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

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Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 2 x 4.1 x 2.2 inches ; 12 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001Q3M9PY
• Item model number: VPC-FH1BK
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,068 in Camera & Photo (See Bestsellers in Camera & Photo)

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  Camera & Photo > Camcorders > High Definition

• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 21, 2009

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Take stunning Full 1080p High Definition video at 60fps and amazing 8-megapixel digital photos! The compact Sanyo Dual Camera Xacti FH1 delivers high-performance results with multiple features normally found on much higher priced video and photo cameras. The FH1 packs tons of features which are sure to please the most discerning user; including 600fps slow motion mode, face chasing technology which automatically read and corrects focus and lighting for up to 12 different subjects, and 16x optical zoom for video. Its compact design makes the FH1 extremely portable and easy to use. Videos, still photos and the various settings and menus can be easily accessed with the user’s thumb. The FH1’s convenient design makes sharing videos and photos via social networking web sites, portable video devices like IPod’s, TV’s and computers, a breeze.

Sanyo Xacti FH1 Highlights

High Performance and Stylish Design Made Simple
The Dual Camera Xacti FH1 packs high performance, cutting edge technology into a small, stylish, easy to use camera. Designed to fit perfectly in the palm of your hand, the Dual Camera FH1 features an easy to navigate menu which make it a great choice for the beginner and the more advanced user. It is the perfect blend of style, performance, and ease of use.

Large, 3-inch Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
The display flips out from the camera and rotates up to 285 degrees on an axis that allows you to take great video or still images from otherwise-difficult-to-view positions, proving to be especially useful when shooting in confined spaces.

8-megapixel Still Image Quality
In addition to Full 1080P HD Video the FH1 takes amazing 8 megapixel still photos. With an 8-megapixel (effective) CMOS image sensor the still images can be interpolated to reach 12 megapixel quality.

10x optical zoom (photos)/16x optical zoom (video)
The FH1 lens provides a fantastic zooming range for photos with an F=35.7-357mm range (35mm equivalent). For videos, the zoom ranges from F=41.7-666.9mm (35mm equivalent).

12 Subject Face Chaser Technology
Recognizes up to 12 faces for videos and still pictures and optimizes focus and aperture settings to ensure all subjects are in focus.

Sophisticated image stabilizer
Using a proprietary Sanyo algorithm, the FH1 automatically compensates for distracting up-and-down or side-to-side camera movement, keeping your subject steady and easy to follow. It accurately distinguishes between unintentional camera shake and deliberate camera movement. This handy feature operates in both wide-angle and telephoto modes.

Sequential photo mode shoots up to 12 frames per second
Take pictures like the pros with sequential shooting up to 12 frames per second. The perfect solution for action photography.

Highly advanced MPEG4 AVC/H.264 video compression
This feature optimizes the file size and makes sharing movies on social networking sites, or e-mailing them to friends and family, even easier. In fact, the file size can be up to 25 percent smaller than that of typical MPEG-4 cameras.

To accomplish the complexity of encoding AVC/H.264 in real-time on the FH1, a dedicated H.264 video compression IC was incorporated into the camera that was designed specifically for portable consumer devices. This achieves high video quality while simultaneously reducing the system power consumption.

Easily transfer video and still images to your video capable iPod
Import video and still image files directly into iTunes software and then port them to your video-capable iPod. Share your latest masterpiece with friends and family.

Record over 5 hours of full motion video
Using a 16 GB SDHC memory card users can capture over 11 hours and 6 minutes worth of video in standard definition or approximately 1 hour and 28 minutes in full HD video mode.

Capture still images while you’re shooting video
The FH1 enables simultaneous shooting of video clips and still images with a simple press of the shutter button during the shooting of a movie clip. You will never need to miss another precious photo opportunity. (Depending on the mode used to take still images, simultaneous video clip shooting may be interrupted. While shooting video clips, using the digital image stabilizer may change the angle of view for still images.)

Super-fast start-up
Reduce your chance of missing the perfect shot. The Dual Camera Xacti FH1 is designed for super fast start-up and shooting. With its tapeless design, the FH1 eliminates the need to queue up a video tape, allowing it to begin shooting in as little as 1.7 seconds! When the FH1 is powered on, closing the LCD display puts it in standby mode. Simply open the display and the FH1 automatically powers up and can begin immediately recording in as little as 1.7 seconds.

Includes a high-capacity Sanyo brand lithium-ion battery
The DB-L50 is a high capacity battery designed to work with the Sanyo Xacti FH1 camera and delivers approximately 135 minutes of video record time. High-energy density design minimizes the battery size and weight, making it perfect for use in the Sanyo Dual Camera Xacti FH1. The DB-L50 is designed to resist memory accumulation so it provides a full charge every time.

Easy playback of recorded video directly on a TV
The FH1 camera features a HDMI output which makes connecting it to a digital TV or DVD recorder a breeze. The FH1 can also easily be connected to a computer to back-up copies of recorded content. Still images and video clips are played back continuously and in chronological order. When connected to a PC, simple drag-and-drop operation makes it easy to save recorded video clips and still images onto a computer's hard disk for emailing, editing or archiving.

Product Description

Take stunning Full 1080p High Definition video at 60fps and amazing 8 megapixel digital photos! The compact Sanyo Dual Camera Xacti FH1 delivers high performance results with multiple features normally found on much higher priced video and photo cameras. The FH1 packs tons of features which are sure to please the most discerning user; including 600fps slow motion mode, face chasing technology which automatically read and corrects focus and lighting for up to 12 different subjects, and 16x optical zoom for video. Its compact design makes the FH1 extremely portable and easy to use. Videos, still photos and the various settings and menus can be easily accessed with the users thumb. The FH1s convenient design makes sharing videos and photos via social networking web sites, portable video devices like IPods, TVs and computers, a breeze.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing camera for the price!, April 16, 2009

By	KD (Bay Area, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

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 $550, it's absurd to dock a star for it. This is the best camcorder for the money.

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Solid 4-star camera. Excellent video quality. Would definitely recommend!, May 28, 2009

By	Kiyo M. - See all my reviews

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).

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great video and pictures in a compact size., April 12, 2009

By	F. Conrad "fchogg" (Cincinnati, OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.