Sanyo VPCTH1 HD Compact Flash Memory Camcorder w/

Great little camcorder for the money!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am reviewing this as a person who likes still cameras but doesn’t normally use a camcorder – I took this unit out of the box, charged it, and started to use it. I did as much as I could without consulting the manual. I took photos, shot a lot of footage under different circumstances, connected it to my Mac, uploaded a video to YouTube, etc. I’m not a pro! But here is what I think after using the camcorder.

PROS: The camcorder was EASY TO USE. I didn’t need to consult the manual. I didn’t need to upload the included software – iMovies worked just fine. My computer didn’t recognize the device but all I had to do was tell it to look for a storage device and there it was. Everything else was a snap.

I have normal-sized female hands. This fit in my palm quite nicely. The buttons and controls were easy to figure out – much like the controls on a digital still camera except that instead of arrow buttons there is a tiny joystick. The camcorder comes with a fair amount of on-board memory. For YouTube videos, of lowest quality, you can shoot about half an hour w/o a card. It doesn’t come with an SD card, but I had one on hand and they are cheap, so I don’t consider it a negative that it didn’t come with one. The picture quality was good for a device in this price range. Zoom was smooth, stabilizer worked great.

CONS: I didn’t like operating all the buttons with my thumb. That felt clumsy. And, the only other con is that this is advertised as a dual-purpose camera (stills and videos) but the quality of the stills (2 mg) is not any better than a cell phone camera, so I consider that a bit misleading. If having a camcorder that also takes great stills is important to you, pass on this one.

I would recommend this to anyone who is getting a first camcorder and doesn’t want to spend a bundle. You get a lot of zoom, HD, small size, easy-to-use device.

A somewhat disappointing camcorder at a very low price
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This camcorder has a lot going for it in terms of features and price, but I found that the picture quality just wasn’t good enough. Videos shot indoors, under normal indoor lighting conditions, came out very dark. For example, brown hair and black look identical in the resultant videos. I found this very disappointing. The quality of still photos was disappointing, too. The flash and the picture quality are basically cell-phone-camera level, and holding it steady, as you would a digital camera, was awkward. The price is very good for a real HD camcorder, but I think that you should probably use a cheap, multi-function device that shoots HD video (an iPod nano or a Motorola Droid phone, for example) if you care more about price than picture quality. If you are a serious videographer, on the other hand, you should buy a higher-end camcorder.

For an entry-level compact camcorder, the TH1 is neither bad nor great and may be ideal for some users.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I wholeheartedly agree with reviewer Clank of Iowa who says that if you are considering purchasing a camcorder such as the Flip Mino HD or similar type of mini camcorder in that price range, you may want to spend the extra money to get Sanyo’s VPC-TH1 HD. You’ll get 30 X optical zoom and superior audio recording capability and quality.

Of course size if size is of great consideration to you and you want a camcorder the size of the Flip or Vado HD, then you’ll find the TH1 too big.

As mentioned, the TH1 has a 30 X optical zoom. That’s a pretty powerful optical zoom, and if you don’t already know this, there’s an important difference between optical zoom and digital zoom. Optical zoom is “real” zoom; the lens moves closer to the subject. Digital zoom is simulated zoom that is achieved at a loss of image quality (the more digital zoom used, the grainier the image).

The TH1 is easy to use, as Sanyo claims. I found it as easy to use as both the Vado HD and the Flip Mino HD, which is to say that it’s pretty intuitive, though the TH1 is a bit more complex than the aformentioned mini camcorders and thus there is a bit more of a learning curve involved in learning how to use it.

One must have an SD (Secure Digital) or SDHC (Secure Digital High Capacity) card to use the TH1(though it did capture a few seconds of video without a card), so that is going to be an additional expense for purchasers of the TH1. Flash memory (as SD and SDHC cards are) is one of the stablest, most durable media formats, as there are no moving parts. Bump a hard disk camcorders while recording and it will likely affect the recording. Hard disk camcorders get hot when recording; flash memory camcorders have very low heat emission. Flash memory camcorders also boot up faster than hard disk camcorders.

The TH1 is an HD (High Definition) camcorder but not all HD is the same. Set to the highest quality recording level, the TH1 is capable of recording at a resolution of 1280 X 720 also known as 720p where “p” stands for “progressive scan.” Camcorders capable of recording at a resolution of 1080i (“i” for “interlaced”) typically produce clearer images but this depends on the TV the recording is played back on as well as on what is recorded (according to Kerr Cook at Sony HDV Info dot com, “720p recording may hold the edge if you are recording sporting events or where there is a lot of high-speed motion and you want to later Pause and examine, step through frames, extract still snapshots, or do slow motion analysis.” Aside from that, Cook says, “For the highest resolution, 1080i can’t be beat today…for general recording…”). Technicalities aside, when video recorded at the highest quality level possible on the TH1 is played back on an HDTV via the included AV (audio visual) interface cable, the image quality is good but not great (I’d say a 3 to 3 1/2 on a 1-5 scale, and I’m sorry but I don’t know the specs of the HDTV I tested the TH1 on and it was not mine; I do not yet own an HDTV). Image playback quality improves when one uses an HDMI cable (High-Definition Multimedia Interface, which is NOT included with the TH1; the Vado HD comes with an HDMI cable but it seems that most consumer camcorders do not) to playback video on an HDMI capable TV. I own a compact camcorder that can record at a resolution of 1080i, and the playback quality is far superior to the playback quality of the TH1.

The screen is a good size and my aging eyes appreciate it; my other compact camcorder cost more than twice what the TH1 cost and it has a smaller screen.

The audio pickup is good, meaning that the TH1 seems to clearly record whatever sounds it is pointed toward that the camcorder’s operator can pickup with her ears.

My guess is that compact camcorders such as the TH1 include still image taking capability because it is easy and inexpensive for manufacturers to include it. As other reviewers note, the still image quality is relatively poor.

The more light when recording, the better the recording quality. This is as true for my more expensive compact camcorder (which is a JVC Everio hard disk camcorder) as it is for the TH1. Thus, video taken indoors is typically inferior in image quality to video recorded outdoors on a sunny day. Turning on as many lights as possible indoors and opening curtains, shades, and blinds to let as much daylight in as possible helps.

Uploading to YouTube is simple, as other reviewers note. The TH1 would, I think, be nearly ideal as a user-friendly relatively inexpensive camcorder for someone whose primary use is making videos to upload to YouTube.

I am obviously not terribly enthused about the TH1, but at the same time I think it’s not bad for the price and I am impressed with its 30X optical zoom and ease of use. I have not mentioned the software because I haven’t used it. I use Adobe Premiere Elements 7 to edit video (which requires me to convert HD video to DV-AVI, mainly because my computer, a Sony Vaio laptop with the maximum 2GB RAM installed, can’t handle HD video very well).

Looks cooler than a Flip, but that’s about it
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
As mentioned elsewhere , this cam is not really good indoors unless you’ve got a LOT of light, and I mean a LOT like Clark Griswold at Christmas. I don’t know what they mean by image stabilizer, because as far as I can tell, this looks like video shot from any other camera aside from the HD aspect. What I don’t get is why they made a camera with 30x optical zoom but only made it capture still images at 2 megapixels– what is the point of this? The cam could have easily taken stills at a much higher resolution without affecting price point. You won’t get decent prints at 2 megapixels, so it’s no good as a multifunctional device, even with the flash. It has problems focusing on stuff in motion– which is kind of the point when you’re shooting video, and even switching from one still image to another has a slight delay in focus. Ultimately this camera was good for taking video of still objects and not much else. I think it would be worth paying more to get a better camera, especially if you want something to preserve family memories and that sort of thing. This camera is about as useful as a Flip, and ultimately a still image Sony that also takes video yielded better results on moving objects. Sure you can turn it on and shoot video in about 2 seconds, but you won’t get every light in the house on that fast, and you’ll need them. Ultimately it’s not horrible, but there is definitely better stuff on the market.

