Product Reviews

Not content with being barely larger than a mobile phone, the VPC-C1 also aims to be both a digital camera and a camcorder. And thanks to some good specifications and nifty design, it largely succeeds. With a startup time of less than two seconds, you need never again be caught short capturing the moment.

One of the most obvious design elements is the pistol grip, which enables single-handed shooting. A quick survey divided people into those who found it intuitive and those who insisted on putting their fingers over the lens. If you can get used to it, though, it allows most functions to be accessed without resorting to two-handed operation. Sensibly, you can also switch the easy-to-follow menu system from 'expert' to 'basic' mode.

The 1.5in flip-out screen allows for more flexibility, rotating into practically any position. It's of reasonable quality too, with sufficient backlighting to cater for most conditions.

The 3.2-megapixel CCD provides a maximum still image size of 2,048 x 1,536, while video is restricted to 640 x 480 at 30fps. There are three other modes, including optimisations for web use, such as 176 x 144 at 15fps. ISO settings range from 200 to 1,600, but there's no infrared mode for ultra low-light conditions. Also note the 5.8x optical zoom, which is kept company by a 10x digital zoom; you can't vary the speed of the zoom, though, which is a little limiting.

You can also use both

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zooms when in digital camera mode. Other controls are quite basic, though. Exposure compensation of up to +/-1.8EV is possible, but there's no way to set either aperture or shutter priority. ISO sensitivity may be set to auto, or manually between 50 and 400, but that's about as advanced as it gets. As a bonus, still shots can be taken while recording video, although they'll be restricted to 640 x 480 if you don't want to interrupt the movie.

The Xacti needs charging in its docking station, and there's a handy space on the power adaptor for a spare battery. Transfer of images and video may be achieved either via the docking station or directly from the SD card, with a 128MB version included. If you'd rather hook the Xacti up to your TV, a composite video cable is supplied, as well as an infrared remote.

The results are surprisingly good too. The video resolution is higher than TV and even looks respectable on a PC screen. The slightly sluggish autofocus caused occasional problems, but the lack of a built-in image stabiliser wasn't a big issue. We also found the stereo microphone effective in capturing the atmosphere.

Detail was the biggest casualty on still images, especially under low-light conditions. We found the focus slow here too - a problem if you don't have time to set up a shot. The flash was reasonably effective from a few feet away, but tended to overpower subjects any closer. On the plus side, backlit scenes were dealt with well.

Possibly the biggest problem for the Xacti is capacity. Although 128MB is plenty for a still camera, it limits you to around seven-and-a-half minutes of video. Admittedly, 1GB SD cards should be commonplace relatively shortly, increasing the Xacti's appeal further, but at a price.

Although there are similarly priced digital cameras and DV camcorders that perform better at their specialist tasks, the Xacti is the first camcorder we've seen to make a decent stab at photography too. When you consider its tiny size, it's even more appealing.