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| Brand: Sanyo
Category: Photography
List Price: $499.99
Buy New: $237.43
You Save: $262.56 (53%)
New (11) from $230.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  69 reviews
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Monitor Size: 250
Optical Zoom: 5
Digital Zoom: 12
Display Size: 2.5
Maximum Focal Length: 31.7
Minimum Focal Length: 6.3
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 2.8 x 1.6 x 4.8
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: VPC-CG65Silver
Model: VPC-CG65
UPC: 086483067549
EAN: 0086483067549
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Decent Video - Horrific Images August 24, 2007
30 out of 44 found this review helpful
I knew I should not have brought this out without more testing.
As a video camera, it pretty decent. I wanted somethig to record to SD cards.
I have been trying to find a hybrid camera/video device for years and this one had me excited. I figured even if the 6MP was as good as a 3MP regular camera, I'd be happy.
Well I took it to my daughters play. I usually bring video and a regular still. This camera can shoot stills while you shoot video (I thought that was amazing).
Too bad the stills are awful. Unless you are outdoors on a sunny day, this camera is pathetic. I took some pictures inside near a bright window and they looked like you took them on a circa 1990 Apple quicktake.
Saying this camera does not work that well indoors is an understatement. It's more like, this camera does not work indoors.
It's a shame because it's a cool package. However, I'd rather have great pix and ok video that I have been taking from my handheld PS camera.
When I want quality, I bring my Canon DV and my Digital Rebel. I was hoping this would be a compromise. If I got one decent shot, it would be a compromise but every picture I shot was blurry.
The autofocus on this camera is bad and I think it's cumbersome to take a photo.
If you need a waterproof camera that records to SD, this is ok. If you really think you are getting a 6MP digital camera (or even a reasonable ok digital camera, look elsewhere).
Back to Amazon goes the Xacti.
 Very pleased August 14, 2007
20 out of 20 found this review helpful
I purchased the camera right before leaving on a family cruise. It was used for taking stills as well as video. There was plenty of water activity such as snorkling and swimming with dolphins and the waterproof camera came along for all the activities. The underwater video came out great..although it was challenging to see the view screen under water. I also liked the feature of not having to switch modes, being able to take a still while continuing to video.
 You almost had me, Sanyo, but beware Mac users! August 18, 2007
18 out of 30 found this review helpful
After watching a video review of the Sanyo Xacti E1 camcorder, I was sold on it before I could get rid of my current camcorder. I ran to the nearest store to buy one and took it straight to the beach. The video quality was amazing. As a current widescreen camcorder and widescreen TV owner, I missed 16:9 over the 4:3-only video recording (even though it surprising shot 16:9 digital stills!). The flash was strong, and underwater recording was even better than expected. The battery life is estimated at about 80 minutes, but it's so easy to find spare batteries (as low as $20 for 5 on eBay!)
Of course, even though it was waterproof, it certainly isn't pebble-proof. Sitting at the beach and having the waves rush into me and the camera was fun, but not when I couldn't flip or close the screen, as pebbles got caught in and around the hinge. Needless to say, it got pretty scratched up on its first day trying to get the flip-out screen to close and open properly.
As a new Apple user, owning a MacBook, iPhone, and Apple TV, what sold me was the blatant mention of H.264 and AppleTV, right on the box. I wasn't expecting a grand suite of Mac applications, but it was easy enough to just drag into iTunes to sync up. This is where the fun ended on the Mac side. The H.264-friendly iPhone rejected every video created with the E1, and the AppleTV played back every video with such artifact corruption that I was so embarrassed when performing a live demonstration of the ease of use of both the E1 and the Apple TV to family and friends.
Sure, I could drag all the H.264 movie files into iMovie and re-render them, but then what makes this camcorder different or better than others that I would have to re-encode anyway? Sanyo should really reconsider the mention or detail the specifics of Apple compatibility if they want to gain the trust of Apple users in the future.
Ultimately, the camera went back to the store, and my quest continues for a decent-price, widescreen-capable, high compression, flash storage-based, Apple-friendly ultraportable camcorder. They might be able to fix these problems with a firmware update, but I doubt it. Perhaps I'll revisit Sanyo again when the Xacti E2 or VPC-HD3 (speculative names) come out.
Video quality reminiscent of 1980s VHS October 21, 2007
18 out of 21 found this review helpful
Build quality is crisp and precise and the unit is attractive. Screen picture quality is average. Controls are surprisingly limited. But the biggest problem is the video quality. Connected to a TV, I was surprised to see that for shots taken both indoors and outdoors on a sunny day, greens looked oversaturated, outlines were blurry, and very noticeable digital artifacting occurred in images of a running child. Overall I was reminded of my first VHS camera circa 1983.
For shooting underwater it's affordable and brilliantly small. Unfortunately I won't get that far as I'm returning it for picture quality reasons.
VPC-E1 review September 15, 2007
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
I purchase this camera a couple couple months ago (July 07) and all in all it's worked out well. I've spent a lot of time with it under water and I've been pleased with it's performance.
Pros:
1)Pretty good video resolution, even on my 32 inch TV.
2)It's passed several underwater video tests without any problems. The seal has held and the images were surprisingly clear.
3)Very portable, fits easily in my front trouser pocket.
4)Battery holds a decent charge, though a back up battery is probably a good idea.
5) The menu is easy to navigate.
6) Seems to be fairly durable.
Cons:
1) The buttons are awkward to use. I attribute this to the "pistol grip" nature of the design which requires you to use your thumb to press the buttons while trying to hold the camera in some fashion with your fingers. Difficult to master.
2) As another reviewer mentioned, the fact that the lens is not perpendicular to the grip takes a little getting used to. You find that you have a tendency to aim too high.
3) Audio is only mediocre. Though I've never owned a video camera that had what I would regard as good audio so it wasn't a surprise.
4) The 6 mp sill images are OK but not great. I think my old 3.2 mp Canon Elf takes better looking pictures. Proof that good images aren't just about how many mega pixels you have.
Bottom Line:
None of the cons were problematic enough for me to regret buying this camera. I was looking for small, weather proof video camera that took at least decent stills and the E1 has, thus far, satisfied or exceeded those requirements.
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