Sanyo Xacti VPC-C6 6MP MPEG4 Digital Camcorder w/5x Optical Zoom

by Sanyo

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 7 x 5 inches ; 12 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000E1HW6A
• Item model number: VPC-C6
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #14,861 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: December 28, 2005

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

The Sanyo VPC-C6 Xacti Digital Media Camera with 5x Optical Zoom is a compact digital media device that combines the functionality of a digital camera and a digital camcorder. Different than a standard digital camera that shoots short video clips, the VPC-C6 offers advanced video performance and high-quality stills in one small, lightweight camera.

The Xacti C6 employs Sanyo's proprietary image-adaptive data processing technology, which enables you to shoot MPEG-4 movies and 6.0-megapixel stills simultaneously. Movies are recorded clearly, with TV-like picture quality (VGA/30 frames per second [fps]). The C6 also features a 60 fps playback function for smooth movie playback on your TV screen, along with high-sensitivity technology that enables you to shoot beautiful moves in low-light conditions.

Leading the C6's charge towards crisp digital video and stills is the prominently displayed, highly efficient 5x optical zoom lens. The lens features 12 elements designed in nine groups with a built-in neutral density filter, and a maximum aperture of f3.5 for wide and f4.7 in telephoto angles. This construction allows for clear images in even low-light situations. Combine the optical zoom with a 12x digital zoom, and the C6 is capable of a total 60x zoom. The C6 features a two-inch low-temperature polysilicon color TFT LCD display with 210,000 total pixels. The display flips out from the camera and rotates up to 285 degrees on an axis for taking great video or still images from otherwise-difficult-to-view positions. And when not in use, the screen tucks securely back into the side of the camera for a pocket-sized portability and convenience.

As with all of Sanyo's previous digital media cameras, the C6 can record still images in addition to video. The C6 employs a richly detailed CCD and the same data processing technology used for shooting video. This ensures low digital noise in dark shooting locations, as well as beautiful realization of skin tones and colors. While conventional digital camcorders can often snap stills, they are usually low quality. And while conventional digital cameras can record short video, they are frequently grainy with a slow response speed. The Xacti C6 can do it all, recording both 6.0-megapixel still images and digital video on the same unit. You can even snap a still image while recording digital video with the simple press of the shutter button.

The Xacti C6 is ultra thin (it's less than one-inch wide!) and ergonomically designed. The hand grip and lenses are angled to enable a natural shooting style, and the thumb-operated controls make it exceptionally easy to use whenever opportunity strikes. Sanyo was thinking chic and classy when they designed this camera. The attractive color suggests a luxurious jewelry motif, and the shape and size make it easy to carry around with you every day, just as you would a stylish and tasteful fashion accessory.

Sanyo also makes it a breeze to connect the Xacti C6 to a TV, VCR, PC, or DVD recorder. This means you can easily play back recorded images and stills on your home entertainment system, or make back-up copies of your recorded content while you're enjoying the footage. When you're done enjoying the show, simply place the Xacti C6 into the included docking station to save recorded clips and stills to your computer's hard drive where they can be edited and archived.

What's in the Box
VPC-C6 digital camcorder, Sanyo software pack 7.4, docking station, AV cable, USB cable, AC power adapter, lens cap, soft case, battery, remote controller, cable adapter, and neck strap.

Product Description

6 Megapixel MPEG 4 Digital Camcorder with built-in Image Stabilization , 5X Optical Zoom.and 2" LCD Display.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars First impressions...I like this cam, April 20, 2006

By 

M. Knoll (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sanyo Xacti VPC-C6 6MP MPEG4 Digital Camcorder w/5x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

I just purchased a C6 and took it to Disneyland to video the kids. Bottom line is that I love this cam. Here are my thoughts after using it for one week:

Without a doubt, the size makes this camera so much more usable than larger models for "on the go" shooting. I have a mini DVD cam that fits in your palm, but you can't put it in your pocket. For me, its a pain to have to get it in and out of a fanny pack or whatever and I miss shots. For a trip like Disneyland, it was so nice to be able to have this thing in my pocket and be able to take it out fast and discretely shoot all kinds of great shots on rides, etc. After a few hours, I could literally take it out of my pocket, flip the screen up with my thumb and be shooting in about 3 seconds! And being able to go back and forth between pictures and video gave me way more shots that I wouldn't get by having to dig out the camera. I just hate having to carry around all the gear.

