Product Description

The SANYO Xacti HD1000 camcorder combines the superb image quality of full 1080i high-definition video with 4 megapixel still images in a single compact and elegant design. Full 1080i HD Recording, 10x Optical (f/1.8) HD Zoom Lens, 4 Megapixel still photos, 2.7" Widescreen Display, Advanced MPEG4 AVC/H.264 Format, HDMI high-definition output, Records Directly to SDHC Memory Cards

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3373 in Camera & Photo
• Color: Black
• Brand: Sanyo
• Model: VPC-HD1000
• Dimensions: 4.40" h x 2.10" w x 3.50" l, .60 pounds
• Display size: 2.7

Features

• Digital media camera combines the functionality of a digital camera with a digital camcorder
• Simultaneously records high-definition digital video and 4 MP digital still images
• 10x HD zoom lens; 2.7-inch widescreen LCD
• Built-in image stabilization; high-quality digital stereo recording
• HDMI high-definition output; compatible with SD/SDHC memory cards

Manufacturer Description
Manufacturer Description

The Sanyo HD1000 Xacti digital media camera with 10x optical zoom is a high-definition compact digital media device that combines both the functionality of a digital camera and a digital camcorder. Different than a standard digital camera that shoots short video clips, the HD1000 offers advanced, next-generation video performance and high-quality stills in one small, lightweight camera. This powerful little device is designed to record both 1080i high-definition video and 4-megapixel digital still images, all of which are handily stored to a convenient SD or SDHC memory card.

Xacti HD1000 Highlights

CMOS Sensor

Full 1080i HD sensor Incorporating the latest high-definition CMOS sensor, the Sanyo Xacti HD1000 camcorder captures full 1920x1080 (1080i) high-definition video at 60 frames-per-second. Designed to record the rich and vibrant colors of real life, the HD1000 also captures the subtle tones to provide the natural-looking result. The HD1000’s CMOS sensor provides the responsiveness needed to capture fast moving subjects and Sanyo’s noise reduction technology helps obtain the cleanest signal from each pixel. The HD1000 records to the latest in MPEG-4 standard MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, delivering exceptional video clarity and detail while maintaining the smallest file size possible.

10x optical HD lens At the front of the HD1000 is a commanding 10x all-glass HD lens. The HD1000’s fast f/1.8 lens is capable of allowing almost four times more light through to assist in lower light venues. Consisting of eight groups and eleven total lenses with a built-in neutral density filter, the HD1000's lens provides a fantastic field-of-view with a 38-380 mm range (35 mm equivalent). Combined with the 10x digital zoom, the HD1000 provides up to 100x total zooming capability.

Take 4-megapixel photos

4-megapixel still photos The Xacti HD1000 enables simultaneous shooting of 4-megapixel still images and HD (1920 x 1080 pixel) movie clips, with a simple press of the shutter button during the shooting of a movie clip. Users will never need to miss another precious photo opportunity. (Depending on the mode used to take still images, simultaneous video clip shooting may be interrupted. While shooting video clips, using the digital image stabilizer may change the angle of view for still images.)

Large 2.7-inch widescreen display The Xacti HD1000 features a large 2.7-inch widescreen Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). The display flips out from the camera and rotates up to 285 degrees on an axis that allows you to take great video or still images from otherwise-difficult-to-view positions, especially useful when shooting in large crowds or in small rooms.

Fits in the palm of your hand

Ergonomic design The Xacti series has become known for the small size and ergonomic design. The HD1000 features a comfortable angle designed to easily fit in the palm of the hand. The HD1000’s design adapts a new 105-degree angle research proven to be less tiring to hold and shoot than typical camcorders. Easy-to-hold and easy-to-shoot, the HD1000 raises the bar in compact camcorder design.

HDMI high-definition output It’s easy to share your high-definition movies on your HD television with the HD1000. Using the HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) terminal built into the base station, just one cable connects your camcorder to your TV for a totally digital output. HDMI carries both the video and audio signals in digital form for the highest quality playback.

