Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1 6MP Waterproof MPEG4 Camcorder with 5x Optical Zoom (White)

I was looking for a waterproof camcorder and at Fry's this is the only Camcorder available. I just want a waterproof and doesn't expect a lot from this camera and since it was the cheapest so I have no other choice. I took my son to Laguna Beach and just by looking at the coral through the view, it was nice and we continued shooting. Going home, I put it through Adobe Premier and I was blown away by the quality of the picture. It can compare with other high end camcorders (I still have the expensive pro Panasonic). Certainly, the picture will not as sharp and detail, but compare with a $1000 or more, what can you ask for. My friend bought a HD Sony for almost 1000 and the picture when encode to WMV is no compare to Sanyo. I bought a $700 Panasonic about 2 years ago, and this one just blow that camera away. Trust me. I also bought a 3 years guarantee for $35.00 and 2 extra battery for around 10 bucks on Ebay. Now I got hook with this camera. You should try to look for a waterproof camcorder for yourself and see what you can find. I can shoot this under water, on land, mountain.... This is the best and the only in this much higher price range. Good luck to you with other camera.

Functionally the camera is a good product. It's easy to use and download content and also compact and comfortable. The bonus is being waterproof.

My first model for 4x the cost of the second died within a year, which is why I replaced it with this one, since I had already purchased the expensive memory cards and batteries. I still have 8 older video cameras and numberous digitial stills and all still work, so it is a disappointment this screen stopped working within a few months.

The main weakness is having only a screen and not through the lens viewfinder. In bright light you really cannot see what you are filming.

I bought and returned two of these camcorders, viedo wasn't that good. Bought a Different Sony

My son is writing the review for this.

Hi, I think this little camcorder is the best you'll probably find. This camera features wonderful quality, you can film high-action, 8 GB gets you FIVE hours of recording space, and the moment you open the screen, the xacti is ready to film. It's easy to carry around, and less bulky, making it ideal for long hiking trips.

A couple of pointers:

The buttons are a bit squishy, but then again, it is an underwater camera. Once you are recording below the surface, it has a sort of bubbly sound when you play it back. Probably just the current.

The battery charges for only a small period of time, and it lasts for what seems to be forever. Again, it is so lightweight, it can fit in a large pocket or purse.

The Sanyo Xacti comes with: a velcro cover, a USB connection, charger, TV connection, and even internal memory, so if you want to record immediately, no sweat!

Overall, It's the best camera I've held in my hands. There isn't a lot of shakiness, usually made by HUGE cameras. I'm just getting interested in photography now, and this is the first camera I would recommend. My sisters want it, my parents want it, ALL of my friends want it; and why shouldn't they? Every single person I've shown it to, they said they have to get one.

It's fast, it's easy, it's durable, lightweight, but mostly, AWESOME!!

We bought this camera from Amazon. We have enjoyed the ability to choose movies or still shots and it is fun to be able to take it under water. One minor annoyance is that the noise of the zoom lens records when making a movie. We have used it for homeowner things such as pictures on vacation etc. No abuse.

The bad news is one year and one month later the LCD display stopped working and the microphone does not record sound even though the camera turns on and can take a picture. A phone call to Sanyo said there was nothing they could do since the warranty had expired by a few days.

The flip out nature of the LCD screen has caused a flat cable type wire to fray at the joint where it opens. So the moral of this story is -don't waste you money on this camera, it will break and leave you without memories from your 14 day caribbean vacation. We will not be ordering any Sanyo products for a while to come.

Hey,

I have read many reviews and have wondered where to find the sanyo Xacti e-1 for cheap. Anyone have any links/ideas?

I bought this camera for its low price and ease of use. I was not disappointed. The picture quality is decent, and I can easily put my videos onto my computer (and then my Apple TV).

Great way to get mementos of your kids/family.

I purchased this item for my daughter and son in law. They just had a baby and are very outdoorsy and into boating and water related sports. This couldn't be a more perfect gift. I also found a "leash" so they could keep a good grip on it while on their boat.

I bought this for my trip back to Ohio for our family reunion.When I was looking to finally purchase a camcorder I had several criteria points to achieve.1) Ease of operation.I needed a camcorder that was ready to capture whatever I came across when it happened and not a minute later.2)I needed a camcorder that was compact enough to fit in my pants pocket(I didn't want to lug a case around).3)Storage media had to be compact as well.Imagine storing several cassettes or several discs in your pocket,not very comfortable.Hard drive camcorders I found too susceptible to the hard drive crashing, and at the time I was shopping for a camcorder this was way more affordable.3)Waterproof. This is a great feature!!!!I bought it for when we would go to the Amusement parks and get on the water rides.But not only did I use it for that but I have also used it on water slides(no problems).And I have used it in our backyard pool and when we went to our time share, in their pool.Not only is the pictures great but it actually has sound that you can hear underwater.People at our time share were very impressed with it.I have even used this camcorder on roller coasters.The only drawback to that is that the screen flops back and forth ,but it took the beating.It is even compact enough for me to sneak it into The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and take pictures of memorabilia that you are not supposed to because the items are on loan.I am however having issues with the movie software that came with it.But that is most likely because of me.When it comes to camcorders,in my opinion,this was money well spent!!!!! One drawback though,NO LIGHT ON CAMCORDER!So when it comes to night time movies make sure you have plenty of light.

