Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD2000 Pocket Camcorder Review
Xacti VPC-HD2000 – Full HD, Pocket Size, Dual Camera Camcorder from Sanyo
Sanyo has always come up with a new technology treat with each of its new generation camcorder. Its latest version, the Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD2000 has come up with a list of great features like, Full HD recording, the CMOS “now” sensor, which is one of the most happening topics at the moment and has the PAL friendly mode, which its predecessor Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1010 lacked. It also takes the credit that it is the first camcorder in the consumer industry to do so.
The camcorder industry was most of the time dominated by four major companies, that is, Sony, Panasonic, Canon and JVC. Slowly, other companies have also started to pose heavy competition. Recently, Samsung proved that it will be able to stand up to the image qualities of the bigger names with its Samsung VP-HMX20. Now, Sanyo has taken its chance to prove itself.
Design- mostly loathed:
The new generation camcorders do give a lot of importance to their design and looks as it matters a lot. No one would want to get a high-end camcorder packed with features and latest technologies to look like a cheap and unattractive device, as the “WOW!” is first said by looking at the devices design. Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD2000, lacks this stuff called style and design that gives its strongest competitors like Sony HDR-TG3 and Canon HF100 an edge.
The Xacti VPC-HD2000 HD Camcorder has a black finishing. The letterings are done in flashy gold and has a pistol like hand gripping. It is compact but chunky. This style of hand grip means that most of the action is done on the rear side of the camcorder. The rear of the cam sports the SDHC slot, the zoom lever and the main menu controls. With the pistol grip design, you will have to hold the camcorder in one hand and do all the controlling works with your thumb finger.
Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD2000 Mini Camcorder has a wide screen display which can be rotated up to 180 degrees which adds colours to its specifications.
Buttons and ports:
In order to justify Sanyo’s claim that Xacti VPC-HD2000 Digital Camcorder is a dual camera, it has two recording buttons, one for the video shooting and the other for capturing still images. One clever option included is that, you will still be able to capture sill images as you are in the video capturing mode.
Sanyo has offered a pop-up flash to do its work when in the camera mode and the camcorder comes with a shoe that would allow you to add additional accessories such as, top light or even directional mic. The 2.5mm mic socket would be very handy when you are shooting under noisy conditions, which would improve your sound recordings.
Sanyo supplies a solid transfer pod so you can get footage from the Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD2000 without running down the battery. It can also connect to a TV screen for direct viewing – standard cables are supplied, but you’ll need to get an HDMI connector separately.
Capacity:
The number of clips and videos that you will be able to store depends on the capacity your SDHC card. For instance, if you are having an 8GB memory card, you will be able to store a recording in Full HD of around forty four minutes.
Connectivity:
The connectivity options are great. There is the mains power input, the docking station which includes USB ports, HDMI and Component AV, an external mic input and the 3.5mm standard headphone jack. The docking station which also doubles as the charger, might make life easy for you, but on the other side, this is the only way by which you can connect Xacti VPC-HD2000 Dual Camera Camcorder.
Simple – easy to use menu:
The menu is extremely simple and easy to navigate. You have either the normal menu or the simple menu to choose from. The normal menu itself is simple, but when the simple menu is displayed, your choices are just narrowed to video quality, focus mode and flash options. The normal menu has options that allow you to adjust the resolution, filters, scenes, flash, stabilizer modes, focus modes, white balance, exposure and a lot of other bits and bobs.
Each action that you would want to perform is just two or at the maximum, three button presses away. The simplicity in the menu proves that this camcorder is aimed at every Tom Dick and Harry and not on die-hard film makers.
Features: – creativity shows uniqueness
Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD2000 Mini Size Camcorder is a treat to use if you love creativity. It is simply loaded with features and a lot of manual mode options. There are a number of manual settings available, if you spend time toggling into the recording menu to find them. Unfortunately, there is no programmable option to save customised settings and, considering the price, such a facility really should exist. Instead, you just have to keep going back into the menu if you want to change or check anything. As well as auto exposure, the camera can work with aperture priority, shutter priority and manual.