You might find a camera with better recording.
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I wished this camera did not pushed the envelope in the 30x optical zoom. We tested this and on play back the picture was very granular and shaky. I mean really shaky. You will need a tripod to reduce the shaking effect. We compared the output with one of panasonic camera that also had a movie function and we found that was better than this HD camcorder (for about the same price).

However, the zoom button was not hyper sensitive and hence you could zoom in and out without the picture looking like you were traveling through the stargate (sorry, for the syfy fans). It was a very easy and light camera to use and the menu was not overtly complicated in that within one choice you do not have to go into many steps to get what you are looking for – in fact there are only 6 menu options and within each one there is up to 6 choices. Great ones that we found actually worked included the face chaser (useful for filming moving objects coming towards you!) and the noise reduction (reduced the wind muffles). The camera is on as soon as you open the side wing with the view – there is no longer a viewer for the eye (thank goodness).

Works great with good lighting – natural and artificial. But does not work too well with dimly lit rooms. We noticed that it really picks up the sound real well so try not to talk as you are filming as we found we ended up being more focused on that than watching the movie. The down side on this camera was that you needed to buy a memory card and a big one at that as there is no hard drive with this camcorder; what is available only allows no more than 5 minutes of movies.

The camera is okay, not great as you can get better pictures on a stand alone camera. There is flash light, which some camcorders do not have. More useful as a camcorder than a camera – so a tad expense for just a camcorder without a hard drive.

Not the best by a long shot (with full pan!), but offers decent value
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is certainly not for those who need truly fine images. Canon and Nikon offer that, at a rather steeper price. But for those needing a basic little digital video camera to take shots of their kids to send to friends or put stuff up on youtube, it does that and more at a fair price.

The hi-def is not fabulous but is somewhat better than most normal-res cameras. The still photos are really low quality, and not worth buying this for if that’s a bonus that matters to you. But I do think that this is a fine choice for grandparents looking to shoot their grandkids, and that sort of home-movie usage. Easy to use right out of the box, easy to connect to your computer and download online, decent battery life, and pretty cheap. Seems somewhat solid and might even last a few years (by which time this level of performance will cost a hundred bucks or so; this would have been massive value five years ago).

In short, if you have basic video needs and a small budget, this might be perfect for you. Anyone who remembers the massive VHS cameras and their huge tapes and batteries and weight will realize that this much power in the palm of your hand, weighing almost nothing, at this price, is in fact almost miraculous. Pretty soon your cell phone will do it all for fifty bucks, but until then buying something simple for cheap might be the better call when tech is evolving this quickly.

Almost perfect family camera/camcorder combo
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The Sanyo VPC-TH1 HD is an entry level high definition SD camcorder with digital camera mode. Unlike its more expensive (and heavier) big brother, the VPC-FH1 HD, it does not support full HD (1080p) but only 720p HD.

The video modes supported are 1280×720@30fps (720p), 640×480@60fps and 640×480@30fps (SD).

The lens provides a 30x zoom and is the 35mm equivalent of a 43mm-1290mm zoom, with a 37mm accessory thread.

The layout of the VPC-TH1 is practically identical to that of the VPC-FH1: same crisp flip-out widescreen LCD monitor, same logically organized controls at the back (4 buttons: still, movie, rec/play, menu, and a mini-joystick). The zoom control is located at the top of the camera, and you will find a flash below the lens (for still pictures only). The underside features a standard tripod screw mount and the battery compartment.

Flipping open the monitor reveals the SD card slot, an HDMI connector, a USB/AV connector and the on/off switch. When the camera is on, closing the monitor puts it in stand-by; flip open the monitor and the camera is ready to shoot in about 4 seconds.

The controls are very simple, and anybody vaguely familiar with the operation of a camcorder can learn how to use it in a few minutes. However, all automatic features can be turned off or controlled via extensive menus, and the power user will delight in the plethora of available settings. The best feature, inherited from SLR cameras, is the capability to assign custom shortcuts to the mini-joystick so that you can access your 4 favorite features quickly while shooting without having to wade through menus.

CONS

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- No docking station

- No external charger; you charge the battery by plugging the power adapter into the camera (an external charger is available at extra cost)

- Unremarkable still picture quality

- Weak low-light performance

- Widest angle not quite wide enough (43mm equivalent) but that’s a common problem with camcorders

- Not a full-HD camcorder

- Electronic image stabilization is unconvincing

- Bundled software Windows only (but camcorder is fully supported by OSX’s iLife)

PROS

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- Simple to operate but feature-rich

- Excellent performance in good lighting conditions

- “Face Chaser”

- Fast, efficient autofocus

- Long zoom lens

- Uses standard encoding format usable on computers without conversion

- Built-in simple video editing allows in-camera trimming and joining

- Lens thread allowing the use of accessories, such as the 0.7x VCP-L07W1U wide angle, 0.4x VCP-L04SWU super wide angle and 1.5x VCP-L15TU tele

CONCLUSION

———-

This camcorder’s weakest points, poor low light performance and insufficient electronic image stabilization, are standard fare for an entry level camcorder. However, give it some light and/or a tripod and it starts shining. Good color fidelity and contrast, good motion, ease of use, 720p HD, you get quite a lot for very little. This can make a great first camcorder for a family or a teenager, and you can’t really go wrong at this price. You probably want to add a tripod and a case to your purchase, and a wide angle lens wouldn’t hurt either.

If you want a still camera replacement, great low light performance and good image stabilization, this is not the camera for you, but be prepared to spend significantly more money; otherwise, the VPC-TH1 HD is an excellent, sturdy and inexpensive well rounded family camcorder that I can recommend without any hesitation.

Simply horrible
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I had such high hopes for this camcorder. I prefer this orientation of camera over the more common pistol grip many cheaper camcorders seem to be heading towards. But as soon as I powered this camera on, I was ready to return it…

The video quality was horrible. Compared to my $100 Jazz HDV178, the Sanyo captured absolutely no detail. Everything appeared grainy and out of focus. Showing my friends the videos from it, they all thought it was an SD camcorder being upscaled to HD.

If this wasn’t bad enough, the focus was almost always hunting. Even outdoors at wide-angle, the camera never seemed to be able to focus on anything. Forget trying to zoom in. Yes, 30x optical is impressive, but darn near impossible to use.

The camera did include some neat features such as Aperture and Shutter Priority modes (allowing you to manually set these). This was a neat, but very poorly implemented addition. Once selected from the menu, you slowly were able to set these one click at a time. However, as soon as you did anything, such as zoom, you no longer could change these settings. The only way to adjust these once again was to enter the menu and reselect the option.

Now, this camera was able to boost it’s ISO very high, unlike similar cameras. While the quality was quite flat and noisy, it was able to keep a rather “bright” looking image in even low-light basement tests. However, I believe boosting the exposure in other cameras using some post-processing would produce a better image.

All in all, I say this camera’s a flop. For this price, you’d be just as well getting a nice SD camera. If you’re really wanting HD, consider something like the Aiptek ActionHD GVS.

