Well...well...well...here we go again. A new xacti from Mr. Sanyo.

Read all about it over at Engadget.com:

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/08/sanyos-xacti-hd2-high-def-camcorder-delivers-7-megapixel-stills/

If Sanyo has lifted its quality control on this camcorder, I just might bite again.

"the HD2 kicks the stills up to seven megapixels, delivers 75% better low-light sensitivity"

It would be nice if that’s true.

I can't wait to see one. I have a JVC HD100 but want something for around the house in HD. The Everio HD was at the top of my list, but if the new Sanyo is much better than the previous model, I may look into that.

Will they also better the autofocus part? And what does 75% better mean? Fingers X-sed :)

http://crave.cnet.co.uk/camcorders/0,39029423,49286779,00.htm

Does anyone know if the Hd2 Xacti will fit the newly released under water case?
http://www.divervision.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=311

75% better low light sensitivity would be great, but we'll need to see it to measure with any certainty. If it's just a gain increase, it's worth little. Comparing actual content in low-light will be the best test.

I don't know how good 75% good is but surely sounds like a substantial number. I hope they did improve the sensitivity and dynamic range. Can't wait to see the first test clip from HD2. It reminds me of when I first discovered DVinfo net. I was lucky to find this place in search for some HD1 sample clips.

I don't know how good 75% good is but surely sounds like a substantial number. I hope they did improve the sensitivity and dynamic range. Can't wait to see the first test clip from HD2. It reminds me of when I first discovered DVinfo net. I was lucky to find this place in search for some HD1 sample clips.

There are 3 things that Sanyo has to improve:

1. jaggies
2. low light performance
3. autofocus

What I find amazing is that all non-professional reviews (T3 magazine, Stuff magazine) are raving about this machine and price. Mainly because of size, design and price. No wonder, after all it is a real gadget. A dutch gadget magazine didn't like it and was only positive about the 5MP photos. But all professional sites just give the HD1a bad reviews: Akihabara News, New York Times, etc. You name it, they smash it.

I did see some great footage from a spanish guy with the HD1 that he made around Madrid during sunlight. Great great PQ but taken with a tripod and hardly any moving scenery/zooming in.

So if Sanyo fixes these 3 things they will have a winner in their hands. Fingers X-ed until march :)

Some of the things are improved, but they are still stuck at 9mb/s. The question is, can they reduce the the noise and latitude problems with the higher mega-pixel sensor. The noise is what destroys codec quality a lot. The higher resolution might help with accuracy, jaggies and binning.

Shame, I was hoping they might have gone to 19mb/s and 60fps (and 19mb/s on 25/30/50/60p). It is the cheapest gadget, but HDV cameras are below $1000 on the street. I did some filming at 30th/s on my interlace sharp viewcam. If you film the way they do in 35mm film it is usable, but I think 60fps is a preferable over wise.

Maybe the senor is improved, but a wider aperture would have helped with low light noise etc. 1.8-1.2 (like the JVC GR-3000 1.3mp did) but I think around 1.8 is the limit because of size.

Will be interesting to compare.


Re-edit:

Forgot, I wonder if they will have one of those portable cable connectors with this one, that will give a live uncompressed undelayed output while filming?

Found a good link to the press release information and specs:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/pr/sanyo_01092007_vpc-hd2_pr.html

The increases in low light are dramatic, interesting to see how low the previous camera scored.

Here you have the full info and specs:
http://www.sanyodigital.com/video_cameras/HD2/index.html

There's a FIRST IMPRESSIONS review up elsewhere:

"We expect the VPC-HD2 to perform better overall, based on the upgrades Sanyo has made since 2006."

"Whether the performance increase will make the HD2 a respectable HD camcorder remains an open question pending our full review of the finished product."

"What we do know is that the CCD size remains 1/2.5” but that the gross pixel count has increased considerably from 5.36 MP to a whopping 7.21 MP."

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

My friends, I'm a marketing guy. As such, I know the importance of building hype on new products. These are press releases. They are made to build market awareness and interest, not necessarily to represent the truth. Remember the accolades Sanyo gave itself upon release of the Hd1. The reviews weren't all that accurate; the model went to market with significant flaws that Sanyo never corrected.

Until an actual unit is reviewed by a reputable source, it's all just smoke and mirrors... every day marketing propoganda. Show me substance and reliability. My faith was shaken with the HD1.

From the hype page: "Super-fast 9Mbs frame rate "..................

LOL, never realized 9Mbs was super-fast. That being said, I hope this little camera pushes the pocket-cam envelope.

JohnG

My friends, I'm a marketing guy.

So am I.

What you say is obvious.

However, at this price point, the only benchmark this little camcorder needs to achieve is "acceptable" 720/30p video.