Convenient SD/SDHC memory card The Sanyo Xacti HD1000 records high-definition and photos directly to a standard SD or SDHC Memory Card. In fact, the HD1000 is capable of recording up to 1 hour and 25 minutes of 1080i high-definition video on a single 8GB card (sold separately). The SD memory card’s compact size (0.94W x 1.26H x 0.08D inches) and weight (about 2 grams) makes it ideal for the compact size of the HD1000. The minimal power requirements of the SD card also contribute to longer recording and playback times. When connected to the computer via the USB cable, the HD1000 acts as a standard card reader. Transferring images and videos to your computer has never been easier.

Image stabilization High-definition can't hide shaky or erratic camera shaking. That's why Sanyo's HD1000 comes with a sophisticated image stabilizer for both stills and video. Using a proprietary Sanyo algorithm, the HD1000 compensates for distracting up-and-down or side-to-side camera movement during video shooting, keeping your subject steady and easy to follow. It accurately distinguishes between unintentional camera shake and deliberate camera movement. This handy feature operates in both wide-angle and telephoto modes, giving every shot a solid, professional-looking feel. Random access Each video is recorded as an individual MPEG-4 and each still as a JPEG so you can have true random access allowing you to review a specific image or video quickly and easily, without waiting for tape rewinding or fast forwarding.

Adjustable resolution modes Choose from six different video resolution modes and eight different still photo resolution levels depending on how your images will be used.

Digital stereo recording

Robust sound recording Record 48 kHz, 16-bit, 2-channel sound for AAC-LC (MPEG-4 Audio) for a sense of reality to match the quality of those impressive high-definition movies. The Xacti HD1000 also features a dedicated terminal to which an external microphone can be attached.

Organization & in-camera editing With the Sanyo Xacti HD1000’s 9-image display function, users can quickly search for specific images or videos. And, with the slideshow feature, images can be played back continuously. The HD1000 can also edit clips. Clips can be cut in user-selected points and spliced, all from the camera itself. Unwanted images can be easily deleted, freeing up memory card capacity.

Easy connection to PC or TV

Easy camera to PC connection One of the more frustrating aspects of working with any digital media camera is juggling all the wires and connections necessary when you want to use it with external components for viewing or to download files. Sanyo's HD1000 streamlines the whole process with an innovative docking station that provides an instant HDMI, component, composite or S-video connection to a TV and a USB connection for a PC. The HD1000 even recharges its internal battery when nested in the docking station.

Super-fast startup With the tapeless design, the HD1000 eliminates the need to queue up a tape deck or get a DVD or hard drive spinning allowing the HD1000 to begin shooting in as little as two seconds! When the HD1000 is powered on, closing the LCD display puts the HD1000 in standby mode. Simply open the display and the HD1000 automatically powers up and can begin immediately recording in as little as two seconds.

Manual controls The HD1000 features versatile manual controls for advanced shooting. The following settings can be manually adjusted according to the shooting situation: Manual focus adjustment (16 settings); aperture adjustment (6 stops); exposure compensation (1.8 EV, 0.3 EV steps); shutter speed (13 settings); and image-quality adjustment (for sharpness and color saturation).

Easy HD playback The Xacti HD1000 enables easy playback of recorded high-definition images directly on a TV screen. Connect the HD1000 to a VCR or DVD recorder to back-up copies of recorded content. Still images and video clips on the Xacti HD1000 are played back continuously and in chronological order. Along with MPEG-4 digital recording, the Xacti HD1000 offers convenient connection to a PC. With simple drag-and-drop operation, it's easy to save recorded video clips and still images onto a computer's hard disk for emailing, editing or archiving. The HD1000 also comes with a remote controller to operate the camera at a distance during playback.

Customer Reviews

Not cheap, but very good considering the feature set
I've had mine for several months now and have had the opportunity to use it in a variety of environments.

