Sanyo Xacti VPC-CA65 review

The Xacti CA65 has a unique headline feature - it's waterproof. With a maximum depth of 1.5m and a maximum submersion time of 60 minutes we couldn't recommend shipwreck exploration with it, but it's enough to make the CA65 a perfect candidate for a kid and holiday-proof camcorder. It handled our tests perfectly, surviving a persistent rain shower and an unintentional dunking in a kitchen sink with no long-term effects. And, because the CA65 is sealed, it will survive hazardous environments better than other cameras, not least because you can treat it to a thorough scrubbing once you're inside.

Part of the CA65's toughness - and its small dimensions - are due to the static recording mechanism. Instead of recording onto relatively delicate DV tape, it records straight to an SD card. A 1GB card is supplied, and we managed to fit a 1hr, 19m video onto it. The CA65 is compatible with SDHC cards, which means you could splash out on an 8GB model, and fit around 10 hours of footage onto one card.

Image quality is reasonable. It can't compete with DV based, 3CCD camcorders such as the Panasonic NV-GS180B, and the output is unmistakeably digital. The top quality, 640 x 480, 30fps videos emerged with colours a little too saturated, and compression artefacts are easily visible in the H.264 AVI video files. But if you think of this as more of a Web 2.0 device creating videos that will end up compressed half to death on YouTube anyway, the ultimate image quality is less important.

A contributor to the Xacti's modest quality is the small lens, but we appreciate its decent zoom range - the 35mm equivalent of 38-190mm. Even better, the CA65 offers second-to-none electronic image stabilisation. Even with the lens fully zoomed in we had no problem keeping our subject totally static - yet another reason to recommend the Xacti for the great outdoors.

Using the Xacti could hardly be simpler. There's no manual control of either shutter or aperture, but you can set your own white balance and ISO sensitivity, with the CA65 offering a range from 50 to 1,600. There's also a manual-focus mode, although in practice it's tricky to use, and the CA65 rarely gets it wrong anyway.

Once you've got your footage, Sanyo supplies some top software for editing and production. The accompanying disc includes not only QuickTime, but also Adobe Photoshop Album SE and Adobe Premiere Elements 3 - the latter standing out as a particularly good editing product for enthusiastic beginners.

The biggest drawback is the battery life - you're in for a frustrating time if you use a memory card larger than 1GB, as the battery will expire well before you can fill the card - it lasted just a few minutes longer than our 1hr 19m film.

There's a huge amount to recommend the CA65 though. Image quality is good enough for web publishing, it's easy to use, and its robustness makes it perfect for recording adrenalin-junkie moments. The electronic stabilisation is practically perfect, and there are even a few handy manual controls to make sure you capture what you mean to capture. The only drawback is the battery life - we couldn't think of a camcorder better fitted for backpacking, but with just over an hour's juice, you'll need to be judicious in terms of what you film. Pack a couple of spare batteries though (part code DB-L20, around £10 inc VAT), and the Xacti is a water-resistant marvel.

Author: Dave Stevenson