As far as quality, the photos turned out pretty good. I expected less based on the other reviews. I have not enlarged anything yet. My only complaint would be a bit overly saturated colors. I may be able to fix that setting in the camera. The best shots were bright sunlight at the pool.

Video quality is decent, better than I expected at low light. It focused pretty well at low light. I got some good results on indoor rides. My favorite thing to do is hold the camera out and shoot myself and my son on a ride. The size makes this easy to do and of course you can turn the screen around so you can see yourself. I can do it with my DVD cam, but it gets heavy and is bulky.

The anti-shake is not that great. You really have to watch how much you move it around. It works, it just could be better. I didn't have a problem with stills even when zooming.

Like others, I found that you get lots of camera noise when taking a picture during a video. The wind reduction works much better than my other cam (a Panasonic DVD model). The sound is decent overall.

The flash is very weak. About 6' max I would guess. Weaker than my Pentax Optio digital camera. I did not take a lot of indoor/night shots though.

I really like how fast it warms up. When you turn it on or flip up the screen, it is ready to go in just a few seconds. This is why I don't like the DVD cams, the warm up is really slow...Like 30 seconds on my Panasonic VDR. I lose lots of shots becuause of this.

I like that the buttons are all on the front and can be accessed with the thumb. It took a bit to get used to its small size. There is a slide type switch to go back and forth between viewing and recording so you can do it fast without the menu.

I forgot to buy an extra battery which was a mistake. I don't know how much life I got, but I started out each day at 8:30 am and by noon it was dead. But I took lots of video and flash pictures.

I really like the docking station becuase you don't have to take the battery out to charge it and you can plug into a TV and watch the videos. Another cool use of the docking station is that it doubles as a table-top tripod. I used it to video the fireworks show with pretty good results. The remote worked OK, but one bad feature is that if you are paging through a bunch of clips on TV and you stop for about 10 seconds, it goes back to a different screen and you have to page all the way back through the clips to get to where you were. Maybe this can be changed in the setup, but I don't know. Also, there is now battery level indicator on the screen. The battery just died. I think you can check it from the menu, but that is a pain.

I got two, 2 gig SD cards. The SanDisk Extremes (or Ultras I think). It writs to them super fast. No issues so far. Each card gave me about 80 or 90 minutes at the hights quality. I didn't fill them all up in 5 days at Disneyland.

The lens cap is cheap plastic and kind of hard to get on and off but I got used to it. It is working OK, but I bet it will crack before long. They should figure out how to integrate one that slides on and off.

Bottom line: If you are like me and don't like tons of gear hanging around your neck or in a fanny pack or whatever, this camcorder is for you. I was able to get more cool shots becuase of its speed and size than using my DVD model. I don't put so much weight on quality, becuase for family vacations its way more important to get that once in a lifetime shot of my kids doing something cute than having the image quality perfect. Now I just need to learn how to use iMovie to put all these clips together!

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Flawed yet wonderful, March 30, 2006

By 

Telstar - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sanyo Xacti VPC-C6 6MP MPEG4 Digital Camcorder w/5x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

I like this because it is small and ergonomically well designed. I am keeping it. However, there are many tradeoffs and issues that anyone should note:


1. The movie function is better in quality than stills for almost all conditions.

2. The movie function sound picks up faint noise from absolutely everything the camera does, from zoom to auto adjust the focus. This can only be heard under quiet conditions, but it is there, and in fact mentioned in the manual.

3. The low light still is very poor, except if it is pitch dark and you set it for that condition. I find taking pictures indoors without the flash superior than with it on.

4. The camera is very sensitive to shakes during still...and the image stabalizer only works for movies. This really needs a good image stabalizer for stills, since slight motion ruins the image, particularly in zoom.

