While looking for an entry level and highly portable camcorder to record the meyhem on our weekend off-road motercyle excursions, I targeted the Xacti VPC E2 versus other comparable brands because of reviews and its features.
Recieved the package on time and in perfect condition. For the price, I was impressed with the ruggedness of the unit and its relatively compact and light form factor. The very first video/pics I shot were in a snow storm, which turned out well considering I have no experience shooting video and spent no time at all setting up the camera. Over the next few days I shot various videos and pics indoors, this is where I realized the camera's video limitations. Similar to some other folks, I found the indoor video quality to be less than perfect and interestingly worse @ 60 fps (indoor). However, with a little tweaking on the settings, the indoor photos I captured were better than my point and shoot 5MP HP R707.
The camera ergonomics take a little getting used to as do the feel of the buttons but the menu is easy to navigate and find what is needed. The main 4-way selector button is not in a very good position and somtimes you have to stabilize the camera with the other hand to use the button, but the thing is so small I guess they really couldnt have put them anywhere better.
I found that adjusting the settings(particularly the ISO) for an indoor environment provided very acceptable results for photos and..well, viewable video. Though I wasnt really dissapointed, since my primary intention for this is outdoor use in all kinds of bad weather. Note that video on the TV will look much better than on a computer screen due to the resolution. DVD playback looks fine.
Pros: Price per feature ratio, rugged, lightweight/compact design, digital media storage, weather-proof properties, readily transfer and view the video to a PC or upload to the web without any special software -it couldnt get any easier with this unit. Can edit photos and videos in the field. Decent control over camera settings.
Cons: Can only assign limited functions to the shortcut button. Battery life is very poor - havent had a charge last more than an hour or so. Throw the case away - I gave it to my dog to chew on. The software is outdated and cranky, I had to encode my video to my PC's HDD first, then burn that to the DVD to get it to work. Indoor video quality could be better.
Summary: Very nice camera for the price, as long as your expectations are on par with its capabilities.Get more detail about Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2 Digital Camcorder and 8 MP Digital Camera (Blue).
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