If it does that, then it's probably going to sell.

Nobody expects the Sanyo to perform as well as the 1080i camcorders by the major manufacturers.

Guess what?

Many high definition TVs can't display 1080i resolution anyway.

This might be a worthwhile camcorder for the home enthusiast who has a less expensive high definition screen that only has enough resolution to show 720p.

I don't think anybody expects to do pro-level production with this little device.

On the other hand, I've seen work produced by some self-proclaimed "experts" who have the latest and the greatest tools and their work is so bad -- bad writing, bad execution -- that it could easily be stomped by truly talented directors, writers, shooters using nothing better than a Sanyo for acquisition.

Jerry Jones

My friends, I'm a marketing guy. As such, I know the importance of building hype on new products. These are press releases. They are made to build market awareness and interest, not necessarily to represent the truth. Remember the accolades Sanyo gave itself upon release of the Hd1. The reviews weren't all that accurate; the model went to market with significant flaws that Sanyo never corrected.

At least this one might be what the HD1 should have been. If they had h264 at 9mb/s for the HD2 it might be better, but seriously, 30/60fps at 18 Mb/s would be nice, and nobody has to use it unless they want to.

At least this one might be what the HD1 should have been. If they had h264 at 9mb/s for the HD2 it might be better, but seriously, 30/60fps at 18 Mb/s would be nice, and nobody has to use it unless they want to.

Agree 100%.

It will be interesting to see how the Ambarella-driven SAMSUNG camcorder -- to be announced in the summer -- will perform in this regard.

Link to Ambarella press release: http://tinyurl.com/377vww

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

Notice it is missing, this is sad, now there is no 60fps mode for action scenes.

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

Another warning, it looks like 720p will not divide evenly into the sensor resolution, I wonder if this may produce some interpolation problems as things move in front of the camera. Hmm, hold it, an bayer pattern has a diagonal stripe of green, and another of the red/blue stripe, this could produce and imbalance and stepping on diagonals in one direction if interpolation was not done sufficiently.

The good news, is that they have finally learned to put in a full width SD mode, 720*480 at 3.5mb/s.

They should have made an 720 60fps SD mode and retained the 60fps VGA mode at least. If they could have had 9mb/s version of all the SD modes, you could have such a rush on this camera by people for it's SD quality.

Notice it is missing, this is sad, now there is no 60fps mode for action scenes.

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

Another warning, it looks like 720p will not divide evenly into the sensor resolution, I wonder if this may produce some interpolation problems as things move in front of the camera. Hmm, hold it, an bayer pattern has a diagonal stripe of green, and another of the red/blue stripe, this could produce and imbalance and stepping on diagonals in one direction if interpolation was not done sufficiently.

The good news, is that they have finally learned to put in a full width SD mode, 720*480 at 3.5mb/s.

They should have made an 720 60fps SD mode and retained the 60fps VGA mode at least. If they could have had 9mb/s version of all the SD modes, you could have such a rush on this camera by people for it's SD quality.

Good points.

Thanks for pointing that out about the 720 x 480 for SD; at first, I didn't notice that change.

Jerry Jones
http://www.jonesgroup.net

They should have made an 720 60fps SD mode and retained the 60fps VGA mode at least. If they could have had 9mb/s version of all the SD modes, you could have such a rush on this camera by people for it's SD quality.

Completely agree + HD/SD 25fps. I can´t understand the lack of a 25p mode for European models. This would have some advantages, like bitrate efficiency, higher exposition time ( better light capture ), near 24fps cinelook,..., and a lot of market in Pal countries.
Please, Mr Sanyo... 25fps... ;-)

Who is the first one to find an MP4 file on the
net one can download to check its quality ?

Does anybody know, where we can download such a
demo movie, which was shot with the HD2 ?

Many thanks in advance.

Regards, Stefan.

I DON't think a sample has aired yet on the net...

i would say we won't find any before end of february...

Hmm,
why did nobody record a sample movie atthe CES show ?

Was it under glas case only ,sonobody had access to it ?

If anybody sees a sample somewhere, please post the URLfor it.

Many thanks.

Regards, Stefan.

I am glad to hear that the 75% increase in low light performance, to 6 and 12 lux. Maybe this is an indication they have increased signal to noise ratio, and got rid of that fine noise during the day, along with less noise in low light. If this is true we may have much better compression performance. n 6 lux is close to the maximum 5 lux I would like. But with an low bit rate codec I would prefer 3 lux or less, and at least 48db S/N (preferably higher, enough to give you 100% noise free at 5 lux).

Sanyo put the HD2 in the japanese website:
http://www.sanyo-dsc.com/products/lineup/dmx_hd2/index.html

Also they have a comparision shot between HD1 an d HD2 in low light conditions:
http://www.sanyo-dsc.com/products/lineup/dmx_hd2/movie.html
looks good.

