Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD1010 Camcorder Reviewby Jeremy StamasPublished on Nov 5, 2008 5:45 PM
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Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control (5.00)
Even though the Sanyo VPC-HD1010 is packed to the brim with manual controls, it's really the automatic features you'll probably end up using most of the time. In "simple menu" mode, the camcorder functions in a mostly automatic setting—only allowing control over zoom, movie/picture size, focus method (telephoto or standard range), and flash control. Most beginners will likely stay in this realm until they're comfortable with exploring more options. "Normal menu" mode provides automatic controls as well, but the design and layout of the menu is definitely geared towards users who want to make manual adjustments.
Shooting indoors, we noticed the camcorder dropping to visibly slow shutter speeds whenever areas of low light were filmed. Sanyo set the minimum shutter speed at 1/30 of a second on the VPC-HD1010, while most standard camcorders won't drop below 1/60 of a second unless a special night mode is engaged. This slower speed definitely boosts image quality when there isn't much light, but any objects in motion will appear with a significant blur and slow motion (as will any movement the camcorder makes). The problem with this slow shutter is there is no way to turn it off unless you go into the camcorder's manual exposure controls. Also, it's not that the shutter drops to 1/30 only when you shoot a pitch black room—it drops all the time. Filming in any moderately lit indoor area and you'll see the shutter speed go down immediately. People who dislike the look of a slow shutter will have a difficult time getting accustomed to the auto controls of the HD1010.
Besides the slow shutter, the auto exposure also doesn't provide the smoothest transitions between dark and light. It works quickly, usually exposing the frame in under a second, but gradual transitions looked uneven and choppy. Panning the camera from the sky down to the horizon line didn't have the smooth exposure shifts we saw with the Sony HDR-TG1. There are three different exposure measuring settings on the VPC-HD1010: multi, center, and spot. Multi-section light measuring adjusts exposure by sampling numerous areas of the entire frame and center-weighted light measuring sets the exposure after sampling the levels at the center of the image. Spot light measuring isn't really any different than center, except a little box appears in the middle of the frame, showing you what area of the image the camcorder is grabbing exposure information. For the most part, automatic users should probably stick to the multi-section, as it is the easiest to use and generally provides the best results.
The VPC-HD1010 is an underachiever when it comes to auto white balance performance. Outdoors, colors appeared dark and over saturated (often with a cool tone), and indoors white images had an orange-yellow tint under incandescent light. To compensate for this, Sanyo does offer a good range of white balance presets, as well as a simple manual setting in the Recording Menu.
There are a bunch of autofocus options on the VPC-HD1010 and it's difficult to choose which ones actually work the best and are the simplest to use. Sanyo even offers three different autofocus ranges (total range, standard, and super macro) and two autofocus modes (9-pt auto and spot focus), with both being adjustable in the Recording Menu. Total range offers a wide end of focus from 10cm (3.94 in.) to infinity and a tele end of 1m (3.28 ft.) to infinity. Standard can focus from 80cm (31.50 in.) to infinity, and super macro goes from 1cm (0.39 in.) to 1m (3.28 ft.). Spot focus works much like the spot light measuring exposure setting—a little cross hair appears in the center of the screen and whatever it points to in the frame will pop into focus. 9-pt autofocus is much like the multi-section light measuring setting, as it determines focus by analyzing nine different spots in the frame.
We generally found 9-pt autofocus to work quickly in both standard, total range and super macro mode. The spot focus mode wasn't as useful as the feature with the same name on the Sony HDR-TG1 (which allows you to actually touch the part of the screen you want focused, rather than simply focus at the center of the frame like the HD1010).
The VPC-HD1010 produced a strange, crackling noise when any of the autofocus features were engaged. It wasn't always audible (unless you held the camcorder up to your ear), but occasionally the noise was loud enough to get picked up by Sanyo's internal microphone. While the noise was generally faint, it was a disconcerting sound, and it often appeared louder in low light situations (or when the aperture was closed manually). The noise is not present when using manual focus.
The scene selection menu
Sanyo has eight automatic scene selection options—full auto, sports, portrait, landscape, night portrait, snow & beach, fireworks, and lamp (which drops the shutter to 1/15 of a second). This is comparable to the eleven settings on the Sony HDR-TG1.
Overall Manual Control (7.50)
Sanyo squeezed a ton of manual controls onto the VPC-HD1010, but there were clearly many consequences—nothing is easy to control or manipulate. Some features are so darn difficult to adjust that it almost makes them not worth having. We truly wonder what the world would be like if only Sanyo would manufacture a camcorder with a lens ring or adjustment dial—or at least a better joystick!
