Customer Reviews

Sanyo VPC-FH1 HD 1080p Flash Memory Camcorder w/ 16x advance zoom (Black)

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If money is no object and optical image stabilization is your primary concern, then I recommend you buy the Canon HFS10 or HFS100. Now, with that out of the way, you have to temper your expectations with what you paid for. This camera is at least $600 less than the HFS100 for basically the same image quality minus image stabilization. You will see that I compare this with the Canon a lot because Canon has been king of the camcorder scene for a few years now.

Pros:
The image quality is almost as good and even better than the Canon in some aspects (based on online reviews as I don't own the Canon). The low light sensitivity is excellent (there is an option to turn up the sensitivity level). The thing we need to keep in mind is this: camcorders are best when used in areas with plenty of light. There is really no reason to film at night unless you absolutely need to. For the times when you want to film the night light or night scenery, this camcorder does its job very well. When hooked up to my 1080p television, the video was spectacular. I can't imagine how much better the Canon would be but I'm very satisfied with this. I know that it's impossible for the Canon to be twice as good as this camcorder for twice the price, at least for me.

It is small! I can definitely take this with me on vacation every where I go and not tire out my arms. It's much smaller than I expected, almost like a toy. Having used 5-pound camcorders in the past, this is definitely a good thing.

I can now leave my point and shoot camera at home as this substitutes as a regular still camera, hence the dual camera moniker. It takes 8 meg stills (don't use the 12 meg option as that's interpolated) which is impressive for a camcorder this size/price. There are ISO adjustments which I believe is lacking in the Canon.

Cons:
Image stabilization. If you like to film videos without tripods, monopods then I suggest you stay away from this. However, for under $500, I was able to buy this camcorder and a tripod, 16GB SDHC, and a camcorder bag. No optical stabilization can match a tripod/monopod. If you're serious about creating timeless videos that you can view 20 years from now, you need a tripod. Period.

Yes, it would be nice if the image stabilizer was better for the times when I don't have a tripod with me. However, it's serviceable if I hold the camera very steady so it's not as bad as some people would lead you to believe. I don't plan on filming while walking very often so it's perfectly fine. If you have a shaky hand problem and hate tripods/monopods then stay clear.

You can mitigate shaking with (1) a tripod, (2) steady hands, or (3) deshaker software (free online). You cannot mitigate $600 or low light sensitivity. No matter what camcorder you buy, you will need a tripod eventually if you're serious about taking good videos. So budget that into your purchase plan.

Normally, I would deduct one star for the bad image stabilization, but for a camcorder with superb image quality, low light sensitivity, and the fact that I can throw in a 16GB SDHC, tripod, and camera bag (all bought separately of course) for around $500, it's absurd to dock a star for it. This is the best camcorder for the money.

Length:: 9:12 Mins

The test footage (starts around 2:07 in the video - it was shot hand held) has been HEAVILY compressed and resized from 1920x1080! But hopefully, you can still get a general idea, especially the zoom capability. (the open boxing is obviously from a different camera)

This camera is really easy to use. I did not have to read the manual, it's really user-friendly, but it's nice that they include an actual manual book for you! (Funny how when I wish I could use a manual, some manufacturers only include it on a CD!) However I did later read it to understand more about a certain feature; the manual is just as easy to follow.

What I love most about this camera is the ability to set custom shortcuts to the 4 directional buttons on the camera. I love having greater control of the camera, so I set the shortcuts to quickly set manual focus (you can toggle between focuses), focus lock, exposure lock, and exposure compensation. This way, you can really have more quick controls of the camera than using the auto focus.

It's simple enough, but if you want it more basic/restricted, you can set it to simple mode (not something I would use or care). All you get then is:
video: select between HD and web quality
focus: automatic and macro
flash mode: auto, forced, off

For video options, you can choose from:

* Full-HR 1920x1080 (60 FPS HR) - you better have one powerful computer if you want to edit these files. But for simple cut/join edits, you can do that through the camera of course.
* Full-HD 1920x1080 (60 field/s) - same reasons with above
* Full-SHQ 1920x1080 (30 FPS SHQ) - recommended
* HD-SHQ 1280x720 (30 FPS SHQ)
* TV-SHQ 640x480 (30 FPS SHQ)
* Web-SHR 448x336 (240 FPS SHR) - limited to 10 second-recordings
* Web-UHR 192x108 (600 FPS UHR) - limited to 10 second-recordings
* Voice Memo

For Photos:
* 12m 4000x3000
* 8m-H 3264x2448
* 8m-S 3264x2448
* 6m 3264x1840 (16:9)
* 2m 1920x1080 (16:9)
* 2m 1600x1200
* 0.9m 1280x720 (16:9)
* 0.3m 640x480
* 8m 3264x2448
* 4m 2288x1712

Focal = 5.95-59.5mm 1:2.0-2.8
Filter size: 37mm (this is the size that you need if you want to attach a wider lens)

Some pet peeve:
- In the menu, it shows at the bottom in this order:
(MENU) EXIT (SET) OK
but on the actual buttons, the Set button is on the left and the menu button is on the right, so I think that's how they should display it on the menu as well.

