Customer Reviews

Sanyo VPC-C5 MPEG-4 Camcorder with 5MP Digital Still Camera & 5x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this camcorder off ebay before it is on sale in the states. really good gadget and worthy the money IMHO. you would be supprised of its size. and won't touch a mini-dv once you have got used to its size. it offers probably the most functionalities available now from any manufactures. Samsung's new one offers (not available in states yet again) higher resoultion for video but only 2M for still. The panasonic sv-av100 is totally a waste of money compared with this. I don't feel 720x resoution and 640x res. makes any difference at all.

very easy to operate, one hand operation totally. hinges are made from metal and doesn't seem to be fragile. the ability to take picture WHILE recording is cool. it does not need any high speed sd card. records about 1 hour with 1 gb card. quality is fine for me, at least not worse than entry level mini-dv i have used, and similar to MPEG2 movies recorded by other digital cameras. you can download from internet a small program (free) to change the recorded movie to .avi format so that playable directly in media player without any post-processing. still picture quality is as good as other consumer cameras that i have used. battery lasts less than 1 hour (but almost) for continuous shooting from fresh charge. but replacement DB-L20 is very cheap on ebay < $10 including shipping. it does stand by itself on flat surface if the lcd screen is folded down. also it powers on as you open the lcd.

low light shooting still a problem (not for still since it has ISO100-400 and flash). barely usable on street light. but the firework recorded in july 4th was ok under its fireworks mode. Don't feel the image stabilization useful at all. but probly should not expect much from a digital one since I am used to canons' optical ones. it does get reasonable hot after a while

bottom line, it finally allows me abandon consumer level digital camera/camcorder and move to DSLR knowing that I will have a small good quality gadget with me all the time to take care of everyday shooting.

I wasn't expecting a lot out of this camera when I first got it. But when I opened up the box, and saw all the things it comes with I was so excited to use it! I used the quick-start guide to charging the battery, but it said that you had to have the camera on the docking station. Read the instruction manual for charging the battery, and it is less complicated.

The first thing I noticed was the LCD screen is large and the images are clear!! You can even flip it over and take a picture or video of yourself! There is no viewfinder, so you have to rely on the LCD for everything, so I'm sure this takes up a lot of battery power. Also, since it's new on the market, you have to explain to someone how to use it if you want them to take a picture of you. One of the reviewers here said that it turns on when you open the LCD, but that's only on standby mode, so it doesn't power off when you close the LCD. Speaking of power, the battery life is not great, but it charges up quickly!

Although this is operable with one hand (using your thumb mostly), the buttons are close together, and it's not really intuitive at first. There are 3 buttons on the back for shooting still, zooming, and shooting video -- in that order, left to right. So if you are used to the still camera having a button at the top, it can be annoying. But once you get used to it, it's fine. Also, the menu button is tiny and to go through the menu you use a little joystick-type of button to scroll. So if you have large fingers, try it out at the store first to make sure you can get used to it.

I love the feature of taking a still picture while recording, but note that the video pauses while the still picture is being taken (which is only 1-2 seconds). I also noticed that you can hear the camera sounds when taking video, such as when zooming in, or switching modes, etc. but I haven't viewed the video on a laptop or tv to actually tell whether those sounds are disruptive. Another feature I've used is the macro. I took a picture of an ID card that had some fine print on the back, and everything came out legible!

The camera also "talks"... it tells you when you are in record mode or playback mode, but it's really hard to understand because the volume is VERY low. You can mute the beeps and voice, and increase or decrease the volume.

There are numerous other features that I haven't used, mostly for taking still shots, but one thing I noticed is that you have to use the menu to access the features. For example, if you want to delete a picture, change the flash setting or use the self-timer, you have to scroll through the menu. There are 3 menus, and it can be frustrating in the beginning trying to find what you want to do. You risk missing that perfect shot if you're not familiar with the menu! But once you learn where things are, this camera is fun to use!

Oh, and be prepared for all the "oohs" and "aahs" that your friends will say when they see you wielding this cool-looking device!

i perform dance. since i don't have my official photographer/videotographer, i have to carry both my still camera and a video camera in addition to costume and more, locally and internationally. it had been pain in my neck. however, this device is sooo light and sharp ! my problem is gone. thanx God ! excellent quality as a still camera & a camcorder as well. if you read the instruction book well before use, you can mute the operation sound. Perfect !

I've had my C5 for about 2 weeks and so far I love it - it has only a few minor drawbacks.

Pros:
* MPEG4 and SD Card storage (primary reasons I got this camera)
* Size - it easily fits in my front jean-pocket
* Ease of use - it's exceedingly simple to offload images and videos from the camera to your PC - I just put it in the USB docking and charging station and then use a mixture of Picasa (for the pictures) and manual cut and paste for the videos (Picasa doesn't recognize the MP4 extension, unfortunately)
* Image quality is good, at least when the lighting is adequate

Cons:
* Since the field of view is different between stills and video, taking pictures at the same time as the video is confusing to some - I'd reccommend using the B mode which displays a smaller video frame inside the still picture frame, rather than the A mode which "zooms out" when you take the still photo.
* The zoom/focus makes an audibly discernable noice (left speaker only) when zooming in/out
* Haven't found any support information at Sanyo's site - luckily so far I haven't needed it
* Using it as a PC/Web camera is more difficult than it ought to be
* Internal battery - no possibility of getting a larger battery

To be determined:
* How much exactly can I fit on a 1GB SD card? So far it's looking like it takes about 20MB per minute (in High Quality VGA, 30 fps), so I should have about 50 minutes or so, but I haven't tested this yet.
* How long does the battery last?

