at "1080i."

Looking at videos, they look about as good as a Flip Mino HD, which is a low end HD camera. Your comparison of a crap walmart camera to a higher end true HD camera is just silly, no matter what the brand.

[BB @ Jan 21st 2009 3:40PM]

Yup $400 is reasonable, but it is Sony you know, they will bash you with a superior price tag.

[eyew @ Jan 21st 2009 2:28AM]

I have the 720p Xacti DMX and think it was good bang for bucks then (about USD400) but cheaper ones from Aiptek seem to proivide just as good quality (even seems better in some lighting). I also hope they improve quality in low light and picture quality for stills.

The 7MP stills are bad so I end up having to carry another digital camera for decent stills most times.

[Musouka @ Jan 21st 2009 2:45AM]

Progressive - yes! However, I don't see any mention of optical image stabilization, which is a big no-no.

So I presume these are 'real' 10MP still images, instead of interpolated ones like Sony's XR520V 6MP stills upsampled into 12MP.

[Solidstate @ Jan 21st 2009 4:03AM]

Spec sheets are here;
http://www.sanyo.com/news/2009/01/img/090121xacti.pdf
It's digital stabilisation again.

[SOOPERGOOMAN @ Jan 21st 2009 8:53AM]

My cam has image stabilization for 100 bucks. hahahahahaaaa don't buy those is you want to get ripped off, these companies need to get with the times and the times they are a cheapening.

[peestandingup @ Jan 21st 2009 2:50AM]

I wouldnt hold my breath on these being anything great.

Sanyo has this pesky little problem of horrible image quality with this line of cams. So you'll likely end up with 10 megapixels worth of crap.

Plus, for some ungodly reason, they leave out optical image stabilization in their Xacti line. Yes, they produce great looking footage, but it all falls apart without OIS. Probably the dumbest thing they could ever do is leave that feature off of small handheld HD cameras & they've done it everytime with these.

[Arthur @ Jan 21st 2009 3:15AM]

Yeah the only reason I don't buy these types of tiny flash memory camcorders is because they lack optical image stabilization. Panasonic makes a few that do have OIS, like the SDR-SD150 and up, but it's near impossible to find one now for a decent price.

[Phil @ Jan 21st 2009 3:19AM]

As an owner of the previous model Sanyo Xacti HD1010, I can say that these iterations seem to provide only minor improvements. A mostly trivial bump in pixels, a more useful but equally non-"wow" bump in optical zoom. I do wonder if low-light recording has been improved, or if there have been any improvements to the image processing. I doubt it though.

These models really would stand to benefit from OIS! That being said, I'm quite happy with my HD1010 and the footage it produces. If interested, just wait a few months for the price to drop into the reasonable range (my guess is the HD2000 will start around $800 and fall to about $600, with a little bargain-hunting, after 3 months). Recording to flash media really is the way to go these days.

[FILA @ Jan 21st 2009 3:49AM]

does anybody really have any luck with these small shaped camcorders, i dont keep updated much on these, they always sound nice on paper but in real world is always a different choice

[Solidstate @ Jan 21st 2009 4:02AM]

These still use a lens cap - which to me is a big problem in a pocket camera designed for impromptu shooting. The HD2000 is still a weird shape to try and fit in a pocket anyway. I briefly owned an HD1000 and was extremely disappointed by the dreadful stabilisation and very narrow shooting angle - everything ended up looking like a Hype Williams video.
I hope they have got it right this time, I really like upright cameras and there are not enough people making them, but I think I'll stick to my Sony TG3/TG1 for another year - but there is plenty of room for improvement in this sector of the market (low light performance/better battery life/sharper images/better stills).

[Adamck2 @ Jan 21st 2009 5:26AM]

Take 1 Xacti camcorder, aim it at Barack Obama in order to film the celebrations and.... Pew Pew! your shot down by secret service for having a pistol shaped device pointed at the president.
Fail.

[AlexPN @ Jan 21st 2009 8:45AM]

"Sanyo also GREATLY improved the image stabilization system." Akihabaranews HANDS ON.

[nxp3 @ Jan 21st 2009 8:51AM]

Worlds first 1080p with 30fps? I think Canon 5D mark2 can do that and it aint even a true video camera...just a camera. So big deal. Besides, at that resolution, how long do you think the xacti can take videos before your memory card is filled up. I don't think there's a hard drive option on those.

[SOOPERGOOMAN @ Jan 21st 2009 8:55AM]

Beaten long ago by my cam, the FIRST(two years ago) to have all the features above for one forth the price, you all got gipped.

[Dan @ Jan 21st 2009 12:57PM]

Um, these are the first 1080p (1920x1080 at 60 frames per second) camcorders to be available to consumers. Your 28-in-1 HD happycam does not come close.

[Longboat @ Apr 19th 2009 2:25AM]

Nxp3 -

I have the older model HD 1010 and it shoots for a looooong time to a 32GB SD card. Just under five hours at 1080 60fps. The Canon 5D mk2 has a maximum individual clip length of 12 minutes at 30fps. Maybe take a look at some specs before you post in future!

[Ian @ Jan 21st 2009 8:35PM]

If you compare the specifications of this (HD2000) and the previous model (HD1010), there are substantial technical changes:

Stills: 4MP vs. 8MP in the same sized sensor.

Bit rates at full quality: 14 Mbps vs. 24Mbps - a substantial jump in quality! Drops max recording time.

Sensitivity: 9lux vs. 6lux normal / 3lux vs. 2lux high-sensitivity

The bit rate improvements are great (taking it into prosumer Canon/Sony/Panasonic territory) - will be interesting to see image quality benchmarks...

[Mikey @ Jan 21st 2009 10:40AM]

This is exactly what ive wanting!! Finally a good mobile HD Camcorder that can take 10mp stills and HD video, score!! Thats a must buy for me! Hopefully its not an arm and a leg to buy though....

[singhy @ Jan 21st 2009 2:14PM]

First 10MP HD camcorder? Wrong! I'd like to draw your attention to the Sony HDR-SR12, with 10.2MP stills. OK, it's much larger, but it's got a 10.2MP still sensor, and that's what counts.

[ramond @ Jan 22nd 2009 8:25AM]

1920x1080 at 60fps is pretty awesome in the HD2000. But why have they removed the 1280x720 at 60fps mode that the older HD1010 does??