- I wish the SD card door would just be a slide open mechanism instead or just not have it at all for quick removable. Somewhat annoying to have to open the LCD, which also happens to turn on the camera, just to remove the memory card.
- Even though Sanyo is a Japanese company, ironically, there's no Japanese in the Language Option.

I also have the TH-1 (720p) model, which is QUITE disappointing compared to this camera, but this one is definitely worth shooting with besides the obvious higher resolution; it performs much better in low lighting (quality is no comparison). On the TH-1, it's REALLY horrible when you shoot in low lighting. Low lighting is where most HD cameras hurt in quality; it's definitely not the best, but it's not the worst either when it comes to shooting in low light with this camera.

The TH-1 model does not warn about not having an SD card inserted (because it has 43MB internal memory so it will show an internal memory icon), but this camera (FH-1) will constantly nag you about it because it has no internal memory. I noticed there are two extra options with this camera versus the TH-1: Photo Wide-D (compromises both dark and bright areas) and Photo Stabilizer

I don't know if I received a broken remote, but the ON/OFF button did absolutely NOTHING. And yes, I've tried holding it for several seconds and from different directions. However, every other button seemed to work.

Unless you hit record, the actual image on the screen is actually not the full sharpness quality; I believe they do this to prolong battery life when you're still setting up your shot. So it's better if you don't always rely on what you're looking at until you hit record.

If you hold the MENU button while in playback mode, it will get rid of the display text on the screen and just show a seekbar of the video.

If you press the SET button while you're setting up your shot, it will get rid of all the display text info on the viewing screen; however, there isn't seem to be a way to get rid of all the info text display once you hit record.

Pros:
- 1080p - excellent video quality. It's HD!
- I love the 4 button custom shortcuts!
- Compact! (smaller than a soda can) yet has a large 3" LCD screen and amazing what it can produce despite its size
- Impressive 16x zoom!
- Image stabilizer (not bad... I can see it functioning, although it's not optical for greater stability)
- Excellent battery life (it's also nice that it displays the actual approx battery life time left instead of just a generic bar)
- Comes with standard composite(yellow; red/white)+S-video AND component (RGB - HD)
- Comes with a small remote
- It takes photos (definitely usable unlike the photo feature with the TH-1, which was horrible)
- Files play smoothly on PS3! (take SD card out of the camera and use a card reader to it)
- Cut/Join videos within the camera
- Transfer directly to hard drive without a computer with the camera.
- You can create new folders within the camera and set where you want the recording to go to.
- Can fast forward up to 15x and can display 21 video thumbnails (by pressing the zoom out button; default shows 8 thumbnails) that you recorded on the screen
- Can take snapshots frame by frame of recorded video

Cons:
- Not Touch Screen (then again, the 4-direction button control makes it very quick to do everything)
- No automatic lens cover
- No built-in memory
- No external mic
- I wish it would have an option to keep recording even if you close the LCD (it ends up stopping the recording because it automatically goes to standby mode)
- Preset manual focus distances (but at least they have auto focus lock)
- Can't manual focus once you hit record. (however, you can still focus lock/unlock)
- Tripod stand hole is not centered! (Why do they have to do this?!)
- The set button has somewhat of a cheap feel

Overall, I give this camera a SOLID 4 star rating. (And I am a pretty harsh rater and rarely give 5 stars) I am happy with the quality and the quick access to the manual controls. The price is just right too. I hope they will make a waterproof version of this (I know they have it for 720p). Definitely would recommend. Avoid the TH-1 model (even if you're on a budget).

This is my fourth HD camcorder... I own a higher-end Sony (HVR-A1U), a Canon HV10, and formerly a Hitachi BD70A Blu-Ray model. I have been "doing video" since the 80s.

First of all... do keep the price in mind. This Sanyo VPC-FD1 was never intended to be confused for a professional model. Neither are the $1300-$1500 units from Canon (S10/S100/S11) or Panasonic (TM300). However, they are all symptomatic of the reality that the line between "pro" and "consumer" is blurring, at least with regard to picture quality.

The quality of this camera's HD image is quite good. It holds up well in low light... much better than any other consumer model I have used myself. It's also very good at capturing fast motion, which has until recently been a big problem for AVC based models, rather than DV or MPEG-2. It's not without some artifacting, but quite a bit better than earlier models, in my experience.