Not A bad camera, but a few tradeoffs
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This is my third foray into the world of inexpensive HD cameras. About two years ago I bought a similar sized and priced Sony model – and I like the Sanyo much better. The Sony used tape, which was less convenient, and the interface to my computer was terrible in comparison to the Sanyo. The video quality for both is comparable.

At Christmas I also bought a Flip HD. I love the convenience and the computer interface for the Flip, and because of its size I tend to use it much more than the Sanyo. They Sanyo certainly has many more features for a little more money, so which one you would buy depends on your situation.

If you often shoot video at the last minute, and are less concerned about quality (though for its size the Flip looks great) than you are about “capturing the moment” – I would buy the Flip. You can literally stuff it in a shirt pocket or your glove box and it is there if you need it. Ditto if you want a really simple interface and an easy to use camera.

If you instead want to create some better home videos, and a little bigger camera with more features is appealing, then buy the Sanyo.

You Get What You Pay For . . .
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I bought this camcorder for a “cheap” way to enter the HD world of video capturing. I will wait to get a much better camcorder once I figure out how to get around editing AVCHD (and when I buy a new computer that can handle HD video editing with ease). My main use for this camcorder is capturing orchestral performances, editing it, and uploading the video to YouTube in HD quality. I also like taking video that requires no editing. In summary, this camcorder isn’t the best in the world, but isn’t the worst in the world.

Things you should be aware of before buying this camcorder:

1) The zoom button seems flimsy. It feels like it’ll break any moment.

2) The image stabilizer is not that useful (especially from 15x-30x zoom if shooting with hands). However, the image stability is greatly improved with a tripod (the video is still shaky nonetheless).

3) Not that great in low lighting conditions.

4) In a complete silence environment, you can hear noise when you zoom in or out. Not only that, you can hear other noises made from the camcorder in the audio recording in general. There’s no mic input to work around this flaw. But if the environment is NOT in complete silence (like an orchestra playing), you probably won’t hear the extraneous noises coming from the camcorder.

Other Observations/Thoughts:

1) I use a Transcend 16GB SDHC that comes with a card reader, and it seems to work out.

2) All videos captured are saved as file type mp4.

3) It uses SDHC, which means it uses the FAT32 filing system, which means the biggest file you can create is 4GB. At the highest video setting, that would be about 1 hour of non-stop recording. I decided to test what would happen if I try to go over 4GB. So I left the camcorder on for about one hour and one minute. Then in the LCD screen, there’s a countdown timer in red font indicating that it is running out of time to record. When it reached zero seconds, it auto-saves the recording, and then it starts a new recording. The file (in the SDHC) indicates that it is 3.99GB. However when I try to copy and paste this file to my computer, it won’t let me. The file is now useless. So the moral of the story is, if you are using the highest video setting, don’t go over 55 minutes of non-stop recording, and you’ll be fine.

4) I don’t really care about taking pictures on this, so I didn’t test that.

5) Regarding the battery: [UPDATE: 4/14/2009] Out of the box the battery says it has 72 minutes left on it. So I started to recharge it. According to the manual, the LED will turn red if it’s recharging and turn off if it’s finished. Three hours pass and the LED is still red. I was wondering how can this thing charge for so long. So I unplugged it and checked the battery life. It says 207 minutes. I plugged it back in to recharge it again. The LED is off. In summary, it seems that the recharging indicator isn’t reliable.

Video Editing/AVCHD section ——————————————

Of course editing video in AVCHD is a different beast altogether. So my review rating is not affected by this.

My Computer Specs:

OS: Windows XP

CPU: AMD Athlon XP +1800

Memory: 2 x 512MB

Video Card: ATI Radeon 8500 LE 128MB

First, here is what I WANT done in the video editing process:

1) If the video doesn’t need to be edited, I should be able to upload to YouTube in HD quality

2) If a video DOES need to be edited, there should be a way to “uncompress it” with a lossless technique (like huffYUV), or a way to edit the mp4 file directly with advanced editing techniques, compress it, and output to YouTube, DVD, or Blu-Ray.

Now I will tell you if steps 1) and 2) can be done based on my experience.

Step 1) can be done. Just upload the mp4 file to YouTube (it’s in HD quality), and that’s it.

Step 2) is rather interesting. Here’s what I’ve done so far.

a) install lame mp3 and ffdshow codecs

b) install and load “pazera free mp4 to avi converter”

c) uncompress the mp4 file to HuffYUV lossless (this will be the intermediate file for editing). This may cause the frame rate to lag (but I’m using a slow computer). Also take note that HuffYUV will produce a big file (about 31 MB/s for me). We do step c) because VirtualDub can’t load mp4 files.

d) install and load VirtualDub (or whatever video editor you use that can let you edit HuffYUV), and do your video editing.

e) compress video to ffdshow mpeg4 (fourcc = MP4V) 4000kbit/s: audio to lame mp3 128kbit/s

f) Done (the compressed file doesn’t lag for me anymore).

I am still searching for software that can do advanced video editing for AVCHD (or an uncompressed format) since VirtualDub can only do simple editing.

Not Bad For The Price
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
It’s not bad for the price and I did find it very easy to use.

But the focus and picture quality just isn’t all that good and it’s not good for low light situations such as shooting indoors. I’m not the pickiest person but this is just not the camera for me. I’ll probably give it to the kids to play with and I’m sure that it’ll do fine for that.

A friendly video camera with a lot of extras.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I am not an expert at video recorders- this is the first one I have used in years. I have had the Sanyo Dual Camera Xacti TH1 camera for a few weeks, however, and have really put it through the paces, so perhaps my experience will be helpful.

General appearance and construction: I was pleased with the look and feel of the camera. The hinges all appear solid and well made. At first I was afraid that the screen would be loose after a while, but I no longer believe that to be a problem. The slots for the SD card and the batteries are good and solid- and the SD slot is sealed with a rubber gasket to be at least water resistant. I saw nothing to concern me about the mechanical side of things.

View Screen: The screen is good and bright. I used it in a variety of lighting conditions and had no problem telling what I was shooting. That said, the camera did not have a view finder. I am kind of old fashioned, I guess, but I like a view finder. Frequently I find that I can’t use a camera screen in bright light- but then again, I didn’t have any problem with this screen. The screen will flip around in all directions- by the way- so self portraits of “overhead” shots are easy to accomplish.

Controls: The controls are good and solid, but were not immediately intuitive. I deliberately did not read the manual in the beginning, and was able to figure everything out in a couple of hours- but it took some work. The menus make sense and I didn’t have any issues figuring out what they were asking me.

Manual: I did eventually read the manual and found it reasonable. It did not contain some of the detailed information I was looking for- but it did describe how to do anything I would want to do.

Function: The camera works really well. The zoom is absolutely incredible. I loved the “take a photo while you are recoding video” feature. This means that if you wanted to record your kid’s concert you could do so, but still occasionally snap a photo of the event that could be printed or e-mailed or whatever. I would rather have the photos than the videos- so this was a big deal.

I got really good photos and videos under a variety of conditions that I considered challenging. The first one, for example, I made a video of a live concert that was outdoors conducted at night. The stage was over 50 yards from where I set. The camera did very well. Admittedly, the image stabilization could not compensate for the extreme zoom, but with some leaning against a post, the video was acceptable. The sound was good for such a small unit- and sounded much better on the television (see later) than it did on the unit’s built in speaker.

I then shot video from a moving car. Video inside a well lit room, video in poor light.. you name it. Everything came out good.

