Sanyo Xacti VPC-SH1 full HD camcorder with wide-angle lens announced
By Richard Lai 
posted January 7th 2010 1:42AM
posted January 7th 2010 1:42AM
Sanyo's just let out details on the Xacti VPC-SH1 ahead of its February launch. This full HD camcorder boasts an "industry's smallest, lightest, and thinnest class body" at just 7.2 ounces in weight and 1.69 inches in thickness. At the same time, you get a 35mm wide-angle effect through the magic of enlarged sensor area -- full HD is only two megapixels while this Xacti uses a 3.5-megapixel area in video mode. You get the usual H.264 goodness here, but Sanyo's taken one step further by applying for iFrame certification to keep the few adventurous users happy. $399.99 isn't bad for this spec and form factor -- the bulkier FH1A from last October cost an extra Benjamin, for instance, but there's no harm in waiting for some sample videos and 10-megapixel photos before smashing our piggy bank.
Not trying to mean this negatively, but it seems like when Engadget runs out of things to talk about in a day, they always revert to Camera's and not like "oh I'm a film maker or photographer cameras", but just run of the mill cameras. Which are nice and all.. but for most people, I don't think its very high on the Gadget list.
I will say tho... I wouldn't mind having this camera.... its pretty spiffy.
@corylulu A LOT of people want HD Cams buddy. I'm especially excited about Canon's new offerings. But these are cute, for the average consumer.
What's a 'Benjamin'?
@baobab68 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Usdollar100front.jpg
Oh, like if I said a Banjo, referring to my local currency... I see....
Will this be able to do interval recording and high-speed recording?
What are the storage options for this camera?
@Chris Aversa Memory cards as usual.
This baby is mine as soon as it gets out!
Sanyo, unlike Canon, has reasonable camcorder specs w/ more than reasonable prices.
Sanyo lives inside my heart, Canon is Sh** !! (sorry :( )
I'm confused about the zoom specs on this camcorder. I saw some reviews saying it has 30x optical zoom, while other reviews that say it's 23x optical and 30x advanced. Which is correct? Also I'm confused about the difference between advanced zoom and digital zoom. Are they the same thing?
@GrokSurf
Yes, Advanced Zoom and Digital Zoom are different.
Advanced Zoom is Sanyo's branded zoom technique that combines the camcorder's optical zoom w/ Sanyo's enhanced digital zoom, W/ no image quality degradation.
According to Sanyo FH1's sample videos, there is absolutely no loss of quality when zooming till the end.
Anyone know the sensor size on this thing? My FH1a is only two weeks old (love it), but if this thing has similar performance, I might have to swap. SH1 has lower megapixel count for images, so I'm betting it's smaller - indoor video is important, so in that case I'd stick with what I have.