Some places claim the lens is 16x... it's really a 10x zoom lens, optically speaking. The 16x comes, as with many consumer camcorders, from "digital zoom"... that's when the software just uses a small bit of the whole sensor. They claim to be doing this intelligently... could be. In normal use, there's an 8Mpixel sensor here being cropped to about 6Mpixel... that's three times the pixels you need to create a 1080p image. That's also useful... you get better color and better light sensitivity, but if you cut out 2/3 of these, you'll still have decent HD video. More than that, and you'll get noticable pixelization. Which you do see in the viewfinder using digital zoom, but I have yet to look at it in finished video. Just something to be aware of.

The Great Big Feature of this model is 1080/60p video... you have to go to a pretty high-end professional model to get this anywhere other than in the VPC-FD1 or VPC-HD2000. Pros would like a higher bitrate than 24Mb/s (it's actually variable bitrate, peaking around 28-29Mb/s so far as I've seen), but it's not bad... the software clearly knows how to avoid macroblock distortion by adding a bit of low-pass filtering (slight blurring when necessary... don't worry, it does improve the video quality... compression mastering engineers do the same thing on DVDs to ensure that high speed video looks a good as it can on DVDs).

There are some caveats. One is the whole flash meets video meets FAT32 thing... like other current flash-based camcorders, this one uses the FAT32 file system. That offers big storage on 16GB and 32GB flash cards, but the maximum file size is 4GB. This means that, after about 21-something-minutes at 1080/60p, the camcorder needs to close one file and open another. That wouldn't be bad, only that the Sanyo doesn't pipeline this, so there's a delay of a few seconds between the end of one file and the start of another. Sure, it's better by far than changing 8cm DVDs every 20 minutes on a DVD camcorder, but it's an issue. They could fix this in firmware... they ought to. You get more time in a 4GB file as you drop to lower video modes (1080/60i, 1080/30p, 720/30p).

I have shot a number of High School soccer games with this in 1080/60p, and I get great results. Last year, I used my Sony in 1080/60i mode; this is overall better video. For one, I can downconvert to web video without interlacing artifacts. I can decide, after I shoot the video, if I want to make a 1080/60i, 1080/30p, 1080/24p, or 720/60p Blu-Ray disc, assuming I target Blu-Ray for delivery. That's pretty nice.

The other big issue is edit. Know this now: your PC is probably going to struggle just to play back 1080/60p at full frame rate. Neither Windows Media Player nor VLC had a prayer of playing this back on my Q9550-based desktop (that's 2.83GHz, quad core, 4GB fast DRAM, etc) on a 1200p monitor. Splash Lite did play it back, but used 65-75% of CPU power... that's all four CPUs. Using Nero Showtime with GPU acceleration enabled, I was able to play this video back with under 50% CPU on my desktop, and just about 100% CPU on my laptop (both using nVidia 8600 GPUs).

So when it comes to editing, you're in trouble. I don't know of a video editor yet that uses either multithreaded rendering or GPU acceleration during editing (most use the former for rending a final video... at least one also uses GPU acceleration). I opted to buy CineForm NeoVision for this. CineForm is an "intermediate CODEC"... you convert from your shooting format to CineForm for editing, then render to MPEG-2 or AVC or whatever you want for delivery. In theory, this means a loss of quality, in practice, nothing you can see. In fact, CineForm interpolates the 4:2:0 color of AVC to 4:2:2, so if you're doing lots of compositing and effects, the quality could actually improve. You need a ton of space for CineForm.. it runs over 100GB per hour of 1080/60p video.

The video format is MPEG-4 AVC in an MPEG-4 transport stream wrapper (.MP4). This is similar to, but not the same thing as, AVCHD, which is MPEG-4 AVC in an MPEG-2 transport stream wrapper. AVCHD is a full consumer standard, MP4 isn't, really. However, Sanyo's choices here should work with most software.. they're using MPEG-4 AVC at Level 4.2, and AAC audio, which is the usual MPEG-4 compressed audio format (AVCHD uses AC-3, formerly known as Dolby Digital, which is one of the Blu-Ray and DVD standards... the AVCHD standard really comes from Blu-Ray). I believe Sanyo has been making MPEG-4 camcorders longer than most companies, so they do have their act together here, even if they're not following the current popular standard to the letter.

I have not used still photo mode. They claim it's as good as a typical P&S still camera (that's the "Dual Camera" thing). I used my HV10 as a still camera, for about 300 photos, on a backpacking trip, and would have liked something better... I would be surprised if the Sanyo didn't do better stills. But it's not usually that important to me.

