Sanyo Xacti HD1010 4MP MPEG4 High Definition 1080i/1080p Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom
Sanyo Xacti HD1010 4MP MPEG4 High Definition 1080i/1080p Camcorder with 10x Optical Zoom
Nice camera for the price Customer Reviews:
I wanted a small, lightweight hidef camera at a reasonable price. So far the Xacti seems to match my needs. I saw several cameras by high end companies, Sony, Cannon, etc, but I wanted to keep the price well under $1000. This camera has simple controls, a full function docking station, and is pocket size. Very good buy from Amazon.
Best Camcorder/Camera I have owned
I have had many a camcorder in my day. From VHS to HI-8 to miniDV. One of the best features of this camera is that it is tape-less. Beyond that it record superb HD quality and fits in my hoody pocket. The pictures it takes are good too. Although it is listed as only taking 4mp pics, there is a setting in the camera that lets you take shots up to 8mp.
There is a built in hot shoe for accessories such as an external lapel mic or external light.
It is a small camera so it can be tricky keeping it steady. I recommend a tripod or monopod if you need stability with your video.
I usually downscale the video to a TV quality since I like to edit my video in post production with Premiere Pro. The HD quality is beyond my computer’s ability, but it is nice having that potential.
I recommend this camera to anyone that wants a fully featured, sturdy, hand-held, multi-purposed camera for under $700 bucks. I really like this camera and have been using it for about 1 year now. I take it to concerts, shows and even use it for work interviews.
I love it - I am a simpleton
The reviewer “A Edwards” really did a great job on the review. When I read it, it swayed me over to make the purchase and I am not sorry.
Now, I’m not the best video shooter on earth but NONE of my shots so far have been shaky at all. Image stabilization is not an issue for me. I am a simpleton though. I do take basic videos of the kids at the park, driving my car (don’t ask) and chasing the dog around the house.
The images look great on my 52″ Samsung TV and no one gets dizzy or sick. The HD playback is *stunning* and really is the best video recorder I have ever owned. I shot a blair witch simulation and I gotta say that the pores on my face never looked so good. WOW does it get the detail!
Some of you complain that your computer cannot handle playback. I did notice a strange behavior when I used quicktime to playback my videos. It seemed like every 59th frame would skip ahead to frame 65 resulting in a chop every one second. I fixed this by simply playing the videos using a FREE application called VLC. That fixed my problem 100%. Google it and install it. It’s a trusted app. No malware, people.
My only issue is disk space. Seems like 1-2 minutes of full on HD@60fps runs about 200Mb. OUCH! The question is: What really IS deserving of recording at full HD? It’s really a hard question. I mean, I want EVERYTHING I record to be awesome and HD but lets face it, its not worth the disk space. I lowered the resolution to 720@60fps and the size is much smaller with little sacrafice to quality.
My suggestion is: Shoot the wedding at full rez. Shoot the grand canyon at full rez. Shoot your dog running around at 720! Its up to you but even a 1Tb drive will fill quickly (6 mos or less) if you shoot it all at HD.
Not so long ago, I watched my brother-in-law purchase a Panasonic digital SD camera for more than the XACTI and he is hating life! Why? Because they chose a proprietary format to encode so each time he records, he copies to his computer and must decode each file individually to a format his computer can recognize. The XACTI is the opposite and something that was done right from the start. Record, pull the SD card, insert into computer, copy and watch! It’s that simple. No hassles…No strings attached.
If you can afford this gadget, I cannot stress enough how well rounded it is. The only SERIOUS con is that it DOES Look like a gun and casually strolling around town with it will eventually get the attention of the local cops who might front you so be smart and holster this bad boy when in public.
works as advertised
This is an excellent consumer or even prosumer grade camcorder. Image quality is great and indoor light image quality is much improved over the first Sanyo HD 1 from 2 years ago. As some have complained about the image stabilization control, it is true to some degree. Walking while shooting will produce nearly as great a shaking image as not using the image stabilization. However, if your standing still and moving the camera in normal, non jarring movements, it will do a good job of stabilizing the image. This too is an improvement over the old HD 1 (which I still own), but I believe it’s one area where Canon has an advantage, using optical instead of digital image stabilization. Sanyo’s advantage for me is in the ergonomics of the design and the price.It comes down to what’s more important to you.Finally, the free Nero editing/DVD/Blu-Ray authoring is very good for editing even 1080p HD footage. It could be more intuitive in its functions, but once you learn it, it’s easy.
Very nice camcorder
I am about to go on an over seas vacation, and decided it was time to trade in my old hitachti dz-mv550a in for a newer camcorder.
After using a camcorder with the the mini-DV and DVD-RAM media I was really interested in getting something nice and easy. The Xacti HD1010 fit the bill perfectly!
I decided to go for flash memory for a few reasons, one I like the simplicity of taking the SD card out and popping it in my computer. Because there is not HDD it starts up lightning fast, and is VERY light.
I was a little worried about having enough recording time, but I have three 16GB cards, so all together I am just shy of 10 hours of recording time, this is plenty for me. Plus, while on vacation, I don’t have to lug my laptop around, if I need more memory I can just grab another card.
The video is nice and crisp, and the still shots are nice (8 MP when video is not running, 2 MP if it is). My fried just got the Sony HDR-SR12, don’t get me wrong that is a very nice camera, but mine is smaller and lighter, has the same features (face chaser, etc) and looking and recorded videos I can’t tell a difference. Keep in mind I am not a professional, so if there is some very slight difference in quality, I am OK with that since I want something I can pull out fast, take quick video, and not make a big deal out of it (with the hitatchi it became such an ordeal, I just stopped using it).
My one gripe is not with the Sanya, but rather with Microsoft, media player does not support MP4 format yet, so I had to download a codec, but once I did, I could watch video straight from the SD card with no editing, or fussing around.