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Because of the strong sun the LCD display is completely invisible to the operator, so I just shot and hoped that the camera will record something. Hah. Everything became white during the day. Everything gets white or completely black. Totally I paid about $200.
The camera is not recording anything sensible in the evenings either. I thought that al least I have e good camera for the normal conditions in the city. If you think that this is bad enough, wait for the rest. The result is that I do not have any movie or any picture from the climbs. The camera is unfriendly and clumsy. From WHAT.
This is the worst I ever had. Well, you may think that at least it has 10Mp resolution when used as a still camera. I think this was the worst product I have ever purchased. I bought this camera one year ago just prior to one of my mountain climbing expeditions. Once at high altitude I felt so frustrated that almost threw it down from 15,000 ft. First, before you can record any movie you have to spend several minutes to select the right settings. As I was making shots the camera shut down and could not be started anymore. I haven't made any good still picture with this camera.
The pictures you get with this camera are as good as the pictures you get with your cellphone. The repair shop waited 3 weeks for Sanyo to send them only the spare part. It is not possible to accomodate to the contrast. The camera did not make me any movie in the mountains (in any mountains, not just this one).
Xacti is ways too slow to adjust to the changing light conditions as you move the camera. I bouth it from a shop in San Francisco and paid over $900. The reliability of this "HD thing" is really the worst. Well, you may think that I am unexperienced photographer, but I have over 20 year experience on Photography.
There is no auto mode. You pay for shipment, pay for evaluation, pay for the repair, pay for the shipment back. I liked it for the lightweight and the HD performance. You have to send it somewhere to IL to a private repair shop. I called Sanyo and they told me, that the camera is NOT under warranty (the warranty is only 90 days.). It is already 11 months since I have this camera and I am happy to dispose it. Anyway, it took me over a month to get it back. Any Canon camera, even the normal still camera makes better movies that this one.
The snow in the high mountains and the strong sun completely incapacitate the camera, even at the lowest sensitivity and with strong ND filter. From a 3.7V 1A battery. Another disapointment. Second, the HD feature is a pure BS. The evaluation showed that the camera has a burnt PCB. I would rate this product zero stars, but the systems requires me to asign at least one star.
The camera should be used on the highest quality setting for both still and video. The choice was between the Sanyo, Olympus or the Pentax Optio.I chose the Sanyo for its style, design and ease of operation.I took the camera to Miami Beach and had a blast with it. I did quite a bit of research on the Sanyo Xacti and other waterproof digital video cameras. I therefore suggest you buy the 4gb card.The menu offers a large number of options for both video and still image.Don't be intimidated by the size of the operators manual. I was not let down.I had no problem hanging on to the Xacti even when knocked over by a wave. The quality of the video is suberb.The still images are razor sharp. Start with the 'Quick Start Guide' and gradually read about the other features.The price of the camera varies from store to store. That should be your biggest problem with the purchase.
This is a high quality camera that is not real easy to use. I was able load some files out of the camera with other software but not with the programs that came in the box. The docking station takes some effert to get a good connection, you just have to feel around until it is docked. The real disappointment is the software the camera linked with a touch of the button but after a week of trying I never did get a MP4 file to load into the computer. Where is their quality control. If the software had been of the same quality as the camera and the price had been $200.00 less, I would still have the camera.
The one star is a knock against the seller, Wall Street Photo, not the Sanyo Xacti.I purchased through Wall Street Photo via Amazon at a good price and several days later the order was cancelled by Wall Street Photo. Amazon customer service has informed me that Wall Street claims they are out of stock. This is clearly not the case because the product is listed as in stock with a steep price increase.
So in short, unless you're shooting your first project for Sundance, you won't find anything this convenient. BTW, my Canon, which had many more moving parts, was in the shop at least once every six months.
The fact is, your expectations have to be realistic -- DV tapes are (as David Pogue says) best for quality. But let me be honest -- quality is only one factor when choosing a camcorder for me.
After having used DV tape for the past four years (Canon Elura), I wasn't expecting much with this Xacti HD1A but I was pleasantly surprised that many of the negative negative reviews posted here at Amazon weren't as bad as I thought. And believe me, grandparents aren't too concerned about the quality difference between this Sanyo and my old Canon.
Rewinding is a hassle and the amount of time it took to get DV footage into my PC for editing got to be a real drag (it's in real time). With SD cards, I am burning DVDs in minutes for the grandparents, something that took me hours to do before.
I've only had this Xacti for a week but I'm hoping that this won't be the case with this unit. Believe me, I researched for four months before deciding that this HD1A was a keeper.
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