Maybe someone that speaks Japanese can help us find more info....I tried to find some demo clips like they had with the HD1A but couldn't.

Ah, yeah, *cough* I'd say something like this *looks for japanese dictionary*:

"It evolved the high-speed image processing LSI of hi-vision correspondence to a greater extent “platinum engine II” new development. With the improvement of noise reduction technology, at the time and the like of the evening it reached the point where it can photograph cleanly even with the scene which cannot guarantee the sufficient light intensity. Furthermore if “the High Sensitivity” button is pushed, brightness of the former ratio largest approximately 2 time *2, actualizing lowest subject luminous intensity 7 lux. Furthermore it became strong in dark place photographing.

*1 At the time of High Sensitivity mode.
*2 DMX-HD1A: Comparison with the lamp mode."


--> Courtesy of Google Translation ;)

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sanyo-dsc.com%2Fproducts%2Flineup%2Fdmx_hd2%2Fmovie.html&langpair=ja%7Cen&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools

*1 At the time of High Sensitivity mode.
*2 DMX-HD1A: Comparison with the lamp mode."



Should I understand that they are comparing the High Sensitivity mode of the HD2 with the HD1 with Flash??

Some youtube Sanyo HD2 footage, and commercial mentioned here:

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

I originally thought that Canon HV20 would be the contender to HD2, but the real punch seems to be coming from the other side of Canon.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0702/07022203canontx1.asp

Canon powershot TX1. 7.1MP still, 720p 30fps video in 'Motion JPEG avi'!!! (Downside is that 4GB card holds only 13min video)
10x zoom with optical stabilization, plus many more Powershot features like face detection. And most importantly, $500 price tag.

I'd love to see the first hand review of this camera and the actual AVI sample, but with $500, which is about the cheapest HD1a price, this boy can steal the crown of 720p palmcorder from Xacti HDs.

Competition is good for consumers, in most cases ;)

There is an news thread on it:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=87215

We should not expect such great picture quality out of it, unless there is a lot of change in the scene, or noise.


Well, haven't heard a response back from Jonathon, so looks like we might bet out of luck.

Excuse, not me, somebody else, can explain please this, translation bad:

http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20070305/sanyo.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dwatch%2Bimpress%2Bavwatch%26num%3D50%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26safe%3Doff%26rls%3DGGGL,GGGL:2 006-17,GGGL:en

It is smomething about the HD2, called "Xacti 2.0".

I have been keeping an eye out on the sample video pages over at Sanyo, but nothing has come in advance of the camera, and am getting bored of it. If anybody else wants to look here they are:
http://www.sanyo-dsc.com/english/products/vpc_hd1/image_sample/index.html

Select HD2 and samples when available.

The reviews pages:
http://www.sanyodigital.com/video_cameras/HD2/reviews.html

Electric Zooma, that tends to get first reviews:
http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?&u=http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/backno/zooma.htm

And this mob promises to list reviews (but only has 6 specs sheets from letsgodigital around the world):
http://alatest.com/Digital+Compact+Cameras/Sanyo+Xacti+VPC-HD2/pro-reviews/?gclid=CLL0w5O54YoCFTQkGAodCTzN3g

http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=ja_en&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.digiblo.jp%2Fdb04%2Farchives%2F2007%2F02%2F20070207_1330.html

Yes, Yes, Yes, now let's see if I can read it.

The section of Sanyo that posts samples, finally has HD2 listed, but no Samples yet. I am just going to comment on the recently posted SD sample, over on the HD footage thread. I see improvement, but still need for higher bitrate.

The latest reviews and footages are over at the HD2 footage thread. I've already picked through them with some comments, an improvement yes, a bit:

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

It also has an link to the news thread on the New h264 Sanyo SD camera.

Sorry I haven't read through all the previous posts. Is there a PAL version available? Some sites list it as NTSC/PAL. B&H lists it as NTSC. It's sold in the UK though through Amazon and Bizrate. Can anyone set me straight?

thanks

Just so you all know, the Sanyo HD2 doesn't hold up well to explosions and/or giant fireballs.

Sorry nobody got back to you last time. No PAL, of course, and did you actually get so fed up with it that you tried to blow it up ;).

We have somebody on the Aiptek HD news thread that bought one of those that tried to use it at an Rock concert, but now wants to try the HD2, and will probably find it not too much better. Even HDV had an problem with camera flashes. That is another reason to advocate 18mb/s, it simply will be more robust in an consumer environment (like an rock concert) for professional I 36mb/s.

New Sanyo HD1000:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?p=736807#post736807

Has most of what we asked for.