I had this item in my Cart when it was $350. The price dropped to $250 and I made my purchase right away. Then I found out that there is a new kid in town, the SANYO XACTI E2 which cost just another $100. The same price of E1 just days before.

For $100 more I learned that you get :

8 megapixel (new E2) vs 6 megapixel (E1)
60frames per sec recording (new E2) vs 30frames per sec recording (E1)
Face detection technology that suggests improvements in the focus.
fast 5frames per sec photo shots (to capture fast action)
New underwater white balance mode.

Everything else such as the waterproof casing is the same. I wanted to know was it really worth it to exchange for the NEW E2 in case I might regret later. So I did a little research.

First off, when the sanyo E1 arrived, I was surprised with all the features it has. This isn't really a beginners camera (otherwise get the Flip ultra) If you do learn what these features do, you wont find it so bad and on the plus side you are in much greater control how everything turns out. A lot of people complained about the slow focusing. Here's how you fix the problem. You simply switch 9 point autofocus to spot focus . 9 point is letting the computer pick its own focus in 9 areas on the screen. if you set to spot. whatever you have in the center will be focus and nothing else. Easy as done.

Underwater mode on the E2 is nothing more than using the Eye dropper tool in the E1. With the eye dropper tool. you simply let the camera take a sample of your environment and lighting condition and it'll adjust to a perfect fit. I AM VERY SURPRISE THAT THERE IS SUCH A TOOL! I'LL NEVER HAVE PROBLEM WITH THE LIGHTING CONDITION.

the face detection technology embedded in E2 is good, but it's not necessary because you there is another kind of focusing adjustment feature in E1 where you get to manually select how far is your object, landscape +portrait (the computer wont try to focus anything too upclose), macro (very close up) and total range (the computer here decides).

People complain it doesnt focus fast enough is probably because Total range is selected and they were try to shoot a dog running around, a building, or just landscape. The computer is confused! So just use the Landscape +portrait and your problem is solved. if you are filming your kid's play, concert and your position is fixed. Simply simply select manual focus and pick the correct distance. The computer will not run off focusing anything else.

8megapixel vs 6megapixel. 60frames per sec vs 30 frames per sec. 5 frames per sec photo mode for action shot. How is this better you ask? not really better. The trick here is CCD VS CMOS. The new E2 has replaced CCD to a CMOS. CMOS is lower in production cost, the technology allows it shoots much faster ..this is why you can acheive 60frames per sec. BUT the quality of the photo and recording is simply not better than a CCD. CCD is much accurate. CCD eats more battery power though. CMOS consume less energy so that is good because you'll have longer battery life. FYI CMOS technology is also in all cell phone cameras. It allow faster viewing and doesnt eat up all your phone's battery. CCD is better. It picks up and adjust lighting condition more accurately. Go to youtube and type in CCD VS CMOS and you'll understand. I am happy to keep my E1 and save $100 toward memory card , Case and enough for gas.

The grip, most people complaint isn't so great. It feels like you might slip the camera. That is true, but once you wrap the wrist lace over your hand, you'll feel much protected from accidental drop.

What I also like about Sanyo Xacti E1 is that it's a solid built! it doesnt feel cheap like a toy. That's because it's designed to be waterproof and they have to use the better material.

The other non-waterproof sanyo hand-held camera feel plastics and has a cheaper frame! I went to walmart and compared and the plastic on those are flimsy..really flimsy.

What's also great about the waterproof case is that if you dont really plan on using it much underwater, you can just clean it off with water if it gets dirty. Someone gave a good point that if you were to film in a dusty place or gone on a vacation for a week. There will be dust all over. just drop this in a bucket of clean water and you're good to go!.


Sound quality =one word "AWESOME" Very crisp , clean, clear! High digital quality! better than mp3 quality as they stated. Yes that's correct. Better than a Flip ultra (previously own) .

for $250 right now. it is so cheap! Think of this;

battery by itself is $50
Charger " $50
USB cable $20
TV cable $20
-------------------------
$140

Sanyo Xacti E1 by itself $110!!!!!!

it records high quality video better than FLip ultra. It has better sound! it is waterproof!!! waterproof case cost over $100!!!!! You have much in control of the features.


What made me really decide to just keep E1 is has a CCD sensor to capture images which results in better quality.