First, the pros: the build is better than anything I've seen from Sanyo to date. It has a nice heft to it, the controls are much smoother and more precise than in previous models ( allowing for less herky-jerk zooming ), and it looks like something out of the future. The flash is quite powerful, the lens seems to have none of the ghosting issues that plagued some of the earlier models and controls flare well even in oblique sunlight. It has a threaded lens so you can attach a 40.5mm protective filter as well as Sanyo-branded wide-angle, fisheye and teleconverter lenses. The menu system is intuitive like few I've seen from any manufacturer, the LCD is clear and bright ( if not razor sharp ) and the camera and SD compartments have now been separated from one another as well, with the ( long life ) battery being under the hand grip.
Ease of playback on an HDTV with the included base docking/charger could not be simpler, and the Sanyo Image library feature that allows movies to be stored in full HD on an external hard drive and be played back directly through the camera dock to the TV is brilliant. The ability to edit clips in camera is a real marketing advantage over the competition. It works well, too.
The camera seems quite durable, and after several months of use there is not one scratch on it. The fact that a lens cover is supplied and that it is a squeeze-type bayonet type is very nice by comparison to some of the primitive lens covers on other Sanyo models.
The camera has a vast variety of selectable options for metering, white balance, exposure, programs, movie and picture quality, saturation and color effects, flash modes, exposure compensation etc etc. It will take you quite some time to find out how to use this camera to its fullest potential.

Now the cons:
I'd hesitate to recommend this to people with small hands, as it is bulky enough to be "barely" hand-holdable by someone like myself with fairly large hands. My wife certainly couldn't hold this with one hand.
You like reviewing on your PC, you say? Again, forget about it. Unless you have the latest and greatest computer hardware and oodles of patience to find, download and install codecs, you won't be able to. As simple as that. My PC is two years old, and it can't even handle the 720p/30 fps resolution , much less the full 60 fps 1080i. Now, this is NOT a flaw or a fault of the camera, since other AVC/h.264 cameras have similar backward-compatibility problems with hardware and software that just can't keep up with the huge processing demands of the format. But it's still something you should know before you plunk down $ 700. Especially for Mac users. I'm not one, but discussion forums are a-twitter with angry Apple fans who notice that QT is not handling the full 1080i files.

The lens, big and lovely and fast as it is, still has the infamous Sanyo blue spot, which although barely visible still shows up in some shots, particularly indoors if there is a bright overhead light in the picture. I happen to notice it because I've had previous Sanyo models and was looking for it. You might not even notice it, it's that faint.

I was at first undecided whether to keep it or not, especially since at the time I bought it the price was $ 799 and the cheaper HD 700 had not yet launched. When it did launch, I ordered one , thinking it might be a cheaper and more compact but otherwise fairly similar model to the HD 1000. Wrong! After two weeks of side by side testing, the HD 700 was returned and I felt much better about the higher price of the HD 1000 considering the superior optics and video/images. It's worth the extra bucks.

It's worth noting that one of the more intelligent features is to have supplied the camera with a "Normal" and "Simple" mode. The normal mode allows more creative control; the simple mode automates the camera functions for those who just want to get good pictures and video without necessarily wanting to fudge around with settings.

Conclusion: very good and definitely a huge bound in the right direction for Sanyo to compete with the more established marques. It won't give you HD like a professional broadcast HDTV camera will, but try putting one of those in your pocket!

Great Camera, Mac Compatible, Very Portable

I have a Sony HDR-SR1, which I've had for a year and loved, but it only comes out when I know I want to shoot video... and so I've missed some spur of the moment footage because I simply didn't have it with me. I bought the Xacti to carry around all the time.

