#1 Rodney Reed

These look really great but If you can only store ~5 minutes of full quality video on a 1 gig card, I don't see the value of having one of these?? Any input?

4:09 pm - Wednesday, March 9, 2005

#2 chad

Duh. Who said 5 minutes of shooting? According to their website, shooting time is 43 minutes at TV-SHQ mode, 60 minutes at TV-HQ mode.

1:12 am - Thursday, March 10, 2005

#3 Ralph

I have C1 and its really great. Of course, it cannot compare to minidv quality, but i wear my camera at any time in my pocket, and record tons of videos every week.
I edit they with Vegas and finally record it to dvd. The final quality is like svcd. Not bad in terms of resolution, but a little pixelated.

3:00 am - Thursday, March 10, 2005

#4 Peter Nicklen

I also have a C1 - and I love it.
More than 40 minutes @ TV SHQ: 640 x 480, 30 fps, 3 Mbps on my 1Gb card. I was hoping the C5 would have a wide-screen setting though. And also a SHQ setting of more than 640 x480.
The video output seems the same as my C1 - so no need to upgrade until the C6?.

11:21 pm - Thursday, March 10, 2005

#5 Donald

Does anyone know where this item will be available that could ship it to the U.S.? Seems as though Sanyo really doesn't advertise or sell a lot of their products in the U.S.

3:48 am - Friday, March 11, 2005

#6 Ditch

I had the C1 & the C4, and the C5 definately outclasses them both. All the same I would agree that some improvements are still overdue. I would add an automatic lens cover, a more silent zoom motor, a much brighter flash, and a focus lamp for dark stills.

However, the new slimmer design is greatly improved over the previoius model, better battery/memory door, great build quality, has a solid stablization feature that really helps and the larger screen is a major plus.

Oh yes, it's available at Sharper Image stores in the US right now (that's were I picked mine up.

If they make some (or all) of these suggestions (including yours about the widescreen higher res mode), this thing will be absolutely unbeatable.

Cheers!

5:03 am - Friday, March 11, 2005

#7 Wolfgang

I'm using the C1 since more than a year now.
Its main drawbacks:
- EXTREMLY grainy colors if there is no sun.
- NO image stabilizer. Many videos unusable.
- The brightest red eyes I've ever seen because flash is SO near to the lens.
- Format makes it early impossible to make horizontal fotos. Thats much simpler with "normal" cameras.
- No optical viewer, which makes it unusable in bright light like snow or bright sunlight.
- Only manual lens cover.

Only few of these points are resolved with C5. Several of the them are intrinsic with its design which I liked when I bought it. But I will not make the same mistake twice.

11:06 pm - Tuesday, March 15, 2005

#8 Wolfgang

Oh, I forgot to mention that its autofocus is very very bad in foto mode. Its the worst of all my digital cameras I have used until now. Say 30 to 50% of the pictures are unusable.

11:31 pm - Tuesday, March 15, 2005

#9 Peter Nicklen

I agree with you,Wolfgang,about the awful red-eye problem with this camera.Also there is a terrible delay after the shutter is pressed. In fact I think the C1 is a very poor still camera - I still take my good camera with me when I am going to take photographs. However,I bought the C1 purely to use as a camcorder.I like its small size and,(in bright conditions), its video quality. Granted, it needs a stabilizer. Both the C4 and C5 have one.

11:41 pm - Tuesday, March 15, 2005

#10 Wolfgang

True. Video quality is quite good. Especially in best quality I like it. Sometimes there are white or dark borders at lines of high contrast. That can be bad. But then there is the LOUD noise of the zoom.
I'm considering the new Samsung V700.

12:16 am - Wednesday, March 16, 2005

#11 Javier

I see this camera has webcam capabilites. Does the C1 or, more importantly, C4 have webcam capabilities?

9:01 am - Friday, March 18, 2005

#12 Wolfgang Barth

The C1 doesn't have webcam capabilities.
In the cradle I see the camera as a file system, not as a "video device".

10:15 pm - Friday, March 18, 2005

#13 Javier

I'm guessing then, that the C4 can't be used as a webcam either. It's ok though; I don't know if I'd have much use for it anyway. I like the bigger optical zoom of the C1 and C4 and for me, more MP means less pictures on a disk. I do like the size and design of the C5 more though. I think I'll still go for the C4, and in a few years when the digital camcorder/camera combos completely take off, I'll upgrade.
Thanks Wolfgang.

7:40 am - Saturday, March 19, 2005

#14 Mark

I've just got the C4 in for review, to be published next week.

10:46 am - Saturday, March 19, 2005

#15 Deon Del Mundo

I hope you will have c5 in for review too. I've been looking around for a cool gadget that has multi-function/capabilities - I read the Samsung Miniket seems to offer many but with less impressive specs. I need something similar with higher mpixel and optical zoom, can be used as webcam and must be slim enough for a frequent flyer like me.