Bottom line is it's not going to capture DVD super quality, but way better than YOUTUBE VIDEO AND FLIP ULTRA OF COURSE.

The only things I wish it had is:

lens cap

Better soft case

but these are not so important.

I purchased this camera for fun at the beach with my daughter. I followed the instructions to properly, closed the battery/SD card compartment as directed and double checked to make sure it was closed and this camera still failed in less than 10 minutes in the water. However that is not why I am giving it a 1 star rating. It was a decent camera for the price, just not waterproof.

The reason it gets a 1 star rating is because hidden in the Exclusions section of th warranty (which I should have read closer when I first got it) is this little gem: ....waterproof gasket, broken or damaged batteries ...

That sounds to me like they were expecting it to fail, even if it was used properly, and didn't want to be responsible for the repair or the replacement. So don't get this camera if you want a waterproof video camera. In retrospect, now that I am out $400+ I should have spent a little more for a good digital camera and bought one of the waterproof housings that Divers use.

The Sanyo Xacti is amazing. Its small and compact, waterproof, takes excellent video and surprisingly good still photos. Its almost the perfect camera. I would like to add HD support and a slightly better autofocus system but other than that, pretty impressive.

The light is very good in the pictures.
Very portable. The battery could be better.
I recommend.

It's very simple to use and you don't need to read a manual.
Multi use for photos and video so it's the only thing you need for travel. Waterproof makes it great for rainy days and any water related activities even you are not in the water literally.

You need this camcorder if you do a lot of outdoors activities. I have higher end cameras I take with me camping but I leave them in the trailer all weekend because I'm afraid they'll get damaged (like the last two!). This camera is VERY high quality construction, flip out screen hinge is tight and all the components feel solid. Definitely get extra batteries as the battery doesn't last all that long (maybe I need to adjust my screen brightness?? had not had it long enough to know), but with a large capacity sd card (bought an 8gb card for under 20 bucks on Amazon) you can shoot all weekend (the movie timer showed 6 hours of record time on an empty card)... I love this camera already, highly recommend it!

PS- the video review was what did it for me, those people did a great job!

This video camera is a steal for what it can do. I just got it and have been recording a lot of concerts and outings with friends and it shoots really good video. Its also great that it fits in your pocket. I still recommend carrying around a camera because the pics dont come out that good at nite, plus its kinda hard to have some stranger take a pic of you and your friends. By the time they figure out how to take a pic, the moment has passed. Its great that its waterproof, records in ipod format and that you can use sd cards to record on.

The things I dont like about it: I wish there was more optical zoom, the battery life is about 45 mins to an hour of continuous recording. The price of aftermarket batteries are cheap, but they dont last as long as the sanyo battery. The picture quality in low light conditions sucks. The color of the camera is kinda funky, but the things that it can do makes up for it.

Overall, I still recommend getting it. Great price, great video & sound quality, perfect size for carrying in your pocket, sd cards, cheap aftermarket batteries, and records in ipod fomat.

We have a pool in our backyard with two young boys. The Xacti has been awesome at capturing really cool underwater video and pictures. Plus the camcorder is great at capturing above water and video...

I bought this camcorder a month ago and have been enjoying it ever since. I decided to get a Sanyo because my mother has an older model which I liked very much. This one seemed even more interesting due to its waterproof feature. The price of this Sanyo Xacti is reasonable considering that it works perfectly under water. I tried it out while canoying down a river the other day and it does make great videos and photos.
When using the macro, it has happened that some pictures end up blurry if you are not using the flash light even if it is not that dark, something that bothers me a little. But if you make sure you're using enough light, you can do without the flash (which can cause unwanted shadows). Apart from that, everything else works perfectly fine and I am more than happy to have it. It is a fantastic allround camcorder you can use for wherever you go without having to worry if it gets wet or so, just what I wanted since I like to do a lot of outdoor activities. It is small, so it does not bother carrying it around all the time and it is very easy to handle. Love the quality of the videos!

Nice, compact to carry around but really poor ergonomics. It is tough to hold it in a "pistol" grip and use the thumb to press the various buttons. My index finger almost always ends up over the lens.

Kept it because I liked filming my kids under water occasionally. Should have sent it back as it stopped working after four months of limited use. I find out that they only have a 90 day labor warranty on this unit and I have to ship it from California to some "TV Repair" store in Illinois to get it fixed. It is now lying around in my junk bin. No thanks, I am not throwing good money after bad money.

Unless you really need to shoot under water, stay away!

I definitely like this camera. Live up here in Washington near Seattle so it's nice that if i want to mess around I can take it outside while it's raining. Recently took it down with me to San Diego and went to the beach, filmed a lot there and it was just great to have. Takes decent pictures and the videos are nice and do load very easy.

Cons: Seen it before with other people, sand gets in the small cracks and makes noise when you move it but hey. And it can get slippery in the water so if you don't have a wrist strap get one, or at least get a piece of ribbed rubber to put on the side to improve your grip on it.