The battery is inside the camera, so you can't really get a much larger one. But unlike many kits, the stock battery delivers 150-180 minutes, which is ok. Also good is the fact this battery has been used by both Sanyo and Kodak for awhile... they didn't feel compelled to have to create a brand new cell here. So you can find 3rd party cells, chargers, and all.

The lens takes a 37mm filter/accessory, which is fairly standard. I was able to fit a polarizer from my Canon and a wide-angle lens from an old Sony SD camcorder... all good. There's no automatic lens cap.. there's a real lens cap that stows in the cloth handle when not being used.. fine with me. Those mechanical shutters generally break.

The image stabilization on this is digital (like my Sony), not optical (like my Canon).. that means it's inherently not as good. Optical these days always wins. With that said, optical can get confused by vibrations, and it can break if you drop the camera (so can other things, but that's one of the first to go). I usually shoot video from a tripod or monopod anyway, so this wasn't a big deal for me.

If you're buying just one camcorder, and plan to use it for video and audio, you probably don't want the VPC-FH1 (you might consider the VPC-HD2000, which is much the same, only in Sanyo's pistol form). The reason is simple: the mics are built-in, no plug to add an external mic. Microphones built-in on camcorders are general bad. The FH1's aren't noticably better or worse than anyone else's, they're just typical built-in mics. Not very sensitive, no wind screen, and ... well, at least they won't pick up tape noise like similar mics on similarly small DV and HDV camcorders. I have a Rode mic for my Sony that cost nearly as much as the FH1... you can imagine it does a bit better on the audio than any built-in. But it you're using this as a "B" camera, or using a field recorder for audio, that's not such a concern. The mics are located just below the lens, which is a superior location... many small camcorders put them on top somewhere, where your fingers will undoubtedly antagonize them no-end.

I was lucky enough to receive this on Thursday and able to use it over the Easter holiday. I made several test videos and pictures to check out all the features before using it on Easter get-togethers. I strongly recommend buying this a couple weeks before using it on big events so you can test out features and set it up to get expected results. It's a great point and shoot camera/camcorder as long as you know what you're doing. It's not much bigger than a computer mouse and fits easily in a clip case. It came with a component video, S. video, mini USB and mini USB adapter (for the hard drive). It did not include a mini HDMI cable.

For the Easter recordings, I used it in the full HD mode 60fps with noise reduction on because it produced the best video on a true HD television when checking out the test files. The quality is extremely good. as good as and in many cases better than actual HD TV programs. A nice feature is being able to take still pictures from video by playing it back and pausing on the frame you want. The still pictures from the video files were very clear and plenty good for printing. The still photos were all done in the eight megapixel mode with excellent results. It was easy to switch between recording video and taking snapshots. I took a few snapshots while recording video and everything worked OK but the picture quality of the snapshot wasn't that much better than taking a frame snapshot from the video during playback.

I tried a few of the features but haven't had a chance to really analyze them in detail. The image stabilization feature has its limits shooting video. It does a good job when zoomed out, but you'll need a tripod when zooming in halfway or more. When zoomed in, it's hard to hold the camera steady enough for the stabilization feature to work. It is very important to hold the camera steady except if purposely panning. When the camera jerks, it causes the entire image to move which causes the MPEG-4 compression algorithm to create a whole new picture instead of just the small portion of actual action. This comes across as sort of a strobe effect on a large high definition TV.

The standby mode works great. When you're finished shooting, just close the display. When you're ready to record again, just open the display and it will be ready before you can remove the dust cover. The face chaser had a hard time locking in on more than two or three faces. This might be because nobody was standing still for a very long period of time. When it did lock in it seemed to be good at correcting. This will need more experimenting.

The display brightness was good and adjusts well between direct sunlight and indoors.
A useful feature is the ability to edit and merge video files right on the camera without the use of a computer. You can also connect the camera to a hard drive without a computer. The downside is that the drive has to be formatted to fat 32 and can't be over 1 TB. File transfer is very easy on any computer with a USB 2 connection.

I purchased the Sanyo VPC-FH1 for a trip to New Zealand and Australia.
Everything worked to near-perfection. I made over 80 gig of HD recordings, which I now have to edit down to presentable programs.

Here's the setup I used:
I bought two 32gig SD cards (adata SDHC class 6) and two "unknown brand" replacement batteries. Have you heard of "Wasabi" batteries? I hadn't, but the batteries worked acceptably, in addition to the Sanyo battery that came with the camcorder. I also bought a stand-alone battery charger (I forget the model and brand). It came with an all voltage power supply.

I used a Manfrotto monopod (676b) and Manfrotto micro ball head (482). A thread adapter is needed to attach these two items together, but it can stay inside the ball head. This monopod assembly is very light weight and fits inside my overnight bag with the ball head removed. I recommend the "3 clamp" 676b monopod over the "4 clamp" model that collapses to a shorter length. The 676B is sturdier in use, even with the trifling weight of this ball head and camera.