The photos that are taken while the video is recording do not make use of the flash. This causes some problems with quality in low light- but not as much as I was expecting. I don’t know what the equivalent ASA rating of this thing would be, but I’m thinking it would be pretty good.

A couple of times I tried to take photos that simply did not take. I’m not sure what I did wrong. This was while I was experimenting with using the camera without reading the book. I didn’t have these issues later.

I thought the battery life was very good- long enough to fill my memory card. When I traveled with the unit, I didn’t even take the charger, I just used the batteries. There is a neat monitor inside that tells you how long the batter y has to go in minutes of operation. Really cool.

I transferred the photos taken to my computer and they look good. I played the video (and photo show) directly on my HD television and they looked very good as well. This reminds me of a minor irritation- the camera does not come with a SD card of any kind. I was expecting a small one of some kind so that I could play without making a trip to the store. The camera will hold a few photos or few seconds of video in its internal memory, but very few. With the price of SD cards so low now, this is a convenience, not cost issue.

All in all, if you’re looking for a small, light video camera with a built in stop motion photo capability, I would recommend this unit. You have to get over not having a view finder, but I’m thinking that for most folks, the view finder is not something they have to have.

Good purchase!

Low video quality and inferior overall performance
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I needed a replacement for my seven-year old MiniDV camcorder and this one seemed a good deal. At the store it looked very impressive and the specs were decent. I’ve had the camcorder for about 10 days and have tried every possible setting and feature available. I believe I can review the camcorder properly now.

The pros:

+ Nice overall design, fits comfortably in the hand, the controls are well placed and easy to access. Every control can be accessed with one hand only.

+ The LCD display is bright and clear and the size is good.

+ The battery life is impressive.

+ The menu is well organized and easy to navigate.

The cons: Unfortunately, the camcorder performance is very weak where it really matters.

+ The auto-focus is probably the biggest problem. It takes a few seconds to focus on the subject and it just doesn’t seem to be able to keep focused on anything for more than ten seconds or so. Even still objects would get out of focus quickly if you zoom in/out or shake the camera slightly. It would then take another few seconds to refocus again. I’ve tried every possible focus setting available, i.e., spot focus, 9-point focus and AF-lock. To add insult to the injury, the manual focus only seems to work prior to pressing the REC button. That means you have to focus on the subject prior to start shooting the video. You can’t make adjustments once you start recording. The best solution I found is to let the auto-focus on and then press AF-lock once the camcorder finds the focus. Then you have to do it all over again if the subject moves or if you zoom in/out. Quite honestly, that’s way too much work if all you want is to take some quick video shots.

+ Lots of noise even with adequate indoor light. You can somewhat control that by adjusting the ISO settings but it is still far inferior to my old MiniDV camcorder. Forget about relatively low light conditions, the videos are just awfully grainy.

+ I’m no expert but the color saturation doesn’t seem right. For example, the reds and greens stand out too much in relation to the other colors. I tried the different setting provided for that but quite frankly I could not notice any difference between these settings.

+ The video motion is not smooth. It looks like a video shot on a cell phone at times. The specs claim 30fps, but it does not look like it at all. Even SD videos @60fps perform poorly as far the video motion is concerned.

I really wanted to like this camcorder and I assure you I’ve tried really hard to make its performance at least acceptable to me. But the final video quality is just plain bad. You might not notice how bad the videos are until you download them to your computer or watch them on a good size TV (42″ or bigger). Every video lacks detail, focus, and it is grainy and full of noise. Just for comparison, I’ve also tried a Panasonic SDR-S26 and, despite being an SD camcorder, it performed well above the Sanyo VPC-TH1. Mind you, the SDR-S26 is not really regarded as a top performer in the SD world.

Needless to say that I returned the product to the store. Interestingly, the store offered a 50-dollar discount if I was willing to keep the camcorder. I can only guess that many of the other buyers are returning their purchases too. Personally, even a 100-dollar discount would not convince me to keep the camcorder as its poor performance makes it useless to me.

Sorry to Say It, But it is Awful
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
On paper, the Xacti HD looks great. The ability to take Video and Photos. Videos are HD quality and use MPEG-4 compression. Videos and photos are stored on standard SD cards, which is very handy. The dual camera is fairly compact. What’s not to like…

I don’t know if this unit was defective, or if this is the way all of them are. But videos and photos are awful. The videos lack sharpness, are full of compression artifacts, and look smudgy. Instead of a nice smooth flow of footage, you get jerky jumping motion as the video appears to skip a few frames. Pretty much any digital camera I’ve ever owned takes better videos.

Photos are no better. They are full of noise, even when taken outdoors. Focus and detail are marginal. To autofocus, you press the shutter halfway as you do with most cameras. But this camera is very slow to focus. Once you have it in focus, you continue to press the photo record button. But even in bright sunlight, the focus was marginal. Pictures just were not very sharp. Every camera I’ve ever used, digital and film (I’ve owned dozens) takes better photos. Think of the quality of a low end first generation cell phone and you’ll be in the ballpark of what to expect. Again, one caveat, is perhaps this particular unit was defective.

You hold the camera like a standard camcorder, with hand on the body, and back of the hand against the strap. Build quality seems good enough. The layout of the buttons is straightforward enough, Photos – Videos – Play. The zoom is a bit awkward but you get use to it. The Menu is clear and well designed. The screen is decent. The manual is comprehensive and explains everything. I would organize it a bit differently. It starts with a15 page quick manual, followed by Table of Contents and 180 page manual. Flip it upside down and you get a small manual re the software. I’d prefer that the manual start with Table of Contents, Parts pictures, battery and cap installation, and then start the mini-manual. But that’s just personal preference and has no effect on my rating.

Although it is a bit chunky, I was able to fit it in the pants pocket and take the camera to a wedding rehearsal dinner.

I took outdoor pictures and indoor pictures. The outdoor pictures were better as you’d expect, but still way below standard of a standard camera (like Panasonic TZ5). I wanted to give this camera a better recommendation…but just couldn’t find an honest basis to do it.

After completing this review I went out and took another set of pictures of flowers in bright daylight conditions. Same thing. Pictures lacked sharpness, and focus was marginal.

Bottom line is I would buy almost any digital camera before using this one.

Great battery life for an entry HD camcorder
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I’ve had the camera for 1 month so far. This is my first Digital (HD or non-HD) Camcorder. I’ve used vhs and minidv camcorders before, so I have no comparison to other digital camcorders

-Size: almost pocketable, but small enough to carry around in my messenger bag

-Feel: feels durable. Wish it had a built in camera lens cover, but oh well. The buttons are all in the right spot and accessible for me to use, I can record in the dark no problem knowing where the buttons are.

-Battery life: amazing. 3+ hours! I don’t have to worry about not having enough charge to record whatever it is I have to record. And it tells you how much battery life is less.

-Microphone: Not bad, nothing really to compare it to. It picks up voices, maybe a tad faint, but doable

-Still image quality: awful. a 50 dollar digital camera could take better pictures, part of why it is not 5 stars.

-Focusing: Not bad, a few times had to hunt, only once did it not find the focus and I had to zoom out or move the camera. I’ve been doing mostly indoor taping, so I can only assume this happens with most cameras other than the expensive ones

-Video quality: not bad. It is HD. Low light there is a lot of noise, as expected in the digital age. Whether low or normal lighting, there is more “artifacts” or blockiness than expected, but the image is definitely sharp. Again, this is a low end HD camera, and I do think it is better than a non-HD camcorder.