I have been searching for a combo camcorder/camera for over a year. I didn't want to break the bank while doing it either! As a family it is necessary to have a camera that can go anywhere, and this camera can do just that. It can go on vacations with us, we can take it to Seaworld, sit in the front row and not hide our camera for fear of it getting wet. This camera is a MUST for the Mom(or Dad) who likes to carry a camera around, to get tons of shots of their kids. Another thing Moms & Dads can appreciate, is the lack of lag time. Yes a camera that actually takes the picture when you press the photo button! As a Mom that was a huge plus for me, I don't know which made me happier, the fact that I could carry on camera to do two jobs, because with this camera you can get both still and video at great quality. Or the "no lag" button.
Now first I want to address the reviewers who said they got horrible still shots with this camera in poorly lit areas. This camera as with any camera requires that you read the manual, because you can't put a camera on auto and expect to get great shots all the time. Had you read the manual you would have known that you can put the camera in different modes to get the best picture for a particular situation, so had you read the manual you would have found the "low light" mode. When you use it, your pictures in low light rooms come out just as good as the outdoor/bright light photos.

I think anyone that purchases this camera will be very happy with it. If you are just going to leave it set on auto expect to get some crappy pictures, but if you take the time to at least skim over the "important" parts of the manual this camera will work overtime for you!

So, if I love the camera so much why did I only give it 4 stars? Well, my only complaint is if you have larger hands it tend to be awkward to handle. I have found that I "feel" like I have to have the wrist handle on, and I have to hold the camera with one hand and push buttons with the other, while making sure I don't accidently put my hand in front of the camera. But I want to make sure I end on a good note. I really enjoy this camera and would recommend it!

I have been looking for a small video camera to use and simple to use. My wife and I travel a lot and are in our golden years. Was very simple to operate and easy to play back. We love it. Not sure if we will use the waterproof feature but who knows.

Have had this camera around and in salt and fresh water filming fly fishing and it is holding its own so far. The zooming function is a bit difficult to toggle and could be almost impossible for someone with small hands. At first I tried to simply insert the SD card in one of my readers, but it did not show up. So, I connected the camera and selected the card reader option and it opened just as if the camera were a card reader - OK. Otherwise, if you are going straight to internet, this camera deserves serious consideration. It is a constant companion and I even film dangerous drivers on the highway (when I am a passenger of course) so I can send it in to authorities. [...]

I bought this video camera becase it was waterproof to five (5) FEET and it was excellent. we had a great vacation and got some great videos.

Camera works great. Underwater option is amazing. Easy fast download to my mac and youtube. I would say the only small issue is that it is not super clear, but for a fun all purpose camera that goes underwater it is more than clear enough.

This was purchased December of 2007, it was used 3 times, and never submerged. I brought it to the lake and it was splashed a few times. I went to take a picture with it, and the view was all cloudy. I turned it around and there were water bubbles inside the lens! 3 days later the moisture remains, and there is no possible way to contact Sanyo from their website, or some place to send my camera to have it repaired. 380 dollars down the drain.

I bought this camera before my yearly fishing trip to Alaska and the camera functioned beautifully! I was looking for a camera that I could put in my pocket or backpack with out taking up a lot of room. The Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1 has worked out perfectly. I dropped it in the frigid Alaskan waters a few times and the camera came out working like a charm! Don't let a few of these negative reports scare you into not purchasing this camera. This camera is not a professional camera! Don't expect professional quality! Do expect to have a lot of fun with it!!!! Any digital camera isn't going to produce the best results with out light, DIGITAL NEEDS LIGHT!!!! Its compact, rugged and easy to use. Do remember to make sure the battery compartment door is shut and locked before getting it wet. I have not experienced any of the problems that some of the other users mentioned in their reviews. Hope this review helps in making your decision. This is a great camera for the price. Have fun with it!!!

I bought this for my daughter and she loves it. But the on-board memory hold only 13sec of video, so make sure you purchase memory... Or like me, you will wait a week for the memory to arrive. (Amazon as the best price on the memory that goes with this camera... the camera has an 8 gig max. I purchased: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000P9ZBFA

I have now taken several hundred photos and a couple dozen videos with this little camera. It has functioned very well with no problems. I have been impressed with battery life and the quality of the images is realy quite good. Sound could be better but is fine and this should not be bought for purposes requiring great quality sound. I have used it in the rain and while kayaking and though I have not submerged it entirely, it has perfromed without a single issue. I used another's smaller version of the Xacti (not H2o proof version) and though they commented on the size diferrence I thought it was hardly noticeable. It fits easily in a shirt or pant pocket and spent much of its time recently in my zippered eyeglass pocket in a light raincoat (ie it is that small). I can highly recommend this camera for travel and all around use.