5. It is true you can take a still while recording a movie. However, what is not mentioned, is that the movie is interrupted during the capture and that sounds of shutter clicking at quite high level invade the audio

I love the camera for convenience and remarkable capability.

From other reviews, the new HD version solves none of the issues I mention.


Well-taken stills with the Epson Picturemate printer are excellent.

Just be patient and have a very very steady hand.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Its Versatility Will Change How You Use a Video Camera, December 17, 2006

By 

Orson Wang (Novi, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sanyo Xacti VPC-C6 6MP MPEG4 Digital Camcorder w/5x Optical Zoom (Electronics)

This is a camcorder for the digital age. Tiny, multi-functional, and flexible. No ancient-technology magnetic tape. As with any product on the leading edge, there are many shortcomings.

Let's dispense with the obvious. This device is all about compact go-anywhere flexibility and ease. For best image quality, a dedicated mini-DV camcorder and dedicated digital still camera is the only way to go. In fact, buying a separate camcorder and still camera may likely be less expensive than the Sanyo C6 while resulting in superior quality.

Overall image quality is best described as "OK". The poor lens zoom and aperture is more befitting a $100 digital camera than a $400 device. The flash is weak and will not light many scenes that any other still camera would light. In addition, since the flash is not offset in any way from the lens, red-eye is virtually guaranteed at any range. This is not a problem with digital touch-up being common practice, but plan on touching up more often. Low light conditions drag down image quality dramatically in video mode. Virtually any digital camcorder at any price will outperform this Sanyo in video mode in any situation, but a little day light goes a long way towards improving video quality with the Xacti C6. Also, to be clear, the video quality is still superior to anything seen in the best of analog camcorders.

For all these negatives, the convenience can be truly revolutionary. One can wear the tiny VPC-C6 around the neck all day. This causes an amazing change in attitude towards video. Since the Sanyo is so compact, no one would think twice about bringing it along on any minor travel. Being freed from the chore of "packing up" a camcorder means a corresponding willingness to bring the Sanyo on so many more occasions, such as a visit to the park instead of just weddings and birthday parties. And whereas a mini-DV camcorder requires one hour to transfer one hour's worth of video to your computer, the Sanyo transfers video as fast as the SD card and USB 2.0 interface will allow. That means five minutes or less to transfer one hour's worth of video to a computer. This ease increases willingess to create video and share video. No more procrastination over dragging out the camcorder wiring and the manual task of initiating video transfer to a computer. With the Sanyo, just place the camera in the docking station and pictures and video files are available just like files on a USB flash drive. It is difficult to overestate the significance of this convenience. Video becomes an everyday pleasure, if one so wishes, rather than a special occasion chore. If one values this convenience over absolute image quality, this is the product to own.

This is a leading edge product. To get the most of this product, I highly recommend doing the following:
1) Sanyo has provided an updated firmware on their website. This fixes a fatal flaw in the audio processing that some people have noted as excessive distortion - this update makes audio quality competitive with other camcorders. In addition, this firmware update adds compatability with 4gb SD cards (the limit is 2gb without the update). Kudos to Sanyo for the continuing support. (Note that the instructions are a littled distorted in the translation - what they meant to write is that you need to push the SET button to the LEFT to enter the firmware update screen.)
2) The video is in MP4 format and is playable only with Quicktime. For Windows users, this limits video editing to the included programs or Quicktime-specific programs. There is an easy solution. First, download the Divx codec (a freeware commercial product) or Xvid codec (a free open source product - my preference) or ffdshow (a free open source product) - use your search engine of choice to find these. Second, download a utility called "MP4CAM2AVI" (a free open source software found easily with your search engine of choice). With these two programs, the video becomes compatable with any Windows program, including just about any media player (such as Windows Media Player) and any video editing tool (such as Windows Movie Maker).

I look forward to seeing how this market segment evolves. The freedom from bulk and digital tedium is addicting and I am sure the image quality will continue to improve. For now, I am happy capturing the memories that would have otherwise been lost had I continued to own a conventional bulky tape-based camcorder.