Sanyo Xacti VPC-HD2 Camcorder Reviewby John NeelyPublished on May 10, 2007 12:00 PM
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Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control (3.0)
Auto mode can be engaged under Admin Menu page 1 in the Scene Select submenu, third from the top. Even when the camcorder is set to auto, you’ll retain control over a large number of settings such as focus and metering methods. In that sense, Auto mode is more like AE modes found on many camcorders because it is less restrictive. That means the VPC-HD2 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $585.36) lacks a truly “easy” recording mode – though when you select the Reset option, the camcorder returns to automatic settings that closely approximate a conventional “easy” or auto mode. In other words, you can place the VPC-HD2 in what amounts to easy mode – but it’s not exactly easy to do in the way that most consumer camcorders are, with their Easy buttons or clearly-marked Auto modes.
In full auto mode, the camcorder’s adjustments are a bit less subtle than on most competitors in that there is a notable lag in response time, followed by an abrupt shift as the camcorder adjusts its automatic settings. The abruptness of the shift is not necessarily a bad thing, but the delay in response is. The delay is especially notable when moving between bright and dark spaces, or high and low contrast situations, and can be visually jarring.
Response time aside, the VPC-HD2’s automatic controls work adequately, and the ability to tweak a large number of settings based on your preferences offers an unusual level of versatility to auto mode. In addition to exposure compensation, you can select 9-point or spot focus, three metering options, ISO (gain), white balance, and more. In other words, “auto” mode on the VPC-HD2 offers more manual adjustability options than most camcorders do in their manual mode setting! Again, this is not great for true novices looking for an approachable, simple point-and-shoot device, but it does highlight the robust range of features offered by this camcorder.
Overall Manual Control (3.5)
Given that this camcorder doesn’t really have an auto mode in the way that most consumer camcorders do, it’s worth your while to plunge into the extensive and somewhat confusing array of manual features. The menu is divided into three submenus or pages: Settings 1 (labeled “1”), Settings 2 (labeled “2”), and Options. The Menu button located on the back of the body to the left of the joystick brings up the menu display – and returns to the last option you accessed.
The manual image controls available include independent shutter and aperture adjustment, focus, ISO (gain), and white balance. In addition to these manual settings, the Sanyo VPC-HD2 offers an extensive array of automatic tweaks, including AE modes (Sports, Portrait, etc.), shutter and aperture priority modes, filters (Cosmetic, Monochrome, and Sepia), Wind Noise Reduction, image Noise Reduction, Flicker Reduction, Digital Zoom, External Microphone Volume, and more…
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This close-up tells the whole story of manual controls: joystick, zoom, record start/stop, photo shutter, and more. Too much in too litte real estate. |
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Zoom (2.5)
Our discussion of the VPC-HD2’s manual controls is necessarily couched in the hyper-miniaturization of every aspect of this camcorder. No control is as easy to operate as a larger control on a bigger pal-sized camcorder – but this Sanyo is uniquely petite. The zoom control is a slider – our least favorite among common zoom designs because they tend to be less subtle and precise in their response to pressure than either rockers or rings. They also entail a less-natural type of movement than either rings or rockers. The slider on the VPC-HD2 is further impacted by the fact that it’s a thumb-operated control, and that its movement range is small. What this means is that applying just a little too much pressure will throttle your zoom speed from very slow to very fast. On the plus side, the camcorder features a numerical indication of where you are in the 1 to 10x optical zoom range to one decimal point. The scale expands to 100x when the digital zoom is enabled. For making precision moves, i.e. from 5.5x to 9.2x, this indicator is a terrific inclusion – but it doesn’t compensate for the zoom slider’s inherent problems.
Zoom Power Ratio (10.0)
The VPC-HD2 sports a modest 10x optical zoom and a digital zoom that ranges up to 100x when enabled in the Options submenu. While the 10x optical zoom power is nothing to write home about, and common on camcorders with relatively large imagers (1/2.5” in the case of this Sanyo) this camcorder does include a quality-control feature we appreciate. When the digital zoom is enabled, there is a forced pause at the optical-digital boundary. To cross the boundary, and move beyond 10x, the zoom slider must be briefly released and then pressed again to continue the zoom.
We like to see “speed bumps” of this kind because image quality drops precipitously in digital zoom territory. Rather than magnifying the image, digital zooms create the illusion of greater magnification by enlarging the pixels available at the maximum optical zoom. That means at this camcorder’s digital zoom maximum of 100x, you are actually seeing a 10x enlargement of the 10x optical image. That equates to a corresponding 10x drop in the resolution of recorded video. In a word, that ain’t a pretty picture. Another plus on this camcorder is a numerical indication of your place in the zoom range, and a horizontal scale divided into white (optical territory) and yellow (digital territory).