5:26 pm - Saturday, March 19, 2005

#16 Mark

Sanyo France's PR agency tell me that they won't have the C5 until the middle of April at the earliest.

5:38 pm - Saturday, March 19, 2005

#17 gooddog

I have a C4 and love it.

I wish the C5 had these "wish list" enhancements; maybe the C6 will.

1. How about 16 x 9 with H.264 encoding ?

2. The body is kind of small and feels like
it might slip out of my hand like a bar of soap.
So, what if a retractable handle extension were to
extend down from the body so I can hook my pinkie
and ring finger around it during use ?

3. The location of the tripod mount next to the port
makes it almost impossible to use the AC cable with a
tripod: is there a strange-looking tripod adapter that
allows the cable to be re-routed to one side and the
tripod to be attached ?

4. I would love to see some snap-on lense and filter kits
that attach as the lense cap does -- wide angle and
ultra macro would be nice :)

5. Also, the port on the bottom tends to snag the cable
head and it feels like it might nibble away at its little
spurs when removed.

6. Wi-fi to the laptop ( Mac, of course ! ) ?

7. White finish with a blue Apple logo would be nice :)

--- gooddog

/
: * ] AaaRrrrFFff!!!
\

8:25 am - Sunday, March 20, 2005

#18 Peter Nicklen

This should be the spec. for the C6 :

A choice of 16 x 9 format output.
A SHQ setting of at least 720x576.
A built in mini hard disc, 2Gb+ in size,
to enable the refinements to be added.
In the meantime I am happy to stick with
my C1.

11:53 am - Sunday, March 20, 2005

#19 Wolfgang Barth

Yeah. This is going into the right direction.
There are 1 Gig SD cards, so I think the harddisk is not SO important. For us europeans we would so much like to have 704*576 with 25 frames instead of 640*480 with 30 frames per second. Its always a mess to convert or show such a video on a TV set.
The compression should be compatible H.264 which I think is going to be "the standard" for video compression in the near future.

12:04 pm - Sunday, March 20, 2005

#20 Paul Curtis

I have a C1 and agree it is noisy in poor light. Anyone know whether it is worth trying manual settings or does the 'incandescent' setting help ?

1:41 pm - Thursday, March 24, 2005

#21 Ralph

I allways try to put my c1 in manual mode. The colours look better normally.
I only use automatic WB when the light conditions are changing continuosly. (indoor to outdoor, etc).

With incandescent light the picture is very red on automatic mode,
You can see this easily recording in you home some scene with the two settings (auto/incandescent). The colours in incandescent are more natural. (to my taste)
The same aplies to sunlight recordings (too blue in auto)

Regards from Spain.

2:11 pm - Thursday, March 24, 2005

#22 Jonathan

I bought a C4 in February, 2005 and I love its convenience. I agree that its stills capability is somewhat limited. I took it to an indoor reception and the autofocus took several seconds to fix.
On the other hand, I have been pleasantly surprised by the movie function.
This camera will not substitute for a dedicated digital camera or a camcorder, but it is much less intrusive than larger cameras for snapshot applications. I like the idea that I can take it anywere and no one need know I have a camera unless and until I am ready to take a picture. I keep mine in my car and I tend to take it with me much more often than I previously took a digital camera, much less a video camera.
Doesn't appear that the C5 adds much, but I'd be interested to hear reaction.
Bottom line: I would rate as an 8/10 because of the convenience factor. Plus you will impress your friends with the "cool" factor.

Regards from sunny Atlanta, Georgia
Jonathan

11:08 pm - Friday, March 25, 2005

#23 Erik

Hi

I am conisidering this camera for use in a remote controled airplane. It seems light, and has video of good quality.

For me video quality, and image stabilsation is the main thing.

Is there any advantages in video quality/stabization alone in the C4 or C5 compared with the C1 ?

If not - I might as well go for a cheep old version. RC planes are not the safest enviroment for cameras, so I want to keep the investments to a minimum.

On more thing. Is the video format made by the camera editable in Adobe Premier or Pinnacle Studio ?

Any feedback apriciated.

Erik

9:05 am - Sunday, April 10, 2005

#24 Wolfgang Barth

I like the videos of the C1 if I take the best quality (25 min = 512 MB). But do NOT buy the C1 in your case because it has NO stabilization at all.
The videos are 640*480 30fps in mpeg4 with aac stereo sound. If your program can import this format its well. But I do not have a video editing program who can cut and edit this format without rendering the video into another format. And if you want to make a DVD with VOB files you even need to convert the sound from aac to ac3.
Wolfgang

9:52 am - Sunday, April 10, 2005

#25 gooddog

Erik,

My C4 has pretty good real-time image stabilization.
I'm not sure if the violent motion of an RC plane would
overwhelm this feature -- auto focus struggles a bit if
I pan the C4 at 30? / sec or so, as does the stabilization
circuit. Maybe for level flight it would be OK.