This is the main contributor to a 4 star, but then again, it is somewhat expected as it is only a $275 camcorder, half of a low end canon HD camcorder. 1/3 of a high end canon HD camcorder. I do intend to step up to canon probably within a year or two, for now this will do the job.

-Image Stabilization: There is digital image stabilization. Have not noticed it being useful. To get optical image stabilization I’d have to spend at least $500. There is software out there that can stabilize the image (and no I’m not talking iMovie, there is and has been Windows-compatible software out there for a while). I’m not worried about missing this feature and it does not affect the rating.

-Video editing format: have not gotten a chance to test this yet

Very disappointing overall
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
Pros:

- Pretty small. (easily fits in a girls purse)

- Video is average for 720p. (Remember, this is not a full HD camcorder)

- Very easy to take video

- Input ports are placed quite well

Cons-

- Camera photos are worthless due to poor quality.

- Comes with a composite video cable for the tv, not an hdmi one

- Buttons feel a little flimsy as well as the whole camera.

- Software package is very subpar, especially for video.

- expensive in relation to the the quality of the package.

Now, to first explain my 2 stars… I feel Sanyo has lied to the public about calling this a “DUAL CAMERA,” written all over the box. Sure it has the capability to take pictures, but the quality of it is worthless. I went to Europe back in 2001 with my canon SD100 (2 megapixels, same as this camera) and those pictures were GREAT, printed all of them in 4×6 and you couldnt tell it was digital. The TH1 camera ability is a joke. I will post a picture so all can see.

The video quality is actually quite nice, having said that, it rivals the quality of my Casio camera that is a camera and “takes video.” But the overall size of this TH1, with a nice proportional large screen, makes it very easy to take video, and it actually MAKES you want to take video because it is so easy. The camera does feel a little flimsy. Looks great, but it lacks the “quality” feel. The buttons are placed well enough to navigate around, as well as easily turn on/off and take video.

One of the signs that I had a feeling this camera might not perform well before I even tried recording, is that it came with a composite cable to hook up to the camcorder and TV. The composite is that 1 yellow cable we have seen since as long as I can remember. They advertise this as an HD camera, provide a mini hdmi input, yet don’t include the hdmi cable. You can get them for $4 on amazon, so I don’t understand why Sanyo couldn’t provide one.

To wrap up this review, I am also disappointed with the software package. It is basic. As soon as some company comes with provided software that is EASY and logical to manipulate your videos, that might catapult them across the competition. The software provided doesn’t even have an option to “Upload to Youtube” which alot of other manufacturers provide.

If the price was $100 cheaper, I MAY have given it 3 stars. I was actually hesitant giving it 2 and not 1 due to so many regular digital cameras taking video that is on par with this one.

To Sanyo: Shame on you for advertising this particular model as a camera. Most consumers buying this would think they can now use this camcorder as their camera as well. Only to find out the quality is on par with an Iphone (actually worse than an Iphone.) And dont give the excuse that it is 2mp. Lots of regular digital cameras take GREAT photos at 2 mega pixels.

We were looking forward to it. Now it’s in the junk drawer.
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I came away very disappointed in this Camcorder. In fact, I’ve put it

away and gone back to my Canon Powershot.

1. It is horrible in low light conditions, with massive discoloration

and noise. Low light means anything that isn’t 100% sun. It’s simply

not usable indoors, even what you would consider to be bright.

2. The camcorder has problems keeping focus on moving targets, for

example children playing sports.

3. Part of the included software can not be uninstalled. The “Arcsoft

connect function” must be manually deleted and removed to keep it from

loading every time you boot your computer, even if you have uninstalled

their software package. It is unforgivable not to have a “add/remove

programs” entry for this.

My little Canon PowerShot SD880 digital camera makes vastly superior

movies to this camcorder. While having much less resolution, the colors

are perfect and the focus is sharp and clear at all times.

Good bang for your buck!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
First of all, I am not a camcorder pro. The last camera that I bought was an old Panasonic MiniDv and I was perfectly happy with it, but the transfer process became tedious and I started looking for a Flash Memory or a Hard Drive camera. Because I do have a 720p TV I decided that it might be worth it for me to go for at least a 720p camcorder. After looking around for a bit I came to the realization that I could not afford one of these because most started at 450 dollars plus. Having given up hope I bumped into this little guy. Needless to say I was excited. An HD camera at an affordable price.

Just received this camera yesterday and I am impressed with it. First of all it is really well put together. It looks like a million bucks and it feels great in your hand. The quality of the movies is pretty good. The colors are good and so is the depth and the brightness. My only gripe is the fact that zooming seems to be a problem when you get to close. The camera tries to focus in on the face or object and you get a lot of blur. This is not a major problem, but enough for me to take 1 star away from my final review.

Would I buy this camera again?

You bet!

Best Choice for a Low End HD Flash Camera
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
If you are considering the Flip Video Mino HD or any other $200 range HD camera, spend the extra $60 and get this. It has much better features and video quality but don’t expect to put this in your pocket. It’s video quality won’t be on par with high end cams but great for the price. You are better off getting a less than perfect video quality HD camera than a non HD cam for the same price. Low light conditions aren’t the best and it gets a little choppy if you pan around at all, plus the digital (not optical) image stablization isn’t the greatest, especially when zooming at all. But like I said, it’s better than what is offered on any other HD cam in this price range. I got what I expected and am very happy with it.

Good Choice for an Inexpensive Upgrade to HD, Good for Beginners Also. Others Might Want to Think Twice
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I waited five months to review my Sanyo VPC-TH1 so that I could get an accurate representation on the pros and cons of the camera, and I’m glad I waited. I was a skeptical when I first began using it — taking videos of my newborn son, who turns six months tomorrow already! But I can tell you right away that the main point I learned is that this fairly inexpensive camera is extremely well-suited to beginners and for those who just want good video without having to worry too much about advanced functions.

Thoughts and Experiences;

The little monitor on the camera will never give you a good representation of the video you are taking. Don’t look at it as anything more that a cursor of where you are pointing. I’ve definitely seen much better screens on cameras. With that in mind, when you plug your camera directly into an external monitor — even an HD TV — the picture will not be impressive. The camera shouldn’t be mistaken for a Hi-Def DVD player; but if you burn the contents to an HD DVD, put it in an HD player, then the picture that you see on screen will be awesome. You need a true HD medium to play what you’ve recorded with this camera.

I was definitely not impressed with the low-light abilities/features of the camera. If you’re filming indoors, know that you should consider lighting beforehand, and if you’re filming something important, do some test runs first to see what kind of adjustments you might need to make. I’ll go so far as to say that if you plan on doing most of your video recording indoors, look for something else altogether.

Battery life has been a pretty dependable 3 hours and 15 minutes for us. The thing to remember is that the kind of files the camera uses will only take video in one-hour segments. This was only a problem for us once, because 99% of the video we take will be stopped after just a few minutes, then re-started somewhere else. These are all individual files, and can edited together using one of many popular video software packages on your computer. I, personally, enjoy editing video, so that isn’t much of a bother for me, but it may be a nuisance for many.

You have a “snapshot” option with the camera to take regular pictures, but there are several reasons why I didn’t like the feature on this camera. First, everything from cellphones to postage stamps have cameras built in these days, and in my experience if you’re going to take regular pictures, you’ll have a regular camera to do it. They’re the best for the purpose. Phones take many pictures these days, and many do a good job, but the main purpose for cellphone pictures is to instantly send them to someone else… quality is usually not the best. The Sanyo is made for video, and taking a snapshot with it is a lot like putting a nail into a wall with a stapler. It just doesn’t feel organic. I suppose what I’m trying to say here is that the camera does have the capability of single-picture taking, but don’t buy it for that reason; look at the reasons you would want to buy a video camera for.

