I have a friend who is a die-hard fan of Xacti. Although the Xacti has a camcorder look ever since it came up, he always described it as a digital camera taking great videos. This gave me a feeling that the Xacti was a versatile camcorder since the camcorders that I have been using are very poor at taking still pictures. Finally, the Xacti VPC-E2 was on my hand, and I had a really fun time using it.
First of all, the Xacti VPC-E2 is not an HD camcorder. These days, we see many HD (High Definition) camcorders on the market, and I would only look for an HD camcorder if I needed to buy a camcorder. As a matter of fact, I am using two full HD camcorders. One is using a hard drive as a media (Canon HG10) and the other one is using a flash memory (Samsung SC-HMX20C). Fortunately, I had a chance to own an E2 otherwise I would not buy it because it is not HD. Its highest resolution is a mere 640 * 480 at 60 frames per second. The E2 cannot compete with the resolution of the HD camcorders whose resolution is 1920 * 1080. However, now I believe that the E2 has its own advantages and I carry the E2 more than my HD camcorders these days. By the way, there are HD versions of Xacti, which are HD700 and HD1010, available on the market.
My first impression of the E2 was that it was small. I have owned many consumer camcorders to date and the E2 is the smallest one of them. I know that there are smaller flash memory based camcorders, however, those are mostly YouTube quality camcorders. Also the blue color body looks very nice. I prefer a shiny color for gadgets that I use and the E2 is a perfect match for me. It fits in my pocket nicely and the included soft case works very well. The good thing is that the lens is protected by a tightly sealed (waterproof) glass, so I do not need to buy a UV filter that I always buy when I buy any kind of camcorders to protect the lens. This will save you $15 to $20. And there is no lens cap to open or to close. The vertical shape of the body feels a little unfamiliar at the first time, since my camcorders are either barrel shape or the shape that needs a vertical grip. Once I got used to, it felt better and comfortable.
The one thing that I want to mention is that I had a hard time pressing the buttons to take the picture or the video. It is just too firm to press. When I asked someone to take pictures for me, most of the times they did not press the button that they thought they did. So, I had to make sure that they took pictures right. After I took more than 50 pictures, my thumb became numb. I wish this problem would be fixed in the later version.
Now here is the fun part. The E2 is a waterproof camcorder. Although the spec sheet says it can be waterproof within 5 feet of water depth, I am happy with it since I am not a diver of any kind. I received the product in the winter so I cannot test this other than the bath tub. Fortunately, we had a good friend asking us to go to an indoor water park together and I said yes passionately to test this new toy. Wow, it was one of the most fun things I ever done in a water park. I saw some people taking pictures or videos in the water park. However, they are standing outside of the pool or at least 10-20 feet away from the possible water splash. But I am in the middle of the water and carrying the E2 in the water. I took moments of my family floating on the lazy river while I was lying on the tube with them. My daughter loves to play with it, and we are the only one in the water park who was carrying a camcorder everywhere. I sometimes took the video under the water, and I have never tried that with any other camera or camcorder. People in the water park found out that my camcorder is waterproof and they all said "Coooooool !' After we came back from the water park, I carefully took a look at the E2 and everything was fine. I did not find any water inside of the memory and battery compartment. The interesting thing is that the E2 has 2 water drain holes for cleaning. I washed the E2 with tab water and it felt very odd since I have never cleaned my camcorder with running water.
The E2 records video in MPEG4 AVC/H.264 format. This video format is getting popular and is supported by most video editing software. As I described above, I use two HD camcorders, and the Canon HG10 uses the AVCHD format (Canon HG10) and the Samsung SC-HMX20C uses MPEG4 AVC/H.264. As far as the compatibility is concerned, AVC/H.264 works far better than AVCHD. I had a hard time just to play AVCHD video files, and AVC/H.264 format files can be played flawlessly in every media player that I have. And AVC/H.264 format is easier to upload to video streaming services like YouTube. YouTube announced that they have started to support MTS/M2TS files that are recorded in AVCHD format. However, when I uploaded MTS files without any conversion, it did not work (they allowed to upload MTS files directly). The sound was breaking and the video stuttered. Anyways, if you concern about the compatibility issues, the MPEG4 AVC/H.264 is for you.
The one thing I was really disappointed is the low light performance of the E2. It is too grainy. Under normal indoor lighting at home, you will get very grainy video. If you use your video in low resolution such as 320 * 240, you might not be bothered much. However, if you see your indoor shot on TV, you could immediately notice how coarse your video is no matter what the resolution is. The low light performance is almost the same as a cheap flash memory camcorder such as the Flip. If you take most of your videos indoor (like the baby shots), you should find something else.
The photos coming out from the E2 is pretty good. I can use the E2 to take still pictures (I have never used any of my camcorders to take still pictures). It cannot be compared to digital cameras in the same price range, however, the E2 makes very good pictures. Unlike the poor indoor performance in video, the E2 gives pretty bright pictures. Now I know why my friend called the Xacti as a great digital camera that takes nice videos.
Having internal memory in the E2 is a blessing. You might have an experience like me that you forget to bring your memory card and regret missing precious moments. As a matter of fact, I got very mad at myself whenever I make a silly mistake like this. Although the size of an internal memory is small (44 MB), it could be a life saver sometimes.
As many reviewers stated, the battery performance is disappointing. It only lasts for 80 to 100 still pictures and less than an hour for video only. However, I do not take long videos with the E2, so I was OK with it. I am using the E2 to take the short moments that I could meet at any time. If you plan to use the E2 as your only camcorder, I recommend you to buy an additional battery.
Overall, the E2 is a great camcorder to carry anywhere including underwater. I am using an 8 gb SDHC card with it and still have tons of space left. It is tiny, and it looks great. It is a versatile camcorder making great still pictures. If you take most videos outside, the E2 will work better for you. With a street price of $180, you cannot go wrong with the E2.
Get more detail about Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2 Digital Camcorder and 8 MP Digital Camera (Blue).
0 comments:
Post a Comment