Post a QT clip when you do it !

---gooddog

/
: * ] AAAaaaRRrrFFfff !!!
\

12:24 pm - Sunday, April 10, 2005

#26 Rafa

Maybe others know about this little utility programed by Oleg Mikheev:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/mp4cam2avi/

This little and free program is capable of converting into avi the .mp4 files of the sanyo cameras (and from others aswell).

The audio stream is converted to wav (great for editing) of you can choose mp3 too.
The video stream is not recompresed at all, but you can change the four CC code if your editing software dont accepts the files directly created by your camera. I use Vegas video for editing, and export the final video to mpg2 dvd compilant files.

Is extremely fast (i convert 1Gb of several sanyo clips in 1 minute or so).

Give it a try. If you want to edit your c1/c4/c5 videos is a must have!

Regards.

4:04 pm - Sunday, April 10, 2005

#27 Erik

Thanks for a quick reply guys.

Then I take it that the C4 would be my best choise.

Yes - I will post a video. Here is a video taken with a mini-DV camera at ground, and an IXUS-400 inflight. As you can see there is a big differense in quality. I was hoping that the C4 would be better. (http://www.runryder.com/helicopter/gallery/12545/Luftkamp_Ny.zip)

Is there any sample of the "best quality mode" video on net that I could play aorund with and burn to a DVD to check the quality ?

Thanks.
Erik

6:20 pm - Sunday, April 10, 2005

#28 Wolfgang Barth

I'm looking forward for your video.
The one you gave the link is not accessible. I just get "forbidden".
Wolfgang

9:29 pm - Sunday, April 10, 2005

#29 Pete

For any of you Linux fans out there, I use a program called AVIDEMUX2 to edit my videos. I sent a sample clip to the guy that runs the project and a couple releases later, it was fully supported!

http://avidemux.sourceforge.net/

I've got the C4 model. Great in sunlight. Terrible indoors. The compact size though makes the thing worth-it overall.

3:34 pm - Sunday, May 15, 2005

#30 Cindy

I recently got the Sanyo C5 from igearbox.com. I brought this camera on a trip to Japan. Found it extremely easy to carry around. Definately like it better than the Panasonic SV-AS30 I have taken previously!

2:04 am - Thursday, June 9, 2005

#31 DAVVE

I PURCHASED THE C-5 6-4-05 I LIKE THE VIDEO ALOT BETTER THAN OTHER MPEG-4 VIDEO PLAYERS THE SHQ IS GREAT NOT QUITE HI-8 NOT DVD QUALITY BUT ITS VERY GOOD COMPAIRED TO OTHER MPEG-4 CAMERAS . THE ALL IN ONE CAMERA IS FINALLY HERE! WITH SD CARD ! AND PUT RITE IN YOUR POCKET . I HAVE NOTICED THAT THE STABILIZER IS NOT REALLY NEEDED UNLKESS YOU SHAKE A LOT I FEEL ITS EASY TO CONTROLL . WITH AUTO EVERYTHING THE BATTERYS WONT LAST LONG . BUT IF YOU TURN OFF THE STABILIZER AND AUTO FOCAS IT LAST LOTS LONGER. THE SD CARDS ARE COMMING DOWN IN PRICE NOW I GOT A 1 GIG FOR 66 SHIPPED ON E-BAY NEW ! THIS CAMERA WILL ALSO ACCEPT THE 2 GIG CARDS TOO AND THEY ARE AROUND $145 ON E-BAY I GOT 3 EXTRA BATTERYS SO WONT RUN OUTA POWER!I LIKE THE SNAP SHOT WHILE VIDEO TAKING BUT THE PICTURE TALKEN THAT WAY IS TAKEN FROM THE VIDEO RATHER THAN LIVE PICTURE . BETTER TO TAKE IT WHILE VIDEO NOT RUNNING.

11:48 pm - Monday, June 27, 2005

#32 mark

whats the cost of the sanyo c5 now, and do you stock any?

12:33 am - Tuesday, August 9, 2005

#33 Mark Goldstein

Ermmm, I don't actually sell cameras, mark!

3:29 pm - Tuesday, August 9, 2005

#34 AP

Hi,

I feel like quite the amateur having scrolled down through everyone's comments, but I am having a problem with my C1.

When I connect to my PC with the USB cable, my still photos are downloaded easily on the ULead photo software, but I am not finding any of my MPEG4 videos. The ULead movie software seems very user UNfriendly. I have attempted using the Quicktime software (when connected), but MPEG4 are not found. I have also downloaded to Googles Picassa2 software and still I can't find the files.

Can someone tell me what I am doing wrong?