I own a USB multiformat flash memory reader/writer that plugs into my Dell XPS 1330 laptop, so I never attached the camera directly to the laptop. I just removed the SD cards from the camera and plugged them into the reader. The laptop was light enough that I never regretted having it.
I never came close to filling up one of the SD cards in one day, even though I recorded at 1080p most of the time. I used a second battery frequently, which was no real inconvenience. I averaged about two and half hour's worth of video in a day or less.
I downloaded each day's video to my laptop via the card reader and put the other (empty) SD card into camcorder.
If needed, I could edit the files quickly with Nero 9 Ultimate (Nero Vision module). I used this program to create some quick edited 720p programs, plus some PAL DVDs of the recordings for my friends in New Zealand. I'll use it at home to make the final edited programs.

Sanyo VPC-FH1 Picture quality:
I can't say the image quality matches that of more expensive cameras (maybe yes, maybe no), but I strongly doubt any camera at this price is any better. Low motion scenes in good light look terrific. With more movement and lower light, the picture degrades, but never horribly. Strong backlighting would make the foreground subject a dark shape.
For perspective about quaity, I played the raw files on a large LCD panel, using Nero Showtime and the HDMI connection from my laptop. I was pleased. Anyone else that saw the videos thought the results were much, much better than any other camcorder videos they had previously seen. Everyone asked how much it cost. Most agreed that the circa $450 cost was more than fair. Most were more impressed by the small size, commenting that this camera was small enough for anyone to tote around and use.

Likes:
Very light
Small
Closing the LCD flap forces standby
Adequate low light performance
Easy to hold and use
Real button controls--After having used a "touch screen" Sony camcorder in the lo-rez past, I much prefer the real buttons and clean LCD of the Sanyo approach.

Dislikes:
Lens cap noise--the remove cap/attach cap process annoys some people, but it doesn't bother me. However, the cap makes distracting clicks and clacks against the monopod while hanging on its tether if you forget to stow it in "slot" in the back of the handstrap provided for this purpose.
Also, you have to attach the tether when first prepping the camera. This is relatively easy, but I see many people skipping this step and soon losing the lens cap. This would be very bad, as the lens is not well shielded from errant fingers.
Lens flare: Shooting anywhere near the sun causes obvious flares. I'm going to look for an after market lens shade to mitigate this problem. I presume this is no worse than other camcorders with fast, multielement lenes, but I can't be sure.
Card Read Failure: After about 22 days of use, the camera reported that one of my SD cards was unreadable and asked to format it. But when I pressed "yes" to the "format card?" prompt, the format failed. After repeated insert/remove cycles (about four), the camera reported the card was fine and had no more problems that day or later.
I don't yet know if this problem will persist. If it does, it might be a fault in the specific Adata SD card (I hope it is) or a defect in the camera's internal card reader/writer (sigh).
**update**The Adata cards were the problem. Any other flash memory works fine. Avoid the 32gig Adata cards. The contact quality is unacceptable.

I am quite happy with the purchase of the Sanyo VPC-FH1.

I've had the camera for about a month. Works great. I import my files into iMovie '09 for Mac by using a SD card reader. The battery life is fantastic. I don't even need to record in 1080p all the time.

One problem is you cannot turn off the display while recording. If you are at a conference recording some long talks, it could drain the battery more than necessary. This is especially strange for recording audio only, the screen stays on. But the battery life is fantastic, and I used it successfully at three conferences recording some parts. Honestly, I wouldn't record the entire thing anyway because it takes so long to do any kind of video editing.

The size is perfect, I just stuffed it in my front pocket at Disneyland and Seaworld and pulled it out to record whenever I felt like it. It was in my jeans. Then when we went on water rides, I put it in my girlfriend's purse.

Also, it works as a webcam without downloading drivers on Mac OS X 10.5, so when I use Skype and I have it plugged in and set on the camera to share, Skype recognizes it instantly. Same for iMovie and Quicktime so I could use it to record directly to my computer, or do a live broadcast with Quicktime.

The strap that comes with it has a place to stick the lense cap so it doesn't wave around and get in the way.

I have used the "Dual Shot" feature to take a picture while videoing just to make it easier to email someone without having to extract a frame from the video manually when I got home. Also I used it to record people preparing for a photo, because it's more interesting to see everyone's personality while preparing. But really, who want's to look at a photo when you have a video? If you want to save battery and disk space you could use the camcorder as a camera, but it's much cooler to record lots of video at the smallest HD and make a DVD, than to look at a photo album.

The camcorder is pretty light too, it sits on one of those funky gorilla tripods made for regular cameras just fine.

