Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1000

Sanyo has been striving to make the perfect dual-purpose digital imaging device, but with only partial success. Although some members of the Xacti range are primarily digital cameras, others like the VPC-C1 (web ID: 52622) have combined meatier video-capture capabilities alongside their photography. The VPC-HD1000 takes this into a new dimension, combining 4-megapixel stills with Full HD video recording.

The HD1000 weighs in at just over 300g and measures 11cm along its greatest edge, making it very pocket friendly. Video and stills are captured to SD memory from a sizeable 1/2.5in CMOS, although Sanyo doesn't include a SD card in the box. At the top Full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080, video is recorded at 12Mb/sec using MPEG4 AVC/H.264 encoding, so you could still fit around three hours on the 16GB SDHC cards that are just arriving on the market. The top still resolution is 2,288 x 1,712, but a higher interpolated setting of 3,264 x 2,448 is available.

The HD1000 is a mixed bag in terms of features. It does have mini-jacks for an external microphone and headphones, but a pop-up flash resides where you might expect an accessory shoe to be. Focusing can be performed only via the menu joystick, not a lens ring, but manual control options include seven programme auto-exposure modes. You can also choose between aperture priority, shutter priority, or independent adjustment of both. The aperture range is a respectable F1.8 to F8, but the shutter speed just 1/2 to 1/500.

Image quality is the HD1000's biggest failing. Still images are a little too soft and lack detail, and video has a number of faults. The intense colour saturation is a matter of taste, but the high compression used makes itself evident, particularly in low light, where footage becomes grainy. The zoom, autofocus and auto exposure also feel sluggish. The MP4 video recording format is harder to edit than AVCHD, except when using the supplied Ulead DVD MovieFactory 5 SE software.

It's easy to find fault with the HD1000's video quality when held up against Panasonic's HDC-SD5EG-K (web ID: 137343). But at £400, you get a lot of features for your money. So, while it's neither an outstanding HD camcorder or a particularly high-end digital camera, it's a tempting gadget.

Author: James Morris