I bought this camera for my 13 year old son to take with him to a snowboarding camp. It is perfect for him! We also wanted this since we lived on the coast and may want to take it in the boat and not have to worry about it getting wet.

It is awesome for my son! Simple to use, he was able to figure it out instantly without looking at the directions. He was happy that it came with editing software (even though we haven't tried that yet). And we love that he will be able to load things on itunes for his ipod. I loved that the camera fits right in the palm of your hand.....a very natural feeling. The picture was clearer than I expected as well.

We are extremely pleased with this product and I definitely recommend it for anyone that has preteens or teenagers and wants to let them use it w/o worrying about damage to fragile equipment.

Awesome product! :)

I raft and Kayak whitewater rivers. We took this camera on a class 4 run on the NF American a couple of weeks ago. There was lots of carnage and rescues that I had to do. At one point during a rescue the camera was lost track of and ended up on the bottom of the raft for a few class 4 rapids. When we realized it was missing and looked for it we found it on the floor of the raft floating in between the floor and the tube, It must have been threshed well where it was. It came out just fine and we enjoyed viewing videos of rafts flipping that night.
The picture quality isn't great but very adequate
I recommend this product

I purchased the Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1 to take on an Alaska cruise. My wife didn't like the size or shape of the E1 and kept trying to get me to return it. After a lot of research, it seemed like the E1 was the best fit. It replaced a Pentax Optio WP10 that leaked during a trip to Hawaii.

The E1 takes decent pictures in brightly lit areas, but for low light situations, it is very grainy. Since Alaska's waters are still cold, dispite global warming, I never had the chance to use it underwater. Now that I see Pentax is releasing a new waterproof camera, I might be selling the E1 and never finding out how well it stands up to being under water.

Likes:
-Standby mode when the screen is closed.
-Records video at full resolution for as long as you have power and disk space.
-Nice photos when taken in bright light.

Dislikes:
-The flip out screen has to be fliped out to record video or take pictures. You can fold it into the body with the screen facing out, but it's very awkward.
-Zooming in and out can be heard while recording video.
-Poor low-light performance.
-No way to connect the E1 to an external pwer source to extend video recording times. At least I don't know if it is possible.
-Resolution for video is good for sharing online but not as nice when viewed on a large tv screen.

Bottom line:
-Decent performance but, I don't think the E1 will be going with us on our next vacation.

Nice underwater camcorder. So far, still dry.
Easy to use and makes good mpeg4 videos. The light sensor on mine tends to overexpose videos and overreact at times when the light changes abruptly. The USB cable (a AV/USB type) is not easy to find. It's one of those ones with a very flat end. Good luck finding another one in your USB cable collection.

it's an ok point and shoot. it's a sub-par camcorder. looks nice but is not meant for low light filming. you can ruin pictures since it only offers an on/off flash and "on" is usually way too much. great red eye feature that is pretty easy to use. the interface overall is nice and it even talks. great interface overall which is why i can bump it from 2 to 3 stars. but way more show than go. if you are looking for a good all around camcorder/camera to use day or night, try another model or brand.

A few comments about this camera. I took it with me to India, and the standalone battery recharger was fried by a power surge after a short time. Fortunately, I found a cheap universal charger in a local shop which saved the day. Since the recharger would appear to be easily damaged by power spikes I recommend a good quality surge protector when travelling to countries where fluctuating voltage or power outages are common (e.g. India, China, and other developing countries)

The camera itself is very compact and straightforward to operate. The zoom buttons are tricky to operate with one hand without causing camera shake, so I suggest using a second hand to stabilize the camera when zooming in or out.

You have to be careful to protect the lens because there is no lens cap. So the lens will need to be cleaned regularly.

The camera adapts very well to different lighting environments automatically, even in dim light (e.g. dusk) the image will be quite acceptable. As others have pointed out, it can sometimes lose focus in dim light, but switching to "Normal" focus mode (rather than "Total" focus) will generally solve the problem.

I have not tested the camera underwater, but I have used it in heavy rainfall and it didn't skip a beat.

The quality of the H264/AVC codec is superb, especially when you record in the highest quality mode (640 x 480 resolution). However, at the moment this codec is not very widely supported by standalone players.

Sony Blu-Ray players and Xbox 360 can play these mp4 video files directly however. Other DVD players claiming "MPEG4" compatibility will NOT work with H264/AVC (i.e. when the mp4's are burned straight to a data DVD/CD or accessed on a memory card).

This means conversion to DVD-VIDEO format will be necessary in most cases. For this purpose, I do not recommend the software that comes bundled with the camera as it is quite poky and the converted quality is not great.

Instead I suggest you download the software "Total Video2DVD Author". This converts the H264/AVC mp4's in very high quality (virtually no pixellation/artefacts) and is no slouch either.

