Jeff Keller Reviews Sanyo VPC-HD2 With Samples

[Jerry Jones]

http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/sanyo/vpc_hd2-review/index.shtml

It seems this pocket 720p camcorder has improved to some degree over the terrible HD1.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Jerry Jones]

Of course, it's still no match for the $599 Sony HDR-UX1:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/446815-REG/Sony_HDRUX1_HDR_UX1_AVC_HD_DVD.html

At $540 street price, the Sanyo VPC-HD2 seems incredibly expensive by comparison.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Jerry Jones]

Another good review from a buyer on Amazon. Buyer beware:

Pros-

Small.
Light.
Concealable.
Fill flash syncs at all shutter speeds.
Video shutter speed priority and internal mechanical neutral density filter for bright scenes.

Cons-

Focus hunts. Focus fails to lock on nearest central object even when that central object has high contrast and fills >50% of frame. Focus prone to locking on background instead of subject. Focus is substantially worse than every camcorder I've ever used.

Taking stills while shooting HD video is useless. Viewfinder goes black while still is written to card. During playback video freezes. Taking stills while shooting SD video does not interrupt recording only if lowest resolution 640x480 still is selected. Unable to disable still button to prevent accidental activation.

Audio is full of clicks from auto focus hunting and grating from zooming. External microphone is a must. Can't adjust external microphone level while viewing a meter. There is no meter in any display or menu. External microphone level can't be set high enough, even when using battery powered microphone. Zooming during recording adds high pitched whine to audio from external microphone. Likely due to lack of proper shielding in camera and microphone.

Microphone jack smaller than standard 1/8" plug. Adapter cord is included.

No standard USB jack on camera, docking station or cable adapter block. Must use supplied adapter cable and either docking station or cable adapter block to connect to computer.

This camera is a poor substitute for dedicated still camera. Stills have many artifacts. Substantially worse than my oldest 1600x1200 2.1 Mega pixel Canon Elph camera.

No front lens threads. No lens hood. Lens cap prone to marking lens.

Lens adapters and filter adapter use friction push on "mount" instead of secure aligned threaded connector. Lens ring does not turn. Hama rectangular hood is good fit to filter mounted to Sanyo's filter adapter.

Tripod socket not perpendicular to lens axis.

Camera does not naturally point at subject. At telephoto end finding subjects is difficult.

No place to mount an accessory light or microphone on top of camera.

No provision to alter file naming convention.

Video data rate at minimum secure digital flash card rate. Rate is not even close to the transfer limit of current flash memory. Artifacts so prevalent that it is hard to tell if image is in correct focus. Shooting with tripod is a must to lessen artifacts. Image stabilization ok, but not good enough to prevent compression artifacting of background.

Does not come with HDMI cable. HDMI cable not available for purchase 3/2007 .

Fastest shutter speed only 1/2000.

No thumb wheel for manual focus. Manual focus isn't smooth, but jumps in steps. Unable to adjust manual focus during recording.

Changing between focus modes requires one way cycling through all options. Focal length jumps to widest and stays there when cycling past macro range focus setting.

Unable to adjust exposure compensation during recording.

Instead of smoothly changing to new lighting conditions, automatic exposure noticeably jumps between exposure levels.

Recording display confusing. Displays red "REC" even after pause button is activated, "REC" stays on while card is written, long after actually recording has ended.

Screen momentarily goes completely black after pushing video record button. User unable to follow subject motion with black screen.

Settings menu confusing. Box end wrench menu shows two tabs, but only first is used.

Videos require fast computer to play smoothly. 2006 Apple 1.5GHz G4 Macmini unable to smoothly play unscaled 1280x720 video.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Jerry Jones]

The reason I would not buy the Sanyo VPC-HD2 isn't the fact that its resolution is a "cheap" 720/30p.

The reason I would not buy the Sanyo VPC-HD2:

1. focus mechanism needs real improvement;

2. external microphone input needs to work flawlessly with no complaints about low levels or noise;

3. there's a bit of doubt about build quality with Sanyo, which they need to overcome;

4. the price is too high.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Jerry Jones]

Corel VideoStudio 11 Plus -- with Cineform codec installed -- can convert the Sanyo .MP4 extension files nicely to Cineform .avi files.

My test here worked.

So that's good news.

If Sanyo could lower the price and fix the focus and give me more confidence in that external microphone input, I would give it a try.

But not this current model.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Hulk]

This is just my opinion but I think the samples look like over-saturated, over-contrasty crap.

[Jerry Jones]

Still, they are an improvement over the absolutely revolting samples of the previous model.

SANYO claims to be moving toward development of AVCHD.

John Lamb, Senior Marketing Manager, Sanyo Fisher Company, stated, “Sanyo is strongly committed to AVC and H.264, and you will continue to see us launch new products that will include H.264 in both standard definition and high definition.”

So I'm hoping they'll improve enough in the next version.

For me, the most annoying aspect of the Keller review demo clips is the strange aliasing that you can see on the edges of vector-shaped objects.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net