I was made a believer when I got my first xacti, the xacti CG65. The video quality on that was very good. I produced a few very good quality DVDs using the CG65 and got quite a few compliments. A lot of my friends were surprised at how clear the videos turned out to be.
But then I have a chance to go to several beaches and took at lot of videos as well. Although I was very happy with the videos I thought about how things would be better if I had a waterproof camcorder.
On black friday this thought was realized. Amazon put this camera on sale for $199. It was a deal I couldn't pass up. I then sold the CG65 to a friend which he gladly took. The E2 came in quickly from Amazon.
Just this past weekend, I had a chance to really test it out at the xmas party. I am tranfering the videos now and sad to say I am disappointed. In videos I took with high ISO settings, there is a lot of vertical/horizontal banding. Even in my 19" monitor its so visible and its definitely annoying. There is also a problem with the image stabilization on this camera. On the top of the screen whenever I would move the video from 1 side to another, there is this flickering. In the CG65, the videos are very good regardless if its low light or good light condition. This one needs a "just right" light condition to work just like the CG65.
The bottomline is I am not impressed and in fact I am returning this camera. Maybe the change from CCD to a CMOS sensor is the culprit? I dunno. But definitely I miss my CG65.
The still shots are a bit better than the CG65 but the red eye problem is worse on this camera. I used to have just the red eye problem with my CG65. In this E2 camera, there is also the red eye + cat eyes problem. Makes my subjects look like a bunch of aliens lol.
So there you go. If you are considering this camera, maybe look at the predecessor E1 instead as it had the CCD sensor. Now I have to find a CG65 on ebay or unless I can find an E1 that I can try out. But definitely, skip the E2. When you look at the E1 and the E2 and ask, how come the E1 is still more expensive that the E2 considering E1 is the older model? You now know the answer. There is something cheap in this E2.Get more detail about Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2 Digital Camcorder and 8 MP Digital Camera (Blue).
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