All of this said, I loaned the camera to my brother-in-law for a couple of weeks, and he loves it. He’s made a couple of DVDs with it (he has three boys ranging from 14 months to 5 years) and I think I’m going to let him keep it just because he raves about it so much, and I think I could find a better fit for myself. That might be a good summation for this camera; it is outstanding if you’re a beginner or a casual video-taker with a short budget, but if you’re more experienced and more demanding, there are much better products out there for you, and something $200 more would do the trick.

GREAT LITTLE CAMCORDER
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I was given this camcorder as a gift because I am known for loving to take photos and videos of my kids, grandchildren and pets. I have to say that I absolutely love this little camcorder! First of all, its size and weight make it very convenient to keep in my handbag (at all times) for those special moments. I love the fact that it uses flash memory cards that I am confident will last a very long time unlike the old-fashion video tapes that are slowly disintegrating in my closet. There is no worry about the tapes getting caught up in the mechanisms with these flash cards either. This little “machine” feels solid in my hands and appears to be well built and sturdy. Oh, did I mention that it captures the moments beautifully? I highly recommend this little “machine.” If you want an affordable camcorder that is easy to use, travels well, is reliable and does a great job recording, then I suggest you give it a try.

Not all HD is equal: good camcorder for beginners, but don’t expect too much from the “HD” imagery
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3S3WKDOROWY9V The specs for this camcorder are exciting; the images, sadly, are not really much better than standard definition images. If you want something to capture video for the web, and that allows you to do more tweaking than you can with simpler camcorders like the Flip Mino, then this would not be a bad choice. Just don’t expect it to give you truly high quality images. Also, the onboard memory holds next to nothing, so when buying this camcorder you should factor in the price of at least an 8GB SDHC card to store the video you shoot. Overall, I think this would be a very good camcorder for beginners, since it is easier to work with flash memory than to mess around with tapes, and since practicing with the functions here will prepare one for using a more advanced camcorder when the time comes (and the budget allows). It does look good, and is fairly well designed. For many purposes this would be just the thing.

I shot some footage with this in its “SD” 30fps mode and its “HD” 30fps mode (which uses a lot more memory per minute of video), and played it all back on my 42″ SANYO LCD HD television using an HDMI cable. What surprised me was that I could distinguish very little overall difference in quality. There was more contrast in the HD picture, which is important, but otherwise I couldn’t tell a difference – at least, I couldn’t say for sure which video images I preferred. In a situation where my aim was just to capture what’s going on, I’d be as happy with a Flip as with this (of course with the Flip there is next to no zooming, so it wouldn’t work in every situation). But if the idea was to create a certain “look” or adapt to the needs of a unique situation (e.g. bright lights against darkness, very bright sun or snow, etc.) then it would be nice to have the flexibility of the controls on this one.

Some people think that what really matters in a camcorder is the resolution. 720 pixels or even 1080 pixels sounds a lot better than 480p – this one can be set to shoot at 720p, which is, technically, “HD” – but, as it turns out, that’s just one factor in a much more complex equation. The quality and size of the lens, the quality of the processor, the size of the sensor, are all factors that contribute to the overall character of the picture you can get from a camcorder. What that means is that just because a camcorder is “HD” doesn’t mean it will give you the best in quality.

I shot this video comparison you see here at a local nature park, using both the HD and the SD mode of the Sanyo TH1 and also shooting for comparison roughly the same images with my Flip Mino. It’s hard to really see all the differences here on the small screen (especially given that I had to compress the video for playback on the web), but I find that even when I play it at best quality on my big screen TV it is hard to say which images I prefer. They all have a fair amount of grain to them, and none even come close to the quality of the images I can get on my Canon VIXIA HF10, but they all look okay and for some uses just fine. The critical point for me is that between the three, even though there were some detectable differences, I couldn’t decide which I liked best. (You will note in this video the obvious difference in aspect ratios, since the HD footage is widescreen and is here letterboxed so it will fit in the same size screen as the SD footage; another feature is that in bright sunlight the Flip images are pretty washed out, but they are about equivalent in normal light conditions and even relatively low light conditions).

For the purposes of this test I had all the settings on automatic, and only changed the video capture setting from HD to SD between shots, but it’s worth noting that unlike simpler camcorders the TH1 does give you some flexibility with the images, allowing for all the standard adjustments (white balance, exposure, etc.) and the usual settings (sports, snow, fireworks, etc.) and effects (transitions, sepia, b/w, etc.). It has an impressive 30x optical zoom – though it’s not wise to zoom that far unless you’ve got it on a tripod because at that focal distance the image stabilization can do nothing for the shakes.

This is advertised as a dual purpose camcorder, meaning it shoots both video and photos, but it is worth noting that the photos are very poor quality – not even as good as you get with most cellphones these days (technically, they are shot on a 1.1 MP sensor and blown up to 2.0 MP photos, and while the number of pixels is not the most important thing it is not unimportant and that is pretty low). One other secondary purpose is served by the fact that you can set the camcorder to record only audio, which uses much less memory than shooting video and audio at the same time. So this could also serve as a “dictaphone” or recorder. For that purpose it does well enough – and the onboard mike seems to be comparable to other camcorders in its price range. But apart from a possible use as a dictaphone, for all intents and purposes this is a camcorder that ostensibly shoots in HD but is probably best suited for video intended only to be screened on the web or personal computer or where the overall quality of the images is not of utmost importance.

Decent for the price.
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I just got this camera from Amazon yesterday. I was looking for a camcorder that had a couple of features in particular: HD (at least 720p), HDMI output, some sort of decent optical zoom, some sort of memory card capability, and a reasonable price. The Sanyo VCP-TH1 fit the mold. It was also VERY important to me to get a camera that recorded files compatible with my MacBook and iMovie 08. I just did some random shooting with the camera and tried importing the files for the first time, and it seemed to work really well. I was sort of expecting it to take a long time to import, but, to my pleasant surprise, it didn’t!

Although I haven’t had much time to tinker with it yet, I feel that the pros are far outweighing the cons. The price is very reasonable and it was worth the extra $100+ to go with this camera opposed to the smaller handheld HD camcorders that FLIP or Kodak make for about $150-$200. I wish the camcorder came with a mini HDMI to HDMI cable. I also wish it came with another battery. You’ll have to purchase those separately if you desire to have a spare battery and a true easy and instant way to view your HD footage on your new HDTV too.

2 weeks later…. I just got a mini HDMI cable to hook to my 720p Plasma TV. The recording looks a little grainy for some reason. It seems that I got a better recording quality when recording outdoors on a sunny day and inside in natural lighting. I think I would downgrade my initial rating down to a 4 due to this.

You wont be disappointed if you set your expectations right!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
So I have reviewed quite a few cameras..everything from a Flip, a Vado, a Canon Vixia, and now this Sanyo. My review is more about setting your expectations to a level that will allow this camera a sweet spot in your home. I am probably one of the few that is rating this camera high and that is simply because I know what it is meant for and what it can/cannot do. So here we go:

Box Includes:

Camera

Lens Cap

Hand Strap

AC Adapter

USB Cable (Micro USB)

Composite Analog Video Cable

Documentation

Software for both PC/MAC (LESS SW for MAC then PC).

When you read this review and or evaluate the item description, it is very important to keep in mind that this camera is in the $250-275 range. It is not meant to be a high end High Definition camera.

