The thinnest and lightest full HD Xacti yet

Sanyo’s Xacti series of camcorders have helped to overthrow the perception of what a camcorder should look like. The sleek and sexy Sanyo VPC-HD2000 remains the standard bearer for the pocket-friendly pistol grip form factor, producing fantastic full-HD video, impressive stills, and a unique thumb-operated control system that allows an easy switch between the two. The new generation CS1 is the lightest, thinnest (27mm), and indeed cheapest incarnation yet, but can this mid-range model live up to its, still hugely impressive, big brother?



Sanyo Xacti CS1: Usability

One of the key upsides of the HD2000 was the shear easy of use. It was just so comfortable. The sleekly designed body, with the rounded edges, fit so naturally in the hand, offering users a steadier shot than conventionally-designed cameras. This 159g size zero Xacti CS1 is devoid of that comfort. The edges are more pronounced, and it’s harder to get a decent grip on it, such is the thinness (less than 1cm in grip position).

The controls have also been cheapened to the extent that the famed usability is now almost redundant. Taking photos on the tiny, faux metal shoot button is really awkward and instead of just sliding your thumb across the circular control panel, like on the HD2000, it now requires a complete repositioning of the grip in order to switch between photos and videos, which had always been one of the main selling points of this “Dual Camera” range.

Sanyo Xacti CS1: HD Shooting

Fitting full HD video 1920×1080 at 60 frames per second inside a camera of this size is a great achievement, and the video quality is clear and detailed, even when blown up on a HD projector. However, footage lacks the rich and vibrant flavour of the earlier model. Colours sucked in by the 3.4-megapixel CMOS sensor can be dreary but the quality on offer easily outstrips the Flip Mino HD and Kodak PlaySports of this world, and so it should at almost double the price point.

The 10x optical zoom, has only one speed – too fast – but it is impressively smooth. It has a little bit of a heir trigger and the autofocus tends to take a little while to adjust to fast zooms. The face chaser tech is exemplary, instantly picking out up to 12 faces, while the on-board image stabiliser also works well. The white balance, ISO and exposure settings can improve your images no end.

Sanyo Xacti CS1: Control niggles

As we mentioned above, the shooting controls have gone from fluent to fiddly, and that is replicated by the menu system on the LCD screen. Adjusting settings is an error-laden chore compared to its predecessor. The 2.7-inch 230,000 TFT screen is excellent, however. The instant on door is far from instant, taking six seconds to warm up and become record-ready.

In summary, CS1 isn’t a bad device, it just feels like too much of a step down from the HD2000 and there just isn’t a place in the world for it any more. The pocket-friendly market has been cornered by much cheaper models and this gaudily designed shooter can’t be considered a serious camcorder either.

Specifications

Image sensor
C-MOS sensor, 1/5 inch, Approx. 3.4 megapixels
Effective pixels: Photo: Approx. 3.3 megapixels; Video: Approx. 2.8 megapixels (Full HD / HD), Approx. 3.3 megapixels (SD)

Recording media
SD memory card, SDHC memory card (up to 32 GB), SDXC memory card (up to 64 GB), Approx. 50 MB internal memory

Lens
f = 3.2–28.8 mm; F = 2.8 (wide)–3.0 (telephoto); Auto focus: 9 groups, 12 elements (3 aspheric elements, 6 aspheric surfaces);
Built-in ND filter

Photo range
Standard: 50 cm–infinity (wide), 1.0 m–infinity (telephoto); Super macro: 1 cm–1.0 m (wide)

Shutter speed
Photo: 1/2–1/1000 sec. (Lamp mode: max. 1 sec.); Sequential: 1/15–1/1000 sec.; Video: 1/30–1/10000 sec.

Digital zoom
Shooting: max. Approx. 10x, (total zoom range: 90x [photo] / 100x [video]); Playback: max. Approx. 51.0x ([8M] mode, varies
with resolution)

Focus
Auto (Photo: 9-point AF / spot AF; Video: continuous area AF); Manual: 22 steps

Scene select
Auto / Sports / Portrait / Landscape / Snow & Beach / Fireworks / Lamp*5

Digital filter
Standard / Cosmetic / Monochrome / Sepia

Image stabilizer
Photo: multi-calculation electronic image stabilizer; Video: electronic image stabilizer


Other functions
Red-eye correction in photos, Wind noise reduction

Self-timer
2 sec. / 10 sec

White balance
Auto: Full auto TTL; Manual: Sunny / Cloudy / Fluorescent / Incandescent / One-push


LED light
LED light on, LED light off

LED light range
Approx. 10 cm–1 m super macro (wide)

AudioMicrophone
Built-in stereo (with Sound Zoom); Speaker: built-in monaural (L/R mixed output)

Monitor
2.7-inch low-temperature polysilicon TFT color widescreen LCD, approx. 230,000 dots (7-level brightness, 285-degree rotation)

Interface
AV output (Video: HDMI, Composite video [NTSC/ PAL]; Audio: Stereo, USB 2.0 (high-speed mode)


Power supply
Lithium-ion battery (DB-L80, included: 700 mAh)

Weight
Approx. 159 g (including battery and SD card), Approx. 142 g (body only)

Posted by Chris Smith