I understand you can fold back the LCD when open, for RC mounting, you could then cover in bubble warp and then a leather/hard cover.

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Sanyo-VPC-HD1-Camcorder-Review.htm

The new review over at camcorderinfo, is one of the longest I have seen them post, and negative. I think they have points, because the average consumer won't be doing what we do to get good pictures, but then there is a good side that they could mention.

I forget why the two lower black tiles are missing, but it is interesting to note, that with their tests at iso 800/1600, the two lower tiles are correctly rendered, and that 1600 shows a lot of wash.

This makes me wonder if everything under 800/400 ISO is some form of negative gain to stop highlights from blowing out, and that 400/800 is 0db. It might explain the effect I am seeing.

Well all the shots I have shot so far I have left the camera in full auto except for ISO

also if I noticed the AF hunting (actually did not happen much which is nice) I twiggled the stick up to lock the af. thats about it.

The Problem with there review is simple. it was biased incorrectly (even if not intentionally) They Compared the HD1 (a Ford Taurus so to speak) with the likes of Mercedes Rolls Royce and Ferrai's etc..

I would like to see them review it with a comparison to taurus's in mind IE other $500-$700 camcorders and then see how it fairs. I can say this its magnitudes better than my $500 DV Camcorder. not even a close comparison it just blow it away.

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

I shot video from the Rc hummer today. came out GREAT !! only problem is that its 600mb I am trying to chop it up in camera but its literally painfully slow. I just wish I could pick "start and end" points and say clip that. grrr

I am probably going to have to convert this to mpeg2 and chop that up into something reasonable in size.

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

Ok got a short night driving clip up (quick and dirty)

The RC Hummer cam even edited down to DVD 9200kbit it was almost 200mb so I reduced it to 3000kbit still looks fine but no where near as nice as the original but as is its still 60mb (uploading now)

I just dont have the space of bandwidth to upload the original 563mb file :-)

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/sanyo

Chris,

http://www.bophoto.com/HDV/video/

Here is another nightshot, bouncing all over, handheld while driving. (smile)

For some reason I told myself to set the camera to the 200iso setting instead of the 400... and was delighted to see how nice it came out. much better than I had expected... Im thinking that I will be using mostly 200iso and let dark be dark.. its just so much cleaner than 400iso.

Bo

Chris,
That hummer cam is fun to watch. You can totally do a short scifi horror film with that! It just looks like a small critter-like monster coming after you. LOL

I know the clip is reduced in size but still it looks like the camera is handling fast motion shooting pretty well.

Bo,
The night shot link is pointing to the small jpeg image. Is there a movie file for that? I'm downloading other movie clips. Thanks for uploading them.

Euisun

Sorry about that, the link is fixed now. and I even remembered to upload the raindorops thumbnail. (smile)


Bo

Thanks. Downloading it now.

BTW, really great clips. Loved the raindrops one. Quite beautiful.

I think this camera is really a hidden gem.

Very cool night shot - with that many streetlights etc.. definately tick with 200 :-)

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

Bo, just from the stills, it looks cool.

Thank you Wayne,

I finally did get all the links working ;-) Guess its not alway good to work on html when its getting late. Ha Ha. I also got the page with the lenshoot updated and linked so its looking a little better now.

The 720p samples http://www.bophoto.com/HDV/video/


Bo (leaving to go make a living for the day)

The lenshood and tripod adaptor... wow
After I get my xacti I'm going to definitely order one.

Since you seem to have a magic hand, can you also carve a polarizer lens out of plywood? :)

Nothing magical about it, just a industrial laser in my office.

Actually, Im thinking that it might be possible to incoporate a slit for a Cokin A series polarfilter, when I make the lenshood for the wideangle lens, but I have to see how big it is first.

Right now my to do list have a lenshood for the wideangle and a adjustable hand grip for the right side of of the HD1 making it possible to hold it comfortable at different angles... however first I need to get the wideangle lens so I can get a pair of calipers around it. (smile)


Bo

How would you like it? IGES file, Solidworks native...let me know.

I am bored beyond reckognition here so I am more than happy to help...


Nothing magical about it, just a industrial laser in my office.

Actually, Im thinking that it might be possible to incoporate a slit for a Cokin A series polarfilter, when I make the lenshood for the wideangle lens, but I have to see how big it is first.

Right now my to do list have a lenshood for the wideangle and a adjustable hand grip for the right side of of the HD1 making it possible to hold it comfortable at different angles... however first I need to get the wideangle lens so I can get a pair of calipers around it. (smile)


Bo

Yeah.. grass root movement for accessories :)
Keep'em coming :)

Got a few more vids up. One is at full zoom and another is at night (not as bad as I feared not as good as I dreamed its really not too bad at all !!)

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/sanyo

Ok I am going to start deleting older video folders (I am running out of space)

04082006 and 04092006 will be deleted tommorrow so if you want em go get em :-)

got a trampoline video up for 04162006 its pretty cool !

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com

http://www.sanyodigital.com/video_cameras/HD2/index.html

What do we think of this one?

75% better low light performance and a 7MP camera.

uhhhhh I want it ? now they just need a 3hr battery (sanyo I dont mind if it "sticks" out the side of the camera :-)

Has anyone tried the 8gb card in the HD1 ?

