It hasn't been around for all that long, but the concept of tapeless camcorders finally seems to be gaining some traction - for which I'm happy, since I've long since lost interest in any media that requires clumsy conversion to get onto my hard drive, be it magnetical or optical. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why Sanyo's new Xacti VPC-C5 has earned itself a special little place in my heart (granted, along with a few hundred other products).
Essentially an upgraded version of the DMX-C4, also known as the VPC-C4 in the U.S., this petite little palm-sized unit shoots both 5 Megapixel still pictures and records video at 640 x 480 pixels and 30 FPS in MPEG4 format. Light weight and excellent ergonomics make use a pleasant affair, and thanks to good optical image stabilization, a few quick snippets of video recorded at the CeBIT showfloor turned out impressively calm despite heavy use of the 5x optical zoom.
The viewfinder, which rotates 293 degrees, is touted by Sanyo as one of the highlights of the camera thanks to a special reflective coating, but I'm forced to admit I didn't find it to any more than expertly adequate. At 2 inches, it's also comfortably large, and provides a legible interface for features such as the five-point auto focus or fifteen-step manual focus.
With a start-up time of 1.7 seconds, the Xacti VPC-C5 isn't the fastest in its class, but such nitpicking serves no purpose as it's more than adequately fast. There are a couple of things that make the VPC-X5 stand out, however, such as its ability to double as a webcam over USB, as well as being able to shoot still pictures whilst recording video; very handy.
Other highlights include a cradle with S-Video connectivity to allow for direct playback of both stills and video to a TV, as well as a macro mode, built-in flash, support for PictBridge and a tripod socket. According to Sanyo, the VPC-C5 should be able to record video continuously for up to one hour on a full charge of its Lithium Ion battery, which sadly is not exchangeable.
Relying on SD Cards for storage, the VPC-X5 should be available throughout Europe by the end of this month, and has a suggested retail price of €669 EUR, or $900 USD. Unfortunately, there's no word on U.S. availability as of yet.
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