First off, this camera was designed to work with the Mac, and even comes wiht iTunes and Quicktime on the DVD in the box. There is a version of Quicktime 7.20 which has come out since which has a bug in it that prevents displaying the video. I expect that as of 6pm today-- when Leopard ships-- there will be a new version of quicktime that resolves this issue, so it should be resolved at any rate by the time you read this review. There is a workaround that I'm using to watch my footage-- I simply copied the H.264 component from Quicktime 7.16 (on the DVD with the Xacti) over the H.264 component on my 7.2 quicktime in /Systems/Library/Quicktime... and its working perfectly now-- editing in imovie, etc.

The camera has some great features compares to my sony-- more resolution options and it actually is higher resolution (1920x1080 at 60fps vs 1440x1080 at 30fps for the sony).

But the really compelling things is that this camera can live in your pocket and always be there.

It docks conveniently and will even act as a USB cam while docked if you want. Changing settings on the fly is really convenient- a lot easier than the sony. It does seem to have mroe difficulty focusing than the sony and it doesnt' have the niteshot feature or super-slo-mo that the sony does.

But the final straw that makes me love this camera-- since it shoots MP4 natively, you just copy the files over to imovie events folder and start up imovie. There's none of the long, tedious and hard drive consuming conversion that you need to do with AVCHD files (like the Sony and Panasonic cameras make.)

This alone make this a great camera for quick turn around shooting- you can shoot during the day, edit at night and post to the net that night.... its a really convenient workflow.

Great Camera Just What I Needed.
I have recently purchased a Sanyo Xacti HD1000 and love it.
My main requirements were:
1. Small so that I can take it anywhere.
2. Easy to transfer video to computer for editing and back up
3. Shoot great video
4. Take a decent photo in a pinch.
This camera performs all perfectly. I don't have one complaint!
I have just replaced a Panasonic 3ccd mini DV camera that took great video but was much more bulky than the Sanyo Xacti, it took forever to get the files on to the computer and was difficult to navigate from one clip to another. You would have to rewind or fast forward the tape to replay your clip from the camera.

Another great feature about this camera that I did not know until I received the camera was the ability to plug an external hard drive directly to the camera and use it for backing up and replaying files. This is great if you want to bypass putting the files on the computer. You can plug the camera into your TV via HDMI (or you're A/V receiver like I am doing) and play your videos through the camera to your TV. It comes with a remote control that allows you to use the camera just like a DVD player with menus to navigate your saved pictures and videos. How easy is that! When you add the external hard drive you are not limited to the files currently on the SD card in the camera and the playback quality is perfect.

I also purchased the 16gig HCSD card and the 32gig card will be out in January I hear. That's over 5 hours of pure HD content on a card.

One caveat that comes with this camera in regards to computer play back. You will need a newer computer to take advantage of the full hd 1080i, 60 frames per second video or you can reduce the quality to alleviate the strain on your computer. "Reduce the quality" does not mean all of a sudden your video will look like garbage. Even taking the quality down to 720P at 30 frames a second will be a huge improvement over any standard definition camera. The cameras capabilities exceed the capabilities of most older computers. This is not a bad thing. If we only expected Sanyo to release cameras capable of playing on most peoples three year old computer we wouldn't have this great piece of technology and we would all be complaining that only the people in Japan get the good stuff.

Something to keep in mind. If you are like me, your parents might have had an 8mm film video camera that they shot home movies with. We would set up the movie projector and the screen, feed the film through the reel and watch soundless, grainy, jerky video and it was GREAT! Any camera you by today will be an incredible improvement but you have to have the camera with you to shoot. Debating the image quality from one camera to another really doesn't matter if you don't carry the camera with you to record your memories. When you look back at your "home movies" 20 years from now when the video cameras will be 1000 times better than whatever is out there now you will still love the memories you caught. Don't agonize over reviews stating the ever so slightest advantage from one camera to another. Make a list of what you really want to do with the camera and how you will use it and find the best camera that suits those needs.

If having an easy camera to use in your pocket at all times to catch the moment is important to you, this could be the perfect camera.