It's almost as if Sanyo tried hard to leave nothing out of the VPC-HD1010—it has nearly every manual control you could ask for. Independent shutter speed and aperture adjustment, ISO control (gain), exposure compensation, manual white balance, 9 photo quality settings, 8 video qualities, high sensitivity options, noise reduction, external microphone volume control, flicker reduction, menu shortcuts, image settings, and filters. This is more options than we normally see in the traditional, larger HD camcorders and it comes close to matching some prosumer models or SLR cameras. The big problem with the Sanyo HD1010 is how these controls are implemented and organized—poorly.
For starters, nothing can be adjusted while recording is taking place—not even manual focus! This means all your adjustments must be made prior to pressing the record button. Also, when controls are being changed, everything is manipulated using the terrible joystick on the back of the camcorder (settings can be adjusted with the provided remote control, but it's inconvenient unless the camcorder is on a tripod). If Sanyo had implemented a better, smoother system for making manual adjustments, the VPC-HD1010 would be the heart's desire of a many manual control aficionado.
Those familiar with using SLR cameras will notice the manual controls on the Sanyo VPC-HD1010 are organized in a similar fashion. There are four exposure settings in the Recording Menu: program, shutter, aperture, and manual. Program, represented by a capital "P," is essentially an automatic mode, but the aperture and shutter speed that the camcorder chooses are displayed in the lower left corner of the LCD. A capitalized "S" is for shutter-priority mode, which allows you to choose the shutter speed and the camcorder will automatically assign a corresponding aperture setting. Aperture-priority (don't confuse its large "A" icon as an automatic mode) is just like shutter-priority, but allows you to manually select an aperture setting, with the camcorder automatically choosing a shutter speed. Manual mode (displayed with an "M") lets you choose both aperture and shutter independently from one another.
Zoom (6.50)
Zoom on the Sanyo VPC-HD1010 is adjusted by the zoom toggle at the back of the camcorder. While zooming, a display at the bottom of the LCD screen shows both a visual scroll bar and numbers telling you what level you have zoomed. The numbers give very detailed information as they have decimals displaying every tenth (0.1) of an increment of zoom. This makes it very easy to replicate shots with identical magnification.
The zoom display provides good details
Zoom Power Ratio (10.00)
The camcorder has a 10x optical zoom, which is identical to the Sony HDR-TG1. A 100x digital zoom can be turned on in the Recording Menu, but it strangely will not work in video mode unless the photo quality is set below 8M. We don't recommend using the digital zoom anyway, but it's still odd that the setting has this requirement.
Focus (7.00)
The Sanyo HD1010 has a manual focus that ranges from 1cm to infinity. It is easy to use, with the adjustments being made with the joystick, but it by no means offers the ability to finely tune the crispness of your image. A joystick will never be as accurate as a lens ring or dial, but it's a step above the touchscreen featured on the Sony HDR-TG1. Also, as with zoom, Sanyo puts a display at the bottom of the LCD showing a focus bar and giving focus distances in centimeters and meters.
 Focus range options |
 Autofocus modes |
Exposure & Aperture (8.60)
Exposure can be adjusted on the VPC-HD1010, but it is ridiculously hidden from the camcorder's menu. Sure, you can adjust aperture, shutter speed, and ISO in the Recording Menu, but simple exposure compensation is nowhere to be found. To adjust the setting you must first learn about the camcorder's "shortcuts" feature (found in the Option Menu). "Shortcuts" allows you to assign different functions to each direction the joystick can push (up, down, left, right), making for easy access to functions you like to use. The weird thing is, some of the functions you can assign as shortcuts aren't available anywhere else. Exposure compensation is one of these options (as are LCD Display on/off, Autofocus Lock, and Auto Exposure Lock). It's ridiculous that Sanyo would hide functions like this, especially since it effectively eliminates the usefulness of having a "shortcuts" feature—if you want access to these four options, then you must use up the four available shortcut spaces just to obtain them.
After selecting exposure compensation as a shortcut, you can then adjust it using the joystick. First you need to push the joystick in the shortcut direction you selected for exposure compensation, then you must nudge the joystick back and forth to manipulate exposure. This design is terrible, as it's easy to accidentally nudge the joystick in the wrong direction while you're trying to adjust exposure, which then sends the camcorder into another of your shortcuts. It can be an absolutely maddening ordeal. There are 13 exposure levels, and, as with everything other manual control on the camcorder, there is a bar display and number display at the bottom of the LCD. Using exposure compensation can also put shutter speeds to as low as 1/30 of a second, unless you first manually set the shutter speed to something higher.
Aperture is much easier to find, as it can be controlled in aperture-priority mode or manual mode (both located under the exposure tab in the Recording Menu). The VPC-HD1010 has 10 aperture settings: f/1.8, f/2, f/2.4, f/2.8, f/3.5, f/4, f/4.7, f/5.6, f/6.8, and f/8. All adjustments are made with the joystick.
