Sanyo Xacti VPC-SH1 Camera Review

The new Sanyo Xacti cams are lighter and thinner than ever before. The VPC- SH1 is a little larger but comes with 1080p recording, a 35mm wide-angle lens, 30x optical zoom and takes 4 megapixel photos while the 1-inch thick VPC-CS1 records 1080p, but only has 10x zoom and takes 3 megapixel stills. VPC-SH1 can manage 4-megapixel (10MP with interpolation). Similarly each has digital image stabilization and face tracking, together with the more unusual “target a color function”.  Connectivity includes a mini-HDMI port, Eye-Fi compatibility and SDXC memory card compatibility.

Even better for ease of use, Sanyo have switched to MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 as the native recording format, which means drag-and-drop compatibility with apps like Windows Live Movie Maker.  Previously you’d have had to convert the AVCHD footage into something more software-friendly, a time-consuming intermediary stage.

Sanyo XACTI VPC-SH1 is now available in markets (in either red or black) and for a price of $299.99.