Monday, May 18, 2009

Comparing with Sanyo VPC FH1

The VPC HD2000 and the VPC FH1 are both top of the line camcorders under the Sanyo Xacti range. They appears very similar in the specifications except for the major difference in their form factor. The FH1 is of the conventional camcorder box design while the HD2000 is the pistol grip design.

However there are some other differences which may be of some importance for those deciding on which camcorder to pick. I could not find a detail review of the FH1 but the following are the major differences that I can find when looking at the specifications sheet of the FH1 and comparing with my HD2000. This is not exhaustive and readers may point out other differences or errors if there are any.

In all cases, the HD2000 is quoted first.

1. Size and form
90 (W) x 54.5 (D) x 112.6 (H) mm, volume about 272 cc
53.3 (W) x 105 (D) x 57.3 (H) mm, volume about 253 cc

2. Weight (with battery and SD card)
311 gram
342 gram

3. LCD monitor
2.7" (230,000 pixels)
3.0" (230,000 pixels)

4. Lens
Focal length, f=6.3mm to 63.0mm
Aperture, F=1.8 (wide) to 2.5 (tele)
Focal length, f=5.95mm to 59.5mm
Aperture, F=2.0 (wide) to 2.8 (tele)

5. Interface
Via docking station.
Directly on camcorder body.

6. Microphone
Built-in plus external input terminal.
Built-in only.

7. Headphone terminal
Yes
No

8. Filter size
40.5mm
37.0mm

9. Shoe mount for external devices
Yes
No

The rest of the specifications for both the camcorders are identical as far as I can see. Owners of FH1 may want to point out other differences or make corrections in case of errors. Cheers.

Ronald Kwok
http://ronaldkwok.atomicblog.hop.clickbank.net/

7 comments:

  1. Hi, thanks for some of your info on HD2000. I have a few questions.

    How long can we shoot movie with 32G?

    Is the poor IS really a big miss during all of your shooting experience?

    Would you be able to manually control the aperture and speed?

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  2. With a 32GB card, you can get 2hr 56mins of video at the hihgest resolution (1920x1080, 60p) or 4hr 22mins at full HD (1920x1080, 60i).
    You can select either aperture or speed manually or both together or leave them at auto.
    I have not tried other camcorders so I cannot compare the IS with others but it is noticebly bad (shaky) if you zoom or pan quickly. But it seems to be getting better as I learn to hold the Sanyo more steadily. You must try it out to see if it is acceptable to you.

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  3. Thanks for the info. I am thinking to buy either the Sony XR500 or Panasonic HS300. It seems in term of quality of the movie, Sanyo HD2000 is in par with the sony and panasonic model. But what interest me is the price, half cheaper. That is a lot cheaper. Over the internet, people complaint about the stabiliser but certainly good things come with a price and with the price of a Sanyo, I don't expect everything to be cleanly perfect. Having use the camcorder this far, do you wish that you would be able to reverse your decision and hunt for some other camcorder with the same price you have paid for Sanyo?

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  4. Hi..how much you bought your HD2000?

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  5. Reply to Anonymous. One of the main reasons in getting the HD2000 is the price, which like you said, is almost half that of camcorders with comparable video quality from Sony/Canon/Panasonic. In fact, the Sanyo HD2000 is the only one that offer 1080/60p; the rest are only 1080/60i.
    The other reason is that the camcorderinfo review rated it the best in lowlight among other similar camcorders and since my wife and I will be visiting Turkey soon where there will be plenty of visits to mosques, churches and museums where flash is not allowed, this would be very useful.
    Since I do not have another camcorder, I cannot really said how bad the IS is compared with others but from reviews, this is one of the worst and the IS is the main weakness of the HD2000. Solution? Just zoom less and pan more slowly.
    If I have more money, I would probably buy a Panasonic but I am happy with the HD2000 as it is for the price I paid. It also has other unique features (like connecting directly to an external Hard Disk without the need of a PC) which is useful at times.

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  6. I saw a review where they did side by side images comparing indoor images with a Canon. The Sanyo came out actually better as the Canon were oversaturaded and distorted. Aslo the manual control seems on par. Obviously at half the price it is a bargain, and no one has the slow motion capability. Interesting to see how the equipment holds up.

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  7. Which review is this? I would like to read it as well. The HD2000 is also the only consumer camcorder with full HD 60p; the rest are only 60i. If only they improve the IS (Image Stabilisation)!

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