The camera is about the size of a small paper back book and is very light and comfortable to hold. The battery slides inside of a hidden compartment at the bottom and can be charged by plugging the adapter into the rear end of the camera. Once charged I found that the battery lasted for about 2-3 hours of heavy torture testing. The camera starts up for the first time and a little voice tells you to set the date and time…I dont know about you but I love voice feedback. After initial setup the camera, when powered on, says “Starting, Internal Memory”. This makes any gadget a bit more fun.

I love the fact that Sanyo has a 30x optical zoom on this little camcorder, but I am not a fan of the time it takes for the camera to focus in on a subject. It is SLOW at best. That being said, 30x optical is awesome and with the image stabilization features built in the SHAKE is reduced quite a bit, not entirely..but enough. The camera also takes 2mp still shots and has a little flash built in under the lens. It is a nice feature…but lets be honest here..2mp is lower then what newer cell phones provide these days and, to me, completely worthless. Video is captured on the built in 32gb of storage in 720p mode using the h264 codec. Still images are captured at 1600×1200 at 2mp. The images and video can be captured to the inbuilt storage and or you can add a SDHC card to the camera (size is up to you 8-32gb is accepted). The rear of the camera has a very simplistic layout. Two buttons towards the top to select still or video, a rec/play button in the center, a menu button to the right, and a joystick to the left that lets you navigate throughout the various options. The joystick is excellent and works well. On top of the camera you have a rocker panel for wide/telephoto…it is very sensitive and works well..it feels good to the finger.

I seldom use software that is provided by manufacturers as most computers today, pc or mac, have enough built in abilities to manipulate images and video. The OS X platform especially with iPhoto and iMovie works wonders.

I generally like to test camera gear on MAC’s since most manufacturers tend to provide more software for Windows based pc’s. The MAC is a very graphics oriented platform and thus I like to see if it will recognize and utilize a camera such as this one. Once you connect the micro usb cable to the computer and to the camera, it comes up with a menu of options. Screen Capture, PC Camera, Card Reader etc… With the Sanyo software on your computer you have many more options then without. When you do not use the software you are limited to the Card Reader mode which does allow for iPhoto and Windows based PC’s to see this as an actual Camera that you can process images/video from. Works flawlessly.

Image Quality: As I mentioned above, I have used FLIP’s HD, Creative’ Vado HD, and now this camera. Why am I not mentioning my higher end Vixia…because that camera need not be compared to this particular model. The Flip and Vado are pretty much neck in neck when it comes to video quality and compact size; they work well and the image quality is as good as can be for their lens sizes. The Sanyo one ups them and gives you a better lens with 30x optical zoom which makes this the winner in the compact category. Low light quality is so so…it does need a bit of ambient light around during the dark…even with a little light there is some noise and grain can be seen..its not great but neither are the other two compacts mentioned above. Outdoor video’s and indoor daytime videos are comparable if not better then the other two above. The optical zoom does allow for a great variation of shooting and is HIGHLY recommended…(30x optical at this price is truly amazing).

As my title suggests, if your expectations are correct then this camera will work for you. This is not intended to become your household camcorder…at least for me. It is intended, in my opinion, to be the camera that you carry around in place of a Flip or Vado so you have more storage and better optics. Since the camera is shaped like a traditional camcorder it is easier to shoot with and believe me, it still fits in your pocket and or pocket book..but does not have the weight of a brick. That being said, this camera’s image quality is comparable to older dvi tape camcorders and it may be what you need for your memories.

I can provide a lot more detail about this camera, but feel it is un-necessary since the above should suffice. I am giving this a 4/5 only because of two negatives:

1. The 2mp still photo feature is worthless.

2. Again, another manufacturer that fails to give us a cheap mini hdmi to hdmi cable.

Other then that this camera will more then likely be a hit for its price category and is something I would recommend you take a look at if it is within your budget. [...]

Video quality is worse than standard definition
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I was excited to get into the world of high definition video. I’ve been a camera enthusiast over the years, but have resisted entering the camcorder world simply because I never felt I had the need for one. Things recently changed and I decided to give the Sanyo a shot. Here’s my breakdown:

PROS

1 – price. This is the cheapest HD camcorder on the market. It’s only 720p, but for most people, this will be just fine.

2 – compact size. This thing is about as big as a pop can and is very light. Great form factor.

3 – battery life is excellent. I used it for several hours and never came close to it being empty.

4 – uses flash memory (SDHC). I LOVE this fact, because SDHC cards are the cheapest flash memory on the market, so you will never run out of recording space.

5 – excellent zoom. 30X optical zoom for the price of this camera is quite impressive.

Notice I didn’t list video quality under the Pros. Now, on to the Cons…

CONS

1 – terrible, terrible still picture quality. There is NO REASON to list this as a “dual camera”, because after seeing the quality of the still photos, my PHONE takes better pictures! I would never, ever recommend using this video camera to take pictures. EVER.

2 – terrible video quality. When I say terrible, I mean that my sister’s SD video camera takes better video than this HD camera. Video is grainy, noisy, oversharpened, colors washed out, and always blurry. Indoors, without IDEAL light, this camera is completely useless. This leads me on to my next con…

3 – AWFUL image stabilization. This camera boasts image stabilization, yet I never got a still image. My videos were jerky, choppy, and all around hard to watch. I fear that people watching these videos may need to take some motion sickness medication before the nausea sets in. My guess for the reason image stabilization doesn’t work is because it’s not optical, but digital stabilization. Poor choice here Sanyo.

4 – awkward button placement. I have pretty big fingers, and I found the button placement to be challenging. Several times I hit the wrong button when fumbling for the one I actually wanted to press.

All in all, I simply cannot recommend this camcorder. There are MUCH better options if you could afford to spend about $50 more. Most people, I assume, get a high definition camcorder to take high definition videos. But when your high definition videos look worse than standard definition videos, then you better spend your money elsewhere. Sadly, this is the case with the VPC-TH1.

Comparing XACTI FH1 with XACTI TH1
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I’ve owned many camcorders in my lifetime, five of them are sitting in my cabinets as I write. Here, I compare the Sanyo XACTI VPC-TH1 to the Sanyo XACTI VPC-FH1. There are so many things to compare that I will review the things most important to me in selecting a camcorder. Do the video quality and extra features justify the added cost of the FH1? Well, FH1 doesn’t have a lot more features than VH1. In fact, it is missing a few. However, the higher quality photos and video makes it a winner, in my book.

SIZE

Out of the box, both units appear exactly alike — small and compact, a diminutive size at only 4 inches long.

I see the difference when picking them up. The TH1 is noticeably lighter in weight, only 10.1 ounces compared to 11.2 ounces. Not much, but enough to notice.

The monitor unit on the FH1 (the part that flips open that has a screen on it) is more heavy duty than the TH1, though I wouldn’t call the monitor unit on the TH1 flimsy.

VIDEO FUNCTION

Just turn them on, point and shoot. It’s so easy. Both camcorders have a sleep mode that is automatically triggered when closing the monitor unit. From there, they turn on quickly when the monitor unit is reopened and you’ll never miss a shot. This sleep mode does not use up much battery life. In fact, I left them in sleep mode since yesterday night, used the camcorders to record and playback and the batteries still has plenty of life in it 24 hours later.

Both camcorders remember their settings. Whatever setting adjustments I make, they store when I turn them off so that my camcorder is ready when I turn them back on.

The video quality in incandescent light is better with the FH1. There is no graininess. I am surprised by the smoothness of the picture onscreen. However, there is a problem with the tinting going back and forth from green to red, which was a little annoying. TH1 is grainier by comparison.