Also the red recording light is in the back so people won't notice as easily that you are recording and start acting if you are looking for naturalness.

There are many languages including Simplified and Traditional Chinese, and Korean. But not Japanese, which seems prejudiced.

It has two microphones for stereo sound on the front. At the park I could pickup people about 20 yards away when they were talking loudly, so it worked well for filming a softball game from the outfield.

The quick settings buttons click pretty loud, so if you need to lock the focus or exposure while filming, it will pick up the sound. But it comes with a remote control that you can use instead to avoid the jolt motion and click sound from pressing the button.

I am going to touch upon things that have not been already discussed by other reviewers.

Before you buy this camera, things you need to consider.
1) Will you be shooting in the full HD mode at the maximum frame rate or at 30 fps.
2) Will you be shooting in the 720 p mode OR the regular SD mode.
3) Will you be editing the videos or just saving the files as is ?
4) Where will you playback the videos. Computer, DVD player, Blueray Player etc. ?

The camera outputs the video in h.264 MPEG4 format. Now if you are playing directly from camera to TV, you are good to go. But if you want to download and play on the computer, you will need to install video lan (Vlan)player. I found this player to be really good. Or you can used the Nero which comes in the CD.

The performance of the computer is supreme in playing/editing HD feed. At minimum a dual core processor, a good fast video card and at-least 2 GB of RAM will be required to play back even the 720p format without freezing or being choppy. I am speaking of PC's. I have no experience with MACS. So if you don't have a good fast PC, avoid this camera for the time being.

Editing the h.264 files is another story in itself. The supplied nero will be able to do basic editing but if you are looking at a movie maker like functionality, then it will not work. There is a work around though.... to import the h.264 into windows moviemaker. To do so, first install the k-lite basic codec pack. Now you will be able to import into windows movie maker and edit. Again you will need a high end computer to edit or you will experience freezing and lagging. After you import the files into the movie maker and see horizontal lines in the video, click on the ffdshow video decoder icon(blue icon) on your task-bar and check the "De-interlace" option. Now the files can be editing in a regular fashion and published as WMV HD files. Or use a HD movie maker like the Sony Vegas Platinum. Costs about $80.

Storage media :
Make sure you get a class 6 SD card for optimal read/write speeds. One important thing to note. The file system on the SD card is FAT. The maximum permissible file size is 4GB. Once you hit the 4GB mark while recording, the camera will start recording a new file. But the issue is between finishing up the writing in the old file and starting the new file, there will be a lag, about 6 to 8 seconds on a class 4 SD and 3 to 4 sec on a class 6. So get a class six. At any rate you are bound to lose about few seconds after the recording reaches the 4GB mark..Just FYI if you are shooting a game or a play or something continuous.

Auto focus:
For indoor shooting try using the manual focus. In the auto focus mode, in low light conditions, the camera, sometimes will not distinguish between the foreground and the background, and the focus will sometimes, keep going in and out resulting in soft or blurry pictures on occasion. While using the manual focus, using the pan or zoom feature will throw the focus off... To the human eye, what might look like perfectly good lighting may be low light conditions for the camera sensor.

Cant think of anything else but the summary is; this is a good camera for under 500, if you have a good fast computer for editing and playback and you know the shortcomings, which are few but definitely worth remembering.

The primary reason I purchased this camera was for the 60fps 1080p video recording, and I couldn't be happier. I can't express what a difference it makes to have 60fps video instead of 30fps, all without all the horrible annoyances with interlacing.
This camera does 60fps video extremely well, providing VERY high resolution video that is incredibly fluid to watch. Looking at the footage from this camera is like being there.

Bullets are always nice, so here's a simple list of pros/cons. The biggest takeaways are: It's a great camcorder, especially for action shots, it's a good still camera, and the quality and versatility is stunning given the price.

Positives
+Unmatched fluid motion in a camcorder (I don't know of any other major camcorder that does 1080p60 except the Casio EX-F1)
+EXCELLENT bang-for-the-buck
+Good low-light performance
+Awesome slow-motion capability
+Fully automatic mode supported along with Shutter priority, Aperture priority, and full Manual.
+Macro mode is very good
+Zoom is very good
+Videos shot with Slow-mo + macro or Slow-mo + zoom are awesome
+Still photos are very good
+You can take still photos *while recording a video*
+If you're not recording a video, a good flash is enabled for good stills
+On-camera editing is pretty good
+The camera is SMALL and LIGHT, amazingly so.
+Transferring the videos to a computer is trivial, it just connects as a flash drive with .MP4 files that play on any computer running Windows 7, any Mac, or any Pre-7 computer with Quicktime or DivX.
+Videos can be uploaded directly to YouTube from the camera, in HD.
Negatives
-Image stabilization is not very robust. This might be a problem for some people.
-No Line-in for an external mic


General Advice for cameras/HD:
+Interlacing is never your friend, avoid it if you can. It just complicates things, especially if you're using the video with a computer.
+Cameras have a tough time in the dark, no matter how you slice it. This does quite well relative to the competition.
+Don't be fooled by sharpening, on your HDTV or on you camera. It's especially important on cameras to turn the sharpening off as the compression algorithms used by cameras are designed for actual video content, not artificially sharpened video content. Whenever possible shoose the 'Soft' or 'Normal' setting available on a TV or camera. Your videos will look much truer to life.