** But be sure to configure the target for NTSC DVD-VIDEO and not PAL, otherwise fast-moving sequences will appear jerky **
(same goes if using the bundled conversion software)

I assume the reason for this is that Xacti's native video format conforms more closely to NTSC standard in terms of framerate, etc. All DVD players can handle NTSC discs anyway so this shouldn't be a big deal.

I tested the Xacti with 8Gb SDHC card and it works perfectly. I also tried inserting a 16Gb Toshiba SDHC card and this was also recognized by the Xacti so I assume it would be compatible (you could record a *lot* of footage onto 16Gb, due to the efficiency of the H264/AVC codec)

By the way, the recorded sound quality is very good. When zooming in/out, some mechanical noise will be picked up, but otherwise is great.

Still image (camera) mode works quite well, sometimes the photos appear over-exposed in broad daylight but you could manually adjust for that. If you try to take a photo in the midst of recording a video, the photo will be limited to 6MP resolution (2816 x 2112). If the photo is taken when no video recording is taking place, the resolution can be up to 10 megapixel (3280 x 2760). Even though it is claimed to be a 6MP camera, somehow it can manage the 10MP resolution, which is a plus.

The camera itself is great. The large, easily maneuverable and bright display makes setting up shots and picking camera settings a breeze. It's very light and has good ergonomics as well. The images, both still and moving, are excellent. The problem comes if you should go looking for tech support. When you do you'll rapidly find out you're on your own.

I encountered a communication issue between the camera and my desktop. Just finding a tech support phone number on the Sanyo website is a marathon Easter-egg hunt (no number is listed in the documentation that comes with the camera)! Finding the relevant number, I was repeatedly put on hold for 10 to 15 minutes and then dropped. I could not get through despite repeated attempts. As their tech support line is only open during business hours, Monday thru Friday, you'd best hope your boss is an understanding soul. Fortunately, I was eventually able to resolve the issue with my own resources but it took hours to do so.

It's really too bad to see a product this well engineered compromised by thoughtless customer service.

I recently just bought this item off amazon about a month ago and have been looking around for six months trying to see if it was worth it. Now that I actually have it I absolutely love it. Its very small but very stable and doesnt feel cheep like i was afraid it might. The video quality is very good for what it is and amazing in good lighting. I made a whole short film with this camera alone its just plane fun to have around. Don't hesitate i did for a while but have absolutely no regrets. Just a side note... the fact that its water proof never gets old take it anywhere film for no reason.

I love the camara/video waterproof capabilites. It took fabulous videos and also 85% pictures. You have to practice to get yur best videos, but once you perfect it the videos are wonderful to have.

I've been using this camera regularly for six months, and I'm satisfied. There are good things and bad things about it, though, so I'll start with the highlights.

I bought the camera for it's waterproof feature, which is at the top of my list of good things about the Sanyo Xacti. It has survived the snow and has functioned while being fully submerged.

This camera is comfortable and stylish. It gets compliments wherever I use it. Because of its shape, I can rotate the screen 180 degrees to view when taking self-portraits or group photos.

It takes good quality pictures and videos. I am not a professional, and I use this camera for fun, so I haven't played around with a lot of the settings, but I'm happy with the results.

Now for a couple downsides. The most obvious disadvantage to this camera is that it has no red-eye reduction flash. Almost all of my portrait photos that are taken in low light show everybody with red eyes.

Even though it has a cool shape, it means I had to get used to using the buttons. The power and playback buttons are conveniently located on the side, but the rest of the buttons for capture, recording, and navigation take some practice. I like using this camera in the snow, but it's impossible to do with gloves on.

The battery doesn't last as long as expected, since the camera is always on standby (unless I turn it off manually). I'm used to cameras that turn themselves off after five minutes of not being used. As a result, I've been caught off guard by a dead battery and missed the chance to take some good pictures.

Overall, I recommend this camera if you will use its waterproof feature. Otherwise, there are probably other cameras that have better features for the price. At the time I bought this camera, Amazon had the lowest price I could find online. If you would like to see samples of what I have taken with this camera, visit my blog at http://timmyjimi.wordpress.com/

Camera had a bad battery. Never worked. Clearly, it wasn't tested before it was shipped. Very poor quality control. I think this will be my last Sanyo purchase.

A very good buy IMHO, with a some caveats though.
One pretty well advertised feature of this camera is its capability for shooting pictures while recording. This feature has some less advertised drawbacks, however. First, it's quality is automatically set to 6M, which in most cases will not bother you. Also the flash will not shoot, which can make this feature unusable in some cases. However, as the camera doesn't have a lamp or low-light mode, in most situations you aren't able to shoot without the aid of the flash you won't be able to record decent video either anyway. What makes this feature really unusable in my opinion however is that while the camera records the picture to the memory card it will stop recording video, so your video ends up with annoying cuts in the moments you took pictures. I'm using a Transcend 8GB SDHC Class 6 card, which as far as I could figure out is the fastest type of card on the SDHC realm, and the clipping is still too noticeable for my liking. In my opinion it's much better to stop recording and take the pictures or extracting the stills from the video, using the camera's own edition features even. All these peculiarities are not advertised, but they are detailed on page 53 of the camera's instruction manual.

