Review of Sanyo 720p30 $800 camcorder at DVinfo.net

Steve Mullen · February 16th, 2006, 12:47 AM

Not my review! But DAVID POGUE reviews the tiny Sanyo in the New York Times.

Hopefully you can see the images even w/o signing-up.

http://nytimes.com/circuits/

Jef Bryant · February 16th, 2006, 12:16 PM

from the review:

"What the world really wants to know is, how does the high-definition video look?

As a Sanyo rep puts it, 'Amazing quality can be seen from the HD1, especially in controlled lighting and when the camera is stabilized.'

He should have said 'only,' not 'especially.'"

Seems to me this is the key passage of the review...

Kurth Bousman · February 26th, 2006, 06:20 PM

checkout the review at stevedigicams. It's a bit better. Kurth

Steven-Marc Couchouron · March 3rd, 2006, 05:26 AM

I have also posted a review on my website for those interested. The review is in french but you can check out some sample footage at the bottom of this page:
http://www.dvforever.com/article.php...124&artsuite=2

My findings are consistent with what has already been mentionned. This is not the kind of camera you would want to use for any kind of serious work, but having also tested the previous models, I wasn't expecting it to be. It's really just a point & shoot cam with a bit more resolution and which, paradoixcally, performs better in controlled situations than in point & shoot conditions !

I have been able to edit the footage without any problems in Vegas 5 (yes, 5) and have also made a fairly good looking standard resolution widescreen DVD from the HD footage. The only problem is that it requires quite a bit of computing to downconvert (and in my case, go from 30ips to 25ips).

Marc Louis · March 3rd, 2006, 08:20 AM

thank you steven marc for this review and the many clips u posted , i will look on them when i get bak from work tonight

is there a loss of quality due to the conversion from .mp4 to .mov ?

Edit:actually there don't seems to get much loss of quality

your video of the periphérique is great :) :)

the idea of shooting many moving scenes with different quality is very good !

now i'm concerned about the size of my final video projects if they are all shot in HD-SHQ, especialy if i compared that size with the size of my actual movies shots with my regular Standard Definition sony M1 camera

does it mean that my final HD1 edited-movies will be 3 times the size they are in SD (in the case i dont downgrade the quality) ?

that's an interesting point before buying it...

Steven-Marc Couchouron · March 3rd, 2006, 10:24 AM

These clips are actually straight from the camera, I just changed the extension so my CMS would recognize them as video files.

One thing to add is that the smear on this camea is just dreadful. I also filmed a birthday and each candle on the cake generated a very ugly looking smear !

Yes, the bitrate in HD-SHQ is 9 Mpbs, three times as much as in SD-SHQ.

Serge Victorovich · March 9th, 2006, 03:28 AM

I hope Sanyo's CMOS sensor able to capture 4:2:2 720p60 through component.
A 720p30 4:2:0 is a limitation only mpeg4 encoder. Same situation as with
JVC HD100: 18Mbps mpeg2 4:2:0 720p30 for tape, but 720p60 4:2:2 component
output in same time for ingest to HD capture card.
And do you know these facts about Sony's CMOS sensor used in HC-1:
"...can shoot 1080p at 60 frames/s, converting the imagery into 1080i at 60 fields/s." http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/neasia/001840

Thank you!

February 16th, 2006, 12:47 AM	#1
Steve Mullen HDV Cinema Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 4,007	Review of Sanyo 720p30 $800 camcorder Not my review! But DAVID POGUE reviews the tiny Sanyo in the New York Times. Hopefully you can see the images even w/o signing-up. http://nytimes.com/circuits/ __________________ Switcher's Quick Guide to the Avid Media Composer >>> http://home.mindspring.com/~d-v-c

March 3rd, 2006, 05:26 AM	#4
Steven-Marc Couchouron Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Paris, France Posts: 110 Images: 5	I have also posted a review on my website for those interested. The review is in french but you can check out some sample footage at the bottom of this page: http://www.dvforever.com/article.php...124&artsuite=2 My findings are consistent with what has already been mentionned. This is not the kind of camera you would want to use for any kind of serious work, but having also tested the previous models, I wasn't expecting it to be. It's really just a point & shoot cam with a bit more resolution and which, paradoixcally, performs better in controlled situations than in point & shoot conditions ! I have been able to edit the footage without any problems in Vegas 5 (yes, 5) and have also made a fairly good looking standard resolution widescreen DVD from the HD footage. The only problem is that it requires quite a bit of computing to downconvert (and in my case, go from 30ips to 25ips). __________________ SMCproductions.com

March 3rd, 2006, 08:20 AM	#5
Marc Louis Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: san francisco, ca Posts: 68	thank you steven marc for this review and the many clips u posted , i will look on them when i get bak from work tonight is there a loss of quality due to the conversion from .mp4 to .mov ? Edit:actually there don't seems to get much loss of quality your video of the periphérique is great :) :) the idea of shooting many moving scenes with different quality is very good ! now i'm concerned about the size of my final video projects if they are all shot in HD-SHQ, especialy if i compared that size with the size of my actual movies shots with my regular Standard Definition sony M1 camera does it mean that my final HD1 edited-movies will be 3 times the size they are in SD (in the case i dont downgrade the quality) ? that's an interesting point before buying it... Last edited by Marc Louis; March 3rd, 2006 at 08:54 AM.

March 3rd, 2006, 10:24 AM	#6
Steven-Marc Couchouron Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Paris, France Posts: 110 Images: 5	These clips are actually straight from the camera, I just changed the extension so my CMS would recognize them as video files. One thing to add is that the smear on this camea is just dreadful. I also filmed a birthday and each candle on the cake generated a very ugly looking smear ! Yes, the bitrate in HD-SHQ is 9 Mpbs, three times as much as in SD-SHQ. __________________ SMCproductions.com

March 9th, 2006, 03:28 AM	#7
Serge Victorovich Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 376	Question to Steve Mullen about component output I hope Sanyo's CMOS sensor able to capture 4:2:2 720p60 through component. A 720p30 4:2:0 is a limitation only mpeg4 encoder. Same situation as with JVC HD100: 18Mbps mpeg2 4:2:0 720p30 for tape, but 720p60 4:2:2 component output in same time for ingest to HD capture card. And do you know these facts about Sony's CMOS sensor used in HC-1: "...can shoot 1080p at 60 frames/s, converting the imagery into 1080i at 60 fields/s." http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/neasia/001840 Thank you!

February 16th, 2006, 12:16 PM	#2
Jef Bryant Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 31	from the review: "What the world really wants to know is, how does the high-definition video look? As a Sanyo rep puts it, 'Amazing quality can be seen from the HD1, especially in controlled lighting and when the camera is stabilized.' He should have said 'only,' not 'especially.'" Seems to me this is the key passage of the review...

February 26th, 2006, 06:20 PM	#3
Kurth Bousman Major Player Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: san miguel allende , gto , mexico Posts: 644	checkout the review at stevedigicams. It's a bit better. Kurth