Sanyo Xacti VPC-WH1 review

Most high-tech products aren't the most forgiving when it comes to venturing beyond the clean confines of city living. Expose the average gadget to a bit of rain or sand and you're lucky if it still works after you've dried it out and cleaned out the bits.

Sanyo's VPC-WH1 isn't your average camcorder, however. It's completely sealed against the elements, and not just showerproof, but completely waterproof to a depth of 10m. So the next time you go swimming with dolphins, paddling in the sea at Scarborough or windsurfing in Waikiki you can commit the whole thing to video without having to worry about your technology giving up the ghost.

It's no empty claim either. The WH1 is officially rated to IPX8, which means it can be completely immersed "beyond 1m" and we proved this by dunking it in a sink and a pond while filming with no ill effect. Naturally, all the ports and flaps are sealed with rubber gaskets and lock tightly closed, while the lens is covered.

We like the look of the WH1: it comes in bright scuba yellow or aqua blue with detailing that makes it look like a serious piece of diving equipment. And the specifications make for positive reading: the WH1 shoots 720p footage at 30fps and 9Mbits/sec, it boasts a 30x optical zoom and has image stabilisation of the electronic variety.

Less usefully, it shoots two-megapixel stills and, understandably, there's no accessory shoe nor any means for connecting a microphone or headphones, but you do get an HDMI out and a modicum of manual control. There's aperture/shutter priority, program and manual modes, independent exposure compensation and sensitivity adjustments up to ISO 1600, plus a face chaser setting.

There is one major problem, however: image quality. Low light performance is poor and suffers from lots of colour noise - not an attribute you want in a camera intended to be used under such extreme conditions. Things improve when you get outside in natural light, but focus is soft and detail, as a result, suffers. At extended zoom there's a lot of purple fringing.

With most other professional underwater video cameras costing an arm and a leg, and after market add-ons for traditional camcorders bulky and expensive, it looks like this Sanyo is out on its own at a mere £261. But those elements, alas, undermine what otherwise would be a highly attractive proposition.

Author: Jonathan Bray