Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1000

This Sanyo camcorder is apparently an attempt to capture both the video and still photo market and offer both types of customers one product.

The first thing I have to comment on is the super stylish design, this thing it just great looking, it's also very small and light (just 300g). When I first picked one up I couldn't resist the temptation to pretend it was some kind of start trek phaser, I also had a strange urge to try and shave with it!

OK it looks great and fits in your pocket easily but is it any good?
Well the digital camera is only 4 mega pixels which frankly is not high enough these days.
The video recording is full HD 1,920 x 1,080d and I think very good quality, It's the same standard found on many higher cost camcorders from other companies.

One of the reasons the cam is so compact is because it uses flash memory cards, which is great for transferring footage. A big disappointment is that a SD card is not included in the price.

I do have a problem with the fact the HD1000 records at 30 or 60 fps, while the 60fps is great for fast action and plays back incredibly smoothly on a PC the UK PAL TVs use 25 or 50fps, so a DVD playback can look jerky. You have to make some adjustments when editing and burning the DVD.

On a positive note I was really impressed with the Image Stabilization, which works for stills and video. HD can show up a shaky hand and with such a small unit it could be even worse for the HD1000, but the software did a good job of removing my wobbles.

Some specs:
Full 1080i HD Recording
10x Optical (f/1.8) HD Zoom Lens
2.7" Widescreen Display
4 Mega pixel still photos
HDMI high-definition output
MPEG4 AVC/H.264 Format
Records to SDHC Memory Cards

So, it's a great looking good quality cheap HD camcorder, with some "issues" for creating DVDs.