Also, any suggestions for improving low-light (night/indoors) stills. I agree that many are unusable, especially if I attempt the nightime option, blurry light trails etc.

Thanks,
AP

5:28 pm - Thursday, September 15, 2005

#35 Barth, Wolfgang

You dont need any program to download pictures and movies.
When connecting the C1 a directory shows up in the Windows explorer, which you can use to download the files.
Then the movies are in the .mp4 files. You can easily play these with Quicktime or with vlc from videolan.org. This is a program which can play virtually ALL videos.
If you want to convert these into a DVD or other format, then you need the ULEAD software or something else.

Wolfgang

6:27 pm - Thursday, September 15, 2005

#36 AP

Thanks Wolfgang,

I should have known it would have been so simple.

I guess it comes down to MP4's incompatibility with windows media?

7:10 pm - Thursday, September 15, 2005

#37 Eric John

Saw Davve and Cindy got C5. nice to find someone with first hand info. I have a few doubts.

1.how is the night stills and video. I heard they are bad. What’s the opinion of you guys?
2.Is there any problem with the swivel LCD? Heard someone say it is flimsy and started to feel loose after a week.

2:49 pm - Sunday, September 18, 2005

#38 Staf Van Cauwenberg

Dear Sir
I found you in Google regarding to Atlanta and digital pictures. I am going for a trip in Atlanta and as usual I will take lots of digital pics. In order to avoid having to bring lots of SD cards I am looking for a convenient storage medium.I want to compare prizes but it is so hard to find a store in Atlanta.
Two questions, do you as an expert can give me some advice?
Thank you so much
Kind regards
Staf
Belgium

12:03 pm - Wednesday, September 28, 2005

#39 Sylvain

Hi,
I have a C4. My "motion director" program
doesn't work. It doesn't save the resulting file. The version is 1.0. I saw that for
the C5 the version is 1.1. Is their a way
to upgrade ?

I also notice that the image size is badly
reported in the files headers. It says 320x240 in place of 640x480.It makes that
it doesn't work with Cinelerra. I sent a
mail to Sanyo-de but they never answord ;-)
So, I wrote a program to correct that ( for Linux). If some one is interested...

Thank you, Sylvain.

4:24 pm - Monday, October 24, 2005

#40 ctwang64

the vide clips shot indoors and at night were really dark. I tried to use PowerDirector to adjust it with Magic Clean function. But it came out without sound. Does anyone know the correct way to use it or another software could adjust the brightness?

5:21 am - Wednesday, October 26, 2005

#41 Cedric

I've been editing footage from my Canon minidv with Pinnacle through the firewire port. I now have a C5 with USB. How do I get it into the Pinnacle software? Is there a USB/1364 adapter? I can save the mpg4 through the USB port but I can't seem to transfer it to the Pinnacle program.

7:58 pm - Wednesday, November 9, 2005

#42 Javi

I also have notice that the image size is badly reported in the files headers. Sylvain, could you send me your linux program to resolve this problem? Thanks in advance.

8:23 am - Monday, November 21, 2005

#43 Sylvain

Hi,

Here are the Linux shell script programs to correct the bad headers of the Sanio files:
http://paramoteur.fr.free.fr/datas/perso/

The good bytes are in modif.bin
liste.sh is the programm. You must modify
the modif.bin path according to the place it is.
The input of liste.sh is a directory. It looks for all .mp4 in that directory and every sub-directory, and modify them.

I know it could have been made simpler, in one file ;-)

Sylvain.

10:20 am - Monday, November 21, 2005

#44 Sylvain

Could someone put on the web a working version of “motion director” and tell me were ?
It is not cheating: I swear I have a C4 camera !
You can write the place or your mail any where on that wiki:
http://paramoteur.fr.free.fr/wikini/wakka.php?wiki=BacASable
(If you know how to use a wiki ;-)
And I will find it.
It seems to be complicated, but it is against the robots !

Thanks, Sylvain.

10:35 am - Monday, November 21, 2005

#45 Javi

Hi Sylvain

Thanks for the shell script. I have used it with all my .mp4 files and now I can see them with xine :)

Do you know any linux program to adjust the brightness of indoor videos?

Thank for your help.
Javi

1:27 pm - Monday, November 21, 2005

#46 pete

Hi everyone ...just bought the c5 recently and not very well versed with video cams ..can anyone tell me if there is a facility within this camera software pack {7.2 } that will enable me to send a 2-3 minute video in an email ...hoping for a positive response ...regards

12:01 pm - Tuesday, November 22, 2005

#47 Sylvain

Hi Pete,

You don't need anything special. Plug your camera on your pc (usb), your memory card will appear in your file system (I don't know if you are on Linux, Windows or Mac). Take your videos (.mp4) to your home directory.
Write your mail and join your mp4. That's it!
Don't forget that most providers limit the size of the sendable mails.

Sylvain.