Outdoors in daylight, the quality of TH1 improves enough to be satisfactory to the average mom filming her children’s birthdays. FH1 video is higher in quality, but I don’t think the casual user would care.

TH1 has a better zoom (30x optical), but I would need a tripod, because it gets very shaky. Otherwise, I try not to zoom too much. FH1 has 10x optical zoom, which I feel is adequate for my needs. It’s still shaky, though. Perhaps it’s just me, but I’ve yet to find a camcorder whose image stabilizer feature is adequate for my needs. Zoomed images are always shaky.

CAMERA FUNCTION

Both camcorders can take photos. Both camcorders have automatic flash. Both camcorders can take photos while filming. Both camcorders take high speed sequential photos. FH1 has 8MP resolution while TH1 has 2MP resolution.

The indoor photos of the TH1 are too grainy for my taste. FH1 takes better indoor and outdoor photos. I see no graininess.

I do not care for the photos taken while filming with either camcorder. There is too much of a lag time and I don’t even know if the photo I want is the one that I took. I have a Samsung SC-HMX20C that rules in the camera department. If you want a great camcorder that is also a good camera (wonderful photos indoors), you’ll want to look at that.

REMOTE

This isn’t something I’d ever use much, but it’s included with the FH1, so I think it’s worth mentioning. Some people like having a remote, if only to help when hooking the camcorder to a television to play back or maybe to record oneself. TH1 is missing a remote, but that may not matter to most people. It doesn’t make much difference to me.

The remote is tiny. My husband’s initial reaction to it was “It’s easy to lose.”

INTERNAL MEMORY

Both camcorders can us an SD or SDHC card. Only the TH1 has an internal memory. It’s not much, about 43 MB, enough for some photos or a short video clip. That can be useful for anyone whose ever forgotten to bring the memory card.

SUMMARY

I much prefer the FH1, because video quality ranks high on my list of most important things to look for in camcorders. There is enough of a difference between the FH1 and the TH1(especially indoors) for me to justify the difference in price. Although FH1 does have a little problem with tinting.

Photo quality is also important to me. FH1 takes better photos, and the higher resolution of the FH1 means I can blow up the photos. Too bad I can’t take photos very well with either camera while filming. For that, I need to go back to my Samsung.

Zoom is better in the TH1, but I don’t need it. Besides, it’s too shaky.

All other factors are very similar between the two camcorders. Average parent shooting birthday party videos for YouTube may prefer the TH1 for its lower price. Outdoor video is not as fine as FH1, but it is adequate for someone not too picky about that. Indoor video isn’t great; but it`s not bad, if there’s enough lighting.

FH1 gets four stars instead of five because it has trouble with the tinting under incandescent lighting and the camera function during filming suffers from severe lag. It is otherwise a very nice camcorder.

TH1 gets three stars because it’s adequate for the casual user, but video quality and photo quality can use improvement, especially indoors under lowlight conditions. Outdoor scenes are four stars — good, not great, but they are fine for the casual user. The camera function during filming also suffers from severe lag.

It is HD – not bad for under $300
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I also bought this camera without doing much research. I was looking for a camcorder that was HD “quality”, uses SDHC memory card and for a price around $300. The Sanyo met all the criteria so I purchased it from Amazon.

I also picked up a 16 gb Transcend memory card.

Let’s go over the PROS first –

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++ It is really easy to use. Just point and shoot. Just like using a digital camera, except it’s a digital video camera.

++ Having the memory card is so much better than using mini-DV tapes. There is no longer a need to plug the camcorder into your computer fireport or USB port. After I am done shooting, I just pop out the memory card, put it in my memory card reader and copy it onto the hard driver. Doesn’t get much better than that!

++ Transferring files are a lot faster than mini-DV tapes. Before, you had to play/record in real time. Due to fact that everything is digital, the transfer is quite fast!

++ Battery life is very good. You can get around 200 minutes of video time. I also like the fact that the battery indicator tells you the approximate MINUTES left. I hate it when they just show a battery symbol and start deducting “spaces/icons” from the battery. I need to know the numerical time value, which this camera provides

++ YouTube uploads are amazingly easy. Just click on the file you want to use, and upload. Make sure you watch in HQ quality on YouTUbe

++ Size is perfect. It’s a lot smaller than my mini-DV camcorder, but not too small where it feels like a toy.

++ Build/Construction. I bought the blue version and the blue looks very good. It feels solid in your hands and appear that it could take some abuse. It’s not too light and not too heavy. It just feels good in your hands.

++ Quality – overall, quality of the video is good for a $300 video camera. You cannot expect true HD quality from this. However, I do have a problem with the focus (see the CONS below)

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OK – here’s the CONS

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– Focus —- the although the camera has face recogition, there is no way to “lock” onto one person. In other words, if there are 3 or 4 people in the same shot, the camera tends to jump around with the focus between the different faces and it gets annoying during playback. It seems like the camera keeps searching for the right focus. If there is a way to “lock” onto a face, please let me know so I can use that feature.

– Indoor quality not good. There seems to be more noise than usual while shooting indoors. Of course, I should have turned on more lights indoors but I am still working on improving my indoor shots.

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Would I buy this camera knowing what I know? Absolutely!! The price is right. If they could fix the focus issue, this camera would have met all my expectations

Waste of money!!!!!
Rating:1 out of 5 stars
I bought this thing for the price and the fact that it was HD. You need to remember that just because something shoots in 720p doesn’t mean it shoots a good image. The only way I was able to get a decent picture out of this thing was to shoot outside in bright light and even then the image wasn’t as good as my old mini-dv recorder. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone. Images are horribly grainy

not great
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I was not very impressed by the image quality of the Video as well as the Still images. I have shopped around and own several other digital camcorders, and I think this is a not a very good buy at its current price. If you are looking for something versatile to use in the water and rain this camera has a waterproof version which is an excellent buy in its class and price range. For this price range I have looked at several other option which are much better for my practical needs.

Check it ouit for yourself
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
These are the setting that my brother in law has ended up with since buying this camera, and the picture is great!! There are a lot of test shots over at Vimeo from various people who have actually have used this camera. I have a CG10 and recommended the TH1 as he wanted to use other lens and have a better zoom.

Video Stabilizer – OFF (you only need if you are shooting long distance, unless you pay for a Canon with optical stabilization, all digital stabilization cause the same wobble in the image)

Focus Mode – SPOT

Exposure – MULTI

ISO – AUTO (setting the f. will allow the camera to choose the right ISO for the job)

White Balance – AUTO

Exposure – Aperture locked at 1.8 when in wide (this will change to 4.3 when in Tele)

Face Chaser – OFF (This just makes the image blurry when on)

High Sensitivity – OFF (Only needed in low light, again all Video Chips of this type has noise!! The Flips have a lower f. but check out Vimeo to see why this is a better camera, search for CG10 and a guy has done side by side shots with both cameras)

Digital Zoom – OFF (Again just makes the image bad)

Personally this is the best camera in its price range, and the VPC-CG10 is close too, but thats because its almost the same camera. This little thing is amazing. Don’t listen to me, head over to Vimeo, search for CG10 and take a look at all the test shoots from me Nathan Hughes and Operator7G (this guys did all the side by side with the Flips!!) for the CG10. They use the same control software, and side by side shoots from the TH1 and CG10 are very close, the TH1 slightly better.

Also the files drop very nicely into iMovie and edit no problem as is!!!

Nate