The iris can be varied from F1.8 to F8, and the shutter speed from four seconds to 1/10,000th. But, in video mode the minimum effective shutter is 1/30th, and in photo mode you cannot go beyond 1/1,000th. All of this is configured with the little joystick, as is the manual exposure. Sanyo has also included its own version of face detection mode that we are familiar with, called Face Chaser. This tracks human visages, and then sets the camcorder so that, they are properly exposed.
Image quality:
The images produced are nothing less than stunning. The selling factor of the VPC-HD2000 Dual Camera being its 1920×1080, Full HD shooting at 60frames per second, which is an amazing specification. It is not necessary always that you need to shoot at this high rate of resolution and pixel rate, as you can always change it according to the purpose of your video capturing, using the menu options available. There is also an interesting mode called the “Super-Slo” mode, that allows recording at 1/4 or 1/10 speeds.
The Sanyo VPC-HD2000 Full HD Camcorder has a resolution of eight mega pixels with is double the time of the offerings of its rivals. It does not stop with just 8 mega pixels, as with the help of interpolation, a height of 12 mega pixels at 4000×3000 can be obtained. The HD2000 has 16x advanced Zoom, while its predecessor offered only 10x.
One disappointing performance that we noticed was that the difference between the shutter time and the button press is utterly slow.
As with previous Sanyo Xacti HD models, although MPEG-4 AVC H.264 is used for recording, this is not the now ubiquitous AVCHD. Instead, MP4 files are produced. We found these are not universally compatible. Corel VideoStudio Pro X2 will not be able to import the 60p files, although the 60i ones and other formats were fine. Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 imports all formats, but the 60p files would be very sluggish on the timeline. CyberLink PowerDirector 7 would not have any problems with any of the Sanyo’s files. A copy of Nero 8 Essentials is included in the box, although this does not offer particularly elaborate editing capabilities.
Battery:
Talking about the battery life we were as impressed as, with the video footage, the cam gave 135 minutes recording and 350 minutes standby with the camera living up to those claims. It’s certainly better than Canon’s HG offering whose battery seems to die very quickly.
Some final words:
The key features that are pitched more directly at the photographers include a 10x optical zoom for photos, 8 megapixel stills, 1cm macro shooting, interpolated up to 12 megapixels at its highest setting, 12fps sequential shooting, the ‘Face Chaser’ technology with an interesting name, which can detect up to 12 faces in the frame, and also with a flip out and twist widescreen format LCD monitor, nothing much negative is there to be said about Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD2000.
Canon and Sony might have an edge when it comes to the design, but when it comes to the performance, the purpose of a camcorder, the Sanyo triumphs. If you discard the enigma of the hand-grip, Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD2000 Digital Camcorder is a real master piece.
Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD2000 Camcorder – Technical Specification Table
| Manufacturer | Sanyo |
| Model Name | Xacti VPC-HD2000 |
| Dimensions | 90.0 x 112.6 x 54.5 |
| Weight | 268 grams |
| Resolution | 8.10 Mpixel |
| Maximum resolution | 4000×3000 pixles |
| Minimum resolution | 640×480 pixles |
| Sensor size | 1/2.5-inch |
| Sensor type | CMOS |
| Optical zoom | Yes |
| Digital zoom | Yes |
| Auto focus | Yes |
| Focus range (cm) | 50 |
| Macro focus range | 1 |
| Flash modes | anti red-eye auto fill in off |
| Storage types | SDHC Secure Digital |
| Built-in flash | Yes |
| Metering | Centre weighted |
| Exposure compensation | -2EV – +2EV with 1/3EV steps |
| White balance | Auto Cloudy Daylight Fluorescent Incandescent Manual |
| Video function | Yes |
| Video sound | Yes |
| Frames per second (fps) | 30 |
| Voice recording | Yes |
| Display | LCD |
| LCD Screen size | 2.7-inch |
| LCD resolution (pixels) | 230,000 |
| Self-timer | Yes |
| USB | USB 2.0 Hi-Speed |
| File format | Photos: JPEG Videos: ISO standard MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 (.MP4) Audio: 48kHZ sampling, 16bit, 2ch, AAC |
| Battery | Li-Ion |
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