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

I am just doing my first film clips with my Sanyo and, well, it is my first video camera every, so I am quite unexperienced. I will make a movie with Adobe Premiere later and load it up when I have enough footage, but I got a probably simple question:
I am running the Sanyo on full auto everything and noticed that depending on the direction I film in it adjusts itself to the sunlight. Which results that if I film the same spot from different directions it may appear very dark or very light. Is that something that I would have to manually adjust to prevent that effect? Or is that handled later in a movie studio by lighten or darken the material during the cut? And if I have to manually adjust it.... which setting would that be?
To bad I am such a newby in filimg ;) there are so many nice spots in California and some of the material I already have looks quite amazing. Well some doesn't, but if I have to downsize it to DVD-format it will probably sharpen a bit and look better...

OK, the third time I 'tried' to use the camera. I kind of explored some of the parks in orange county and uploaded to shots from Heisler Park in Laguna Beach. I am actually quite pleased with what the camera produces. Although I still need a lot of experience since this is my first video camera and some shots for example were kind of usesless because I filmed directly into the sun and had sunflares all over the image. But if I have enough material, the next step will be cutting ;)

http://rapidshare.com/files/15302483/SANY0024.MP4

http://rapidshare.com/files/15301172/SANY0029.MP4

These two shots are raw, directly from the camera. All settings are factory default. Could I have produced a better result with manual settings? And if so any suggestions?

Great footages !

but the manual setting important for different footages ( moving areas, varying ligth or focus situations, )

i use the fixed focus ( joystick push up )
fixed iso (50 in good light conditions)
fixed white balance
manual exposure ...i fixed the F3.5 and operate the shutter speed ( or ND filter ) for a good lighting picture
and i not use image stabilizer

one bad things the "preview" picture on the lcd screen ( in manual mode)
allways make a short record and check the picture ...

i hope this help...

Alex, you just gave me the best buying argument for a hd xacti ever since I considered getting that camera.

I always was a bit sceptic about the hd1/a cameras footage since I was always pretty annoyed by the white noise and jagging when I was watching samples on my Apple Powerbook. But I replayed your footage through my ordinary TV and it looked just excellent.

I've heard many people complaining about oversaturated colours in hd1/a footage. What I've seen in your footage isn't oversaturated. I'd call it brilliant!

So I've made my choice. I'm sooo buying a hd2 as soon as it's out. Thanks!

Well, some things that I noticed with some further tests:
The imagestabilization is not very good or I got the first signs of Parkinson.... either way, I have to use a tripod or lean onto something to have a nice steady picture. There is a postprocessing software from Sanyo for image stabilization which works pretty well actually. I used it for some of the shots I did freehanded and they get a little bit unsharp in HD, but they look OK again if downsized to DVD format, they are not that shaky anymore, guess that's what matters ;).
Well the image quality looks good in my eyes, even though I do not know crap how it should look like ;) watching the 10th time the footage of the cliff in Heisler Park, I begin to notice some artifacts in the dark parts of the Palm trees, but hey, if I have to watch it 10 times to think to see something, the picture must be good, no? And agreed, in dark conditions the camera does not perfom very well. I did some pictures over christmas with a flash indoors, which were great, but the video was either grainy or too dark.
But overall, I am very pleased with my first camera....

Next weekend I will do some shots with different settings, Robert, to see if it makes any difference.

PS: Alex, where from Germany are you from?

PS: Alex, where from Germany are you from?

In the prettiest town there is in Germany, Hamburg. And you?

Now Irvine, CA, before that I was living in Dortmund.

http://rapidshare.com/files/15438499/SANY0030.JPG

I just added one photograph, too, same day, almost same spot. I took the videos from the stairs you see in the picture. As I bought the Xacti as a replacement for my very old digital camera, the photo capabilities were important to me, too. Well, my old camera was a 3MP Kodak, so anything would have been better, but I really like, how photographs turn out, too.

what ever happened to www.hd1a.com? Great place for footage. Wasn't somebody here behind it?

I sent an email to the host "mc", but didn't get a reply.

http://www.mattjohnstonrally.com/matt/vidclips/Mikes.mov

Mathew, that looks pretty good, but any chance you could post it in native HD1a mpeg4 720p, so we can examine it for codec errors. But, I must say again, it looks very good, very film like, with DOF etc.

Lots of people have disappeared, so here is to reaching out to you:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=83398
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=87867

Just in case nobody saw it I started a new thread for HD2 samples and REQUESTS!! Just request footage of anything in particular and I'll shoot it under the light setting of your choice either under auto mode or whatever manual feature you want me to use.

A Sample red bush zoom out

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=N54OQ8AE


http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=96925

This video was shot with an HD1a and posted in Grass Valley's Edius 4. This is a compressed wmv to flash so there is of course a great deal of detail loss and some chroma as well but you can still get an idea of the capabilities. Some of the drummer shots (me) are SD HV1a clips mixed with the HD video raw.

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=12541957

http://video.frankprinzel.info/

Sanyo has just released the camera we allways wanted:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?p=736807#post736807