In March 2009, I purchased this: Canon FS100 Flash Memory Camcorder with 37x Optical Zoom (Garnet Wine), so this is my point of comparison.

First of all this camera is very sleek and light. It is hard to believe it can do 1080p this small.

I don't like the fact that the lens cap must be manually removed and hangs (the Canon is automatic and built-in) and it was difficult to get the string in the cap to keep it attached.

There isn't an SD card included, so make sure to buy one with it!

It is very intuitive. With sophisticated electronics (e.g., digital cameras, cell phones, etc.), I usually can figure out the basic functions and I review the book to learn the rest. This Sanyo has been very easy to figure out how to use and even edit video.

The button configuration is very simplistic, yet very functional. There are only 6 buttons plus the zoom and they are all arranged well for one-thumb operation. It is so much easier to go between play & record modes and take pictures vs. video on this compared to the Canon.

The quality of video is just terrific. I've primarily used 1080p @ 60f/p with a 16GB SDHC card (Transcend 16 GB SDHC Class 6 Flash Memory Card TS16GSDHC6E [Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging]) and it showed 2 hours, 10 minutes of video possible, which is great.

The ability to grab any still from a video is amazing. If the video is well-lit and not shaky, the stills look as good as some digital cameras.

As a test for the camera, I recorded some of a once-in-50-year storm this week and captured a half-dozen nice-sized lightning bolts. Going frame-by-frame is just incredible.

The Canon FS100's photos mode was just awful, it reminded me of a digital camera I had 10 years ago. The Sanyo is very good. I can't say it is as good as my Canon S2 IS (Canon Powershot S2 IS 5MP Digital Camera with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom), but some of them looked very good and with 8 megapixels vs. my 5 megapixels. This even has a flash!

I just tested it for the first time today for a short time, but the high speed recording looks very cool. It has a 240 frame per second and 600 fps mode. The 600 fps was very low quality images, but 240 looked reasonable decent quality. I look forward to finding fun things to use that on (maybe the next thunderstorm!).

I was all ready to hook the camera up to my HDTV via HDMI cable, but found it wouldn't fit into the camera. That's because of the Mini-HDMI jack in the camera, I learned. I bought this: Mediabridge - 5ft Mini-HDMI to HDMI - Version 1.3 Category 2 - 1080p - Blu-Ray and was delighted by the high-quality video. I also enjoyed the included remote control to show my videos off without being tethered to the camera.

My computer cannot handle the video editing power required, so I found the editing functionality built-in to the camera. It is very easy to use and works great. I was easily able to trim the beginning and end of video and merge multiple videos together into one with all kinds of flexibility and speed.

I'm sure that there are more features I haven't learned yet, but I've been very impressed with everything so far and will be using this as our primary video camera and probably even digital camera in many circumstances.

[UPDATE 11/23/09] Overall, I still really like this camera, although a few annoyances have been the picture quality in low light and a difficulty with colors in some indoor circumstances. Sometimes the colors will changes as the cameras tries to figure out how to shoot.

I purchased my Sanyo FH1 in June 2009. My first use of the FH1 resulted in three hours of video when my family and I went on vacation. I set my FH1 video recording mode to the highest quality setting possible (FULL-HR which is 60fps). This is 1080p.

When I returned home I immediately hooked up the FH1 to my Sony Bravia HD 1080i TV via the HDMI connections on both units.

On the FH1 I brought up `OPTION MENU 3' and selected the `TV OUTPUT' menu item. The `TV OUTPUT' menu item allows you to select various settings that describe the type of connection you want to make. I wanted to make a connection that says I want to view a 1080p recording. So, I selected from the list of choices within the `TV OUTPUT' menu the following settings: `HDMI' set to 1080p and `COMPONENT' set to 1080p.

The above `1080p' settings did not work. This was my error. My FH1 did record in `1080p' mode (the aforementioned recording quality of `FULL-HR'). However, my Sony Bravia which is 4 years old does not have `1080p' capability so I had to adjust both settings (HDMI and COMPONENT) to `1080i'.