The autonomy is 80 minutes, which is ok, but I recommend buying at least a couple extra batteries. Just today I used the camera at a family reunion and I went through two batteries. I must add however that even if it wasn't used continuously, it wasn't given much rest either between playback and recording. Personally I bought and recommend Lenmar DLSAL20 Lithium-ion Batteries. Onlyne I found discrepancies about the capacity of the original battery, but in the end I found both the original and the Lenmar "replacement" have the same 720 mAh capacity and hence the same autonomy and can be used with the same charger. The Lenmar ones cost about one-third the price of the official ones though, so even if they have lower lifetime (which I'm not sure is the case, but can't be sure because I still haven't had time to exhaust one) they are still worth it.

As for recording space, the 8GB card mentioned earlier allows me to record over 5 hours of video at the maximum possible quality (TV-SHQ, 640x480, 30 fps, 3 Mbps = aprox. 1.26 GB per hour) and also over 300 pictures at the maximum possible quality (10M = 3680x2760). Lowering the quality one step or two almost doubles the quantity of video and images. In my case that's more than enough. In the manual it warns that the video will stop recording after reaching a file size of 4 GB. I think this might be a restriction imposed by the FAT file system the memory cards use. This is a pointless warning though, as you need over 3 hours of continuous recording at maximum quality to reach that file size and the battery lasts only about 80 minutes and the camera has no socket for an external power source.

I was a bit surprised at the small size of the camera, and a little afraid as my hands are big (and clumsy too, yeah). After using it however I found it quite easy to handle and practical. It is very light and adapts fine to the hand, providing a decent grip. The display is comfortable, clear and reasonably big. It does have a socket for fitting on a tripod, and I mention this in hopes it helps someone because I couldn't find this specific detail mentioned anywhere when I was researching information on this camera prior to buying.
To be honest, I haven't had the necessity or the heart to test its underwater resistance yet.

The soft case included is barely enough to protect it. I would strongly recommend buying a better case along with it.

My most firm complains about this camera are related to the picture shooting, and being it a camcorder I consider picture shooting an incidental plus, so I wouldn't take that much into account. The only recording-related thing I would change is the autonomy, but I'm not sure I would trade it's compact size and light weight for some extra battery time, so I'm not going to complain about that either.
Overall, I think it's a pretty good camera, and although I agree there are better ones on the market, I'm not sure there is one as good as this one for a similar price.

We recently had a baby and everyone tells you to get a video camera to record the moments. I have hated video because people always have these tapes all over the place and you never end up watching them. I am however always on my Macbook Pro. This allows me to download directly into iPhoto and iTunes to put on my iPod. The photos are great quality and the video is great (for the price) even when viewed on a big screen. It comes with a USB cord to connect to my computer and also one to connect to the TV. Very easy to upload to youtube or onto a blog. Instead of sending out annoying e-mails with photos of our child I post everything to the blog and let people go there on their own.

The only thing I wish it did is hold the photo for a few seconds after the shot. Not a big deal but I would recommend purchasing an 8 gig sd card and an extra battery. All are on Amazon for less the $20 each. The large card lets you shoot more pictures and video then weed them out later. I also recommend the underwater hand strap. We have not used it underwater yet but we have only had it a few months.

If you are a Mac user I can not stress how easy it interfaces with iTunes, iPhoto and iMovie. Not sure with PC but still very cool and small. I carry it with me always. It fits in my pocket and is quick to use.

I took this product to Australia to film my little surf trip. The main intention was to film some water shots. I was able to do so but it was actually pretty hard. Not because of the camera but the surf kept pounding me. I figure with practice I will get better. I also found this camera quite good at taking stills. My girlfriends digi camera busted half way through the trip so we used the xacti for the rest of the time and it was great. The buttons are not as hard to use as people have been saying. My only qualm is that you have to open up the screen to film. I wish you could just force it to record without opening it. It feels somewhat flimsy and easy to break underwater or in the waves. But it didn't. I would suggest buying it if you are just looking for a camera to get yours ears wet and are going on a trip. Its size is perfect.

Just got back from a trip to Antarctica, and this video camera was fantastic. When we were cruising around in the small Zodiac boats, everyone else had to put their cameras away because of the water spray, but this camera was always out, taking both very good quality videos and reasonable still photos. Lots of examples at http://leler.com/video/

The only improvement I could think of would be a water repellant coating for the lens, so that water drops don't form on it. Oh, and it does have a rather small battery, but I bought a 3-pack of spare batteries and just pop in a new one when it needs it.