I've had this unit for about 3 months and have to say I'm very impressed. The main benefit of this camera is that it is both a 5mp camera and a camcorder (and a webcam and a voice recorder, havent tried those functions yet) even though I use this "toy" primarily for the still images. Photos are what you would expect from a high end 5mp camera (10mp interpolated), and the video is pretty decent for a camera of its size, but when there is poor lighting watch out - your videos may turn out completely black. As well, even though you can record up to 50 or so minutes on a standard 1gb SD card, you'll need about 3 batteries to do so since they last roughly 20 minutes each. The only other downside I've seen with the camera is the weird autofocus at closer ranges since it sometimes picks out images about 3 to 5 meters behind what your trying to shoot, and the lens noise is somewhat annoying. I would recommend this camera to just about anyone looking to get into the digital scene (unless you have big hands since this unit is small), but not by paying retail price for it - deals are out there, and the prices are lower due to the C6 coming out. Bracketman@gmail.com

Camera is great for shooting both live action video (Up to 1 hours) as well as still images (5 MegaPixel) with a 1GB card SD card. You can actually shoot a still image while you are shooting video - Yes, both at the same time!!! Camera is ultra compact and ultra cool in looks and style. MPEG-4 recordings playback flawlessly on either my Mac at home or my Windows at work. MPEG-4 movies also e-mail quite easily. It is so light and convenient that I shoot more with it since it is always with me.

Great camera!

I bought this camera 2 months ago. It is light, nice, very small camera. I inserted 1 GB Sd memory and waited 1 hour movie. Failed, 40 minutes later low battery ,and then 10 minutes later Sd card low messages appeared. I recorded 50 minutes movie maximum.
Second test was in house but result is big grens-points. It can't record DVD quality. If you connect this camera to 42" TV, you can see distorsion and bad picture. Photo mode quality maybe nice than other 5mp china cameras, but this concept model need more engineering.

Having done some research I purchased this to replace my 3Mega Pix canon that works fine but doesn't allow quality video. I couldn't wait until it arrived. I am one of those "read through the manual first" kind of people and once I did I proceed to use the camera. I took my first picture in the late evening with normal room light. The picture was aweful... even my 6 yr old said so. There was red halo around my wife and son in the picture, and there were red and green grainy pixals throughout the picture. Understand I am no photo expert, the poor quality was clearly seen by anyone. I thought maybe it was just the image on the LCD screen, but when I printed it on our photo printer it was terrible. I remembered reading about the short flash distance so I moved in closer and moved my subjects to a better lit room... still aweful... changed filters nothing better. I was at the highest picture quality seting, so I selected a lower setting.... still no improvement. I was more bummed than anything else. As I thought this was the gizmo I was always looking for. I cannot believe anyone said this had good picture quality unless mine was defective.... At this price I am not willing to give it a second shot. I will go with the larger but better featured cannon for less money. I will say it did a fine job with the video... but picture quality, on mine, wasn't up to a 1 mega pixal toy... I sent it back this morning.

i got this camera inthe airport goin to egypt so i got it tax free which was good. now the camera look ssoo cool, u cant beat it u just cant, and it really is so easy to use. but there r a few downfalls. first the noisy camera lens motor. in reply to one of the other reviews, when u play it on ur pc or tv it is very much noticable, like a clunking/ crackling sound, in all my videos when ever i zoom in or out u hear it without doubt, which ruins a video. pictures that u take are really great and detailed, but i have come acorss with problems concernign the flash, iv heard it has a short range and that did show; i took pictures of people that were less than 3metres away from me in a pure white coloured walled room and the color of the walls were well, not white, but with my other still digital camera it was perfect. another thign is if ur goin on holiday without ur laptop u really need more than the 1gb card supplied, go on ebay for greta deals u can evern get 2gb ones for real cheap. another thing, andit seems every1 is complainign about it is the nigth mode, it was rally really bad, the salesman said it was a really good night mode where it would be all green liek u see in the movies, but it coudlnt be further. Even though ur not supposed to, i denied i had a camera as i went up inside the big pyramind, and as i was taking videos in night mode there was such a minor difference, quite dissapointing. the biggest dissapointment is the lens motor it really puts this gizmo down, looks cool and u can fit it in ur pockets no problem, and i thinkit can even be used as a webcam, i havent tried it yet though. im like you, im reading on the reviews of this device as i still have time to return it with full cash refund and i think i am gonna do that and just wait until either sanyo or some1 else coems out with a better 1. by the way if ur goin on holiday and ur d card is full look for a kodak store or camera store, i got my images and movies transfered to CD. o, one more thing, the battery. lol. it lasts for nder 1 hour, and it gets HOT! i was invited to a friend of mines masters degrees presentation where he gets asked questions and such, andf it recorded only about 47mins, on a full battery charge, and it was hot and the room wasnt air conditioned lol and it was in egyptian evening heat. and the device took a long tim eto cool down again, so u woul ddeffinetyl need extra batteries for long recordings, im now gonna have to ask for a copy of the analong VCR video they took, get a copy of that and then ask one of these places to digitize it. i heard form a review this device got a 68% rating, but im gonna keep looking for other reviews. Hope this as helped you.
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