Focus (7.0)
The joystick is the primary controller for making manual adjustments on the VPC-HD2, placing it in good company with many other consumer camcorders including the entire Panasonic line. What makes this camcorder uniquely difficult to focus manually is the small size of the LCD display which measures a scant 2.2”. Manual focus is highly accessible, and engaged by pressing down on the joystick, and then left or right to move through the focal range. A horizontal display appears onscreen with a flower at left (indicating near focus) and a mountain at right (indicating a distant focal plane). A numerical display accompanies the horizontal bar, ranging from 1 cm to 40m-infinity, serving as a helpful assist for making precision rack moves.
Focus Options in the menu
There are a number of auto focus options in the menu. You can choose to limit the auto focus range (“Standard” setting) for 80cm to infinity focusing or put allow it to extend into the Macro range (“Total Range”) for 10cm to infinity or set it to Super Macro for 1cm to 1m only. The auto focus method can be set to either 9-point or spot focus (center of the frame only).
Exposure & Aperture (8.56)
The extent of the VPC-HD2’s is evident in M mode, which allows full independent control over both aperture and shutter speed. While the camcorder does not include a conventional gain setting, it can be set to a fixed “ISO” as well. In addition to M mode, the camcorder includes an aperture priority (A) mode that also permits you to make aperture-only adjustments, with settings that include f/3.6, f/4.1, f/4.8, f/5.7, and f/6.9. This amounts to a limited set of f-stop options relative to Panasonics which feature upwards of 20 discrete aperture settings.
When the VPC-HD2 is operated in an y mode that does not allow independent aperture adjustment, you are still able to use the Exposure Correction adjustment to change exposure. This option is engaged by pressing down on the joystick multiple times (focus is also engaged by pressing down) and then tapping left or right. Exposure Compensation allows you to make incremental adjustments between -1.8 to +1.8.
Shutter Speed (6.85)
Shutter speed can be adjusted in either M mode, as with aperture, or in shutter priority (S) mode. Using this control is similar in terms of interface to making exposure adjustments: Pressing down on the joystick in either M or S modes highlights the shutter speed option at the base of the LCD screen, and pressing left or right lowers or raises the shutter speed respectively. The Sanyo VPC-HD2 includes a respectable set of options ranging from 1/30th to 1/10,000 in video mode, and 1/2 to 1/2000 in still mode. When the video lamp is being used in low light situations, the shutter speed lengthens to as much as 4 seconds for still image capture.
Unfortunately, because of the confusing hybrid nature of this camcorder, some of the still features appear to be available to video when they actually are not. In this case, the onscreen display indicates that you can lower the shutter speed down below 1/30 – way below – all the way down to 4 full seconds. Of course, any experienced videographer would know that this is impossible. But you might think that 1/15th or 1/4 was available, because before you hit the record button, it appears that you can make this selection. Hit that button, though, and you’ll see that your lowest shutter speed is 1/30th.
White Balance (6.25)
Among the many quirks of this camcorder is the fact that white balance is represented in the menu by an eyedropper. If you are well-acquainted with graphics programs, the eyedropper is an icon that makes intuitive sense – but you’ll do a double-take (as we did) if you go looking for a conventional white balance icon or a simple WB label. After selecting the eyedropper option from the submenu, a number of presets appear including manual (this time the familiar icon is present), sun, overcast, fluorescent, and incandescent lighting. Upon selecting the manual white balance icon, the camcorder quickly locks in its color setting and you’re good to go.
Gain (4.0)
The most unusual manual setting of all is gain, referred to by Sanyo as “sensitivity.” Instead of using dB levels to represent the camcorder’s gain setting, Sanyo offers up a wider range of ISO ratings including 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600. As with conventional gain numbers, higher ISO ratings digitally boost the video signal more, and result in a corresponding increase in noise. Using ISO numbers makes sound intuitive sense because in the analog film world, higher speed film equates to greater light sensitivity – as well as more graininess in the picture. It is yet another departure from camcorder norms, however, that adds to the opaqueness of the interface.
The VPC-HD2 includes a High Sensitivity option that seems to have an effect similar to the “hypergain” options found on some camcorders. This option can be engaged at the touch of a button found in the LCD cavity. While operating the camcorder in High Sensitivity mode adds a notable boost to sensitivity, and can be used in conjunction with ISO settings, it adds another layer of grain to the image.
Other Manual Controls (4.0)
Flicker Reduction - Flicker Reduction is located in the Option submenu, and reduces the flicker of fluorescent lighting by fixing the shutter speed to 1/50. Manual exposure cannot be adjusted when Flicker Reduction is enabled, and the user’s guide warns against using the option in bright sunlight.
Tele Macro - We like controls to be easily accessed in order to facilitate efficient adjustments, but Tele Macro on the VPC-HD2 is too accessible. In any recording mode, pressing down on the joystick once brings up the manual focus interface. Tapping it one more time engages the Tele Macro function, automatically moving the zoom to telephoto mode in order to throw the background of nearby objects out of focus. It is very easy to engage Tele Macro accidentally, forcing you to reframe a shot, and eating up valuable time. We fell into the trap again and again.
ND Filter - The VPC-HD2 has a built-in ND filter option that can be engaged in shutter priority (S), aperture priority (A), and manual (M) modes. The ND filter can be set to on or off by pressing up on the joystick in the above modes.
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