I like the camera. The video gets jittery when you try to pan a scene. Also, the stabilizer is not real effective. The camera has trouble figuring out the light level but that is remedied by half clicking the shutter on an area with medium light for the picture.

I've had it underwater. That is a great feature in itself for the price.

I wanted to buy an underwater camera to take on our recent vacation and was delighted to find this one which happened to be a camcorder too! Big bonus! On vacation we snorkeled twice per day, for 8 days and had no problems whatsoever with the camera. I did as instructed and rinsed the camera in fresh water each time and then dried it. I'd bought a spare battery because of the reviews stating that the battery life was poor, but I really didn't need it. There was no problem at all with battery life! I also bought the underwater wrist strap and would recommend it for the peace of mind it gave us as we swam around. The velcro strap ensures that there was no way you can drop the camera.

I was so impressed with the ease of use, quality of the stills and video, and with the ease of downloading the images to my laptop that I used it out of the water too. It's small size means that I can slip it in my bag in it's light, but protective case. I think I will get a lot of use from this camcorder!

I fell in love with this camcorder the moment I saw it. Its design is sleek and it looks so cool. Knowing that looks isn't everything I did lots of searching before buying it. It surprised me that there was no consistent opinion about it. People either loved it or hated it.. and I was REALLY concerned about the reasons why they didn't like it.

Those who complained basically nagged about the too-short battery life, and the low-picture-quality. Some mentioned that the gadget suddenly refused to work.. this didn't happen with me till now :)

Regarding the batteries: They are OK! They don't run out after 20 minutes as some complained - unless you are shooting in very low temperatures. I took with me while skiing at Mont. Tremblant in February and still could get many good videos.

As for the low image quality: Give me a break! The thing is still fine. Please remember that this is an adventure-trip-cam. You don't expect an oscar-winning performance using a cam like this. The still images -though- could be a little bit better.

I deducted 1.5 stars off my rating for the not-so-great still images, and for the case which is not so resistant against occasional scratches (my camera is white)

If you are the type of person who is adventurous and on the run.. this could be just your type of camcorder. It may NOT be the best, but it is really a good choice.

The one thing that bugs me is that on the sheet inside the box (i forgot which one-i think it was the warnings), it said you have to replace the waterproof seal after one year! To me thats ridiculous cause they said we have to pay for it. I could understand that you would need to replace it, but come on, it should be free, (but of course, nothing is free these days)!

But besides that one issue...
I got this camera for my birthday and I like it alot! On the video review on here that that lady and guy made showed that the video quality was not very good; this made me almost change my mind because the video looked so crappy; but as you see I decided to go with it and just take the leap; and it turned out to be so much better than that crappy video review on here. Alot of the reviews on here said that the video quality was like the videocameras in the 80s. I agree on that one video review on here. But I disagree besides that. I think that it is not the best quality in the world for making fancy movies, which you shouldn't expect from this kind of camera, but its good for the every day regular person. Its not very good quality in low light though, but its not like I expected it to be. The buttons may be a bit small for guys fingers, but it works for me. I also like the design and the shape of the camera. The voice-recording quality is very, very good. Its really clear. The camera can have up to 60 minutes of recording/using, but I reccomend getting a SanDisk 4.0 Ultra II memory card, because you just take the memory card out of the camera, then it comes with a little thing that you put the memory card into, then you stick the whole thing into your USB opening in your computer. Then your movies/pictures just come up. This way is much easier than hooking up your camera with all those cords. Overall, I think the Sanyo Xacti E1 is great! I have tried it outside and it works great also. I have not tried it in the water yet, but I'm looking forward to it when I go surfing this weekend! :)
This is a great camera for someone who wants something very easy to use, small, and waterproof! But I really recommend it to everyone!
To sum it up, GREAT CAMERA! DON'T LISTEN TO THE BAD-REVIEW-ERS ON HERE! ;D

--Brianna, age 14, and yes, just because I am fourteen, doesn't mean that I'm stupid.
;D

I got this camera on the net from the asia/europe market. Its called the VPC-Ca65. Its the same exact camera..

It is a fantastic camera, it works great, even underwater. I was VERY impressed with the audio and the camera works great except it is more of an outdoors camera for use in good lighting. It doesn't work that well in dark situations. I would say it is comparable to other cameras without a night shot mode.

If you shop around you can get them for much cheaper. I got mine shipped for $286 from a site online. It is a great deal, i would recommend it to anyone looking for a good, small, weatherproof camera that does it all.

This camera is uncomfortable to hold, making it hard to hold still. The still photos are okay (and only okay) out in the sunlight but in any other surrounding the photos are pretty rotten. Changing settings didn't help much. Red eye is the worst I've ever seen in any camera. Still, it is fun to jump in the rapids while filming and the super macro focus is handy. The small size and dual use are the main attraction for this camera. It serves a purpose but keep another camera for the still photos that really matter.