In comparison, the Sony HDR-TG1 doesn't offer any control over aperture, but it does have 32 exposure increments. Neither of these controls, nor any of the manual features on the Sanyo HD1010, can be adjusted while video recording is taking place—something that alienated us about the Nikon D90's video mode.
Shutter Speed (7.05)
Shutter speed is can be adjusted in shutter-priority or manual mode and it is controlled with the joystick, just like aperture (the numbers appear in the lower left corner of the LCD). There are 14 shutter speed options on the VPC-HD1010: 4s, 2s, 1s, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/100, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000. However, even though you have the ability to set the shutter to all these speeds, only 1/30 – 1/1000 will actually function with video (the rest work with still photographs). Why does Sanyo allow you to choose these settings when they don't actually function? The display makes you think you've selected a certain shutter speed, when in reality the lowest available speed is 1/30 of a second (or 1/15 of a second if the "lamp" scene selection is engaged). Again, this is eerily reminiscent of the issues we had with the video functions on the Nikon D90, although that camera had the excuse of first generation syndrome.
The Sony HDR-TG1 doesn't have any manual shutter speed control, but it has two slow shutter options for recording in low light situations.
White Balance (6.00)
There are four white balance presets on the Sanyo HD1010: sunny, cloudy, fluorescent, and incandescent. This is slightly better than the two (outdoor and indoor) offered by Sony on the HDR-TG1, but it's significantly less than the seven presets Canon has on its camcorders.
Sanyo uses a one push manual white balance system, a feature that is identical to the one found on Sony camcorders (including the HDR-TG1). Simply point the camcorder at a black and white image, then press the one push button to perform a manual white balance. It's easy to do and the results are excellent (if you want accurate colors we recommend using manual white balance on the HD1010—its auto performance wasn't up to snuff).
Gain (4.00)
The VPC-HD1010 has gain control, but it's listed as ISO sensitivity instead (which is what gain is referred to in the still camera world). There are ISO settings of 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, and 3200. Even though 3200 can be selected, the ISO maxes out at 1600 for video. Sanyo is one of the few manufacturers to offer ISO/gain control—Panasonic also offers the feature.
ISO sensitivity options on the HD1010
Other Manual Controls (4.00)
High Sensitivity - High sensitivity drastically slows shutter speed and increases ISO to boost low light performance. It cannot be selected if any of the manual exposure modes are engaged. Any motion within the frame will appear blurred and choppy, just as it would if the shutter speed were lowered to 1/30 of a second manually.
Shortcuts - The "shortcuts" feature allows you to assign different functions to the joystick for easy access. Strangely, some functions are only available as shortcuts and can be found nowhere else in the camcorder's menu system (exposure compensation, AE Lock, AF Lock, and LCD display on/off). There's also a "recommend settings" button, which simply assigns AF Lock, focus, flash, and exposure compensation as the shortcuts. While having shortcuts is a good idea, using the joystick to do everything is a mess.
The poorly implemented "shortcuts" feature
AE Lock/AF Lock - Selecting auto exposure lock or autofocus lock will maintain the current exposure or focus even if lighting conditions change or objects move within the frame. The features effectively "lock" the camcorder to whatever exposure levels or focus lengths are set at when the buttons are pressed. These two features are also only available as shortcuts.
Noise Reduction - For some reason Sanyo bundles photo noise reduction with wind sound noise reduction. What makes this strange is both reduce two very different types of noise—photo noise reduction attempts to lower the amount of visual noise in still photographs, while the wind sound reduction feature is good for limiting audio noise caused by loud wind. Both are found under the noise reduction tab in the Option Menu.
Image Settings - Sanyo offers three different image settings for altering image quality—vivid, soft, and soft & vivid. Vivid boosts color saturation, soft lowers sharpness levels, and soft & vivid combines the two. It's not nearly as impressive as Canon's image effects, which offers customizable control, but it's still a useful feature to have.
Sanyo VPC-HD1010 3000 lux 60i normal mode
Sanyo VPC-HD1010 3000 lux 60i vivid
Sanyo VPC-HD1010 3000 lux 60i soft
Sanyo VPC-HD1010 3000 lux 60i soft & vivid
Flicker Reduct - Reduces pulsing from fluorescent lights or other lights that are interfering with camcorder's power supply. With this feature the shutter is automatically set to 1/100 of a second and exposure cannot be adjusted.
Filters - There are three filters on the Sanyo VPC-HD1010, but they do nothing more than change the color schemes of the image. Cosmetic enhances skin tones, monochrome is black & white, and sepia gives the image a sepia-tone.
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