I then watched my first video from the FH1. The picture quality was stunning! It was akin to watching Sunrise Earth in terms of the clarity of the picture. I was finally watching a video produced from a camcorder that could deliver the picture quality I had always yearned for. Previously, I had owned camcorders whose technology was out of date - it was not the fault of the camcorders - it's just that technology had moved on. With the purchase of the FH1 I `caught up'.

I place picture quality as my number one criteria for selecting a camcorder. All other considerations place a distant second. Hence, I selected the FH1 for its 1080p capability.

Aside from the outstanding picture quality I found the FH1 easy to operate and the menu screens were simple and straightforward. I did have a bit of a problem when I connected (via the USB cable provided) the FH1 to my computer for uploading and editing. The FH1 `USB CONNECTION' menu selections confused me. The correct settings are, `COMPUTER' and `CARD READER'.

The `card reader' setting is what threw me. I guess the FH1 is in a sense a `card reader' when you are just uploading video to your computer. I used this same setting when I actually used my Dynex card reader to upload video.

A major concern I had about purchasing a new camcorder that records in 1080p is will I be able to use my movie editing software and will my computer have the processing power to handle it.

I have a Mac Pro using Mac OS X version 10.5.7. The processor is a 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon with 2GB of memory. I am using iMovie version 8.0.3 for my movie editing software.

I uploaded 3 hours of 1080p video to my Mac. This took approximately 3 to four hours (not sure since I did not sit in front of my Mac while this was underway so I don't have exact times). I had selected the iMovie import option of `IMPORT FROM CAMERA'. Once the import to my Mac was completed I took a look at my video via iMovie. All of the clips were truncated by 50% (i.e., if a clip was 60 seconds long only the first 30 seconds were imported).

The solution to the clip truncation problem was the selection of a different import option that is available within iMovie. That import option is `MOVIES...'. Use that option and all your video clips will be fully imported. I have much more detail on the specifics of this in the Apple discussion forum on iMovie '09 under the issue of clip truncation. The point is, the problem was resolved.

Once the video was `fully' uploaded (no clip truncation) I edited the movie down to around 90 minutes, added transitions, adjusted track volumes, moved clips around and so on and so forth. iMovie had no problems with the editing process and my Mac was responsive - no sluggishness at all. Playback was smooth and the picture was crystal clear on my Mac's monitor (which happens to be a Dell monitor).

Wherever the picture was not clear it was due to poor lighting and/or poor technique on my part. Camcorders just don't do well in poor lighting situations and for the most part I am taking daytime outdoor videos anyway. If the lighting is good indoors then you should see video quality commensurate with that level of light. Poor light - poor videos, good light - good videos. It's that simple.

I am now ready to export my movie to a DVD. I used iDVD to accomplish this and I set the recording mode within iDVD to its highest possible quality setting. It took around an hour and 15 minutes to write out a 90 minute DVD. I popped the DVD into my Pioneer DVD player and experienced a very high quality picture although it is not 1080i or 1080p quality. Nonetheless, the resultant picture quality is a vast improvement from videos I have taken with my older camcorders.

I plan on purchasing a Blu-Ray disc writer and Roxio Toast software (guides you through the Blu-Ray disc burning process) to produce compatible Blu-Ray movies. I have a PS3 so I already have a Blu-Ray disc `reader'. Note: Blu-Ray players cannot play 1080p discs so before exporting your video you must convert it from 1080p to 1080i. There is free software that can do this for you.

If you don't want to spend the money to go the Blu-Ray route I believe you will still be happy with the picture produced through the `normal' DVD disc burning process. If you don't want to lose any picture quality and you don't want to go the Blu-Ray route you have other options such as playing your movie directly from your computer.

The FH1 does come with software called Xacti Library. In their documentation they write that this is software that allows you to, "save files stored in your camcorder's card to a large-capacity hard disk - all without using a computer".

From the large-capacity hard disk their software will allow you to play back your video on your TV without losing any picture quality - full 1080p (f you recorded in 1080p and your TV is 1080p capable). The drawback to this is that your video is unedited and is simply the raw footage that you took. I have not tried out this feature and not sure I will since I want my videos to go through the editing process.

The FH1 can also take photos but I have a Nikon D70 camera for that. I have not nor do I expect to use the FH1's picture taking capability so I have no input on this aspect of the FH1's performance. If you want great photos my suggestion is that you get a camera.

The FH1 is a fantastic camcorder that delivers a brilliant 1080p video. It's price is amazingly low for such a high quality camcorder that can also take photos! It uses flash card media vs. a hard disk drive or internal memory.

The hard disk drive camcorders have moving parts whereas the flash card and internal memory camcorders are solid state. Stay away from the hard drive camcorders - too susceptible to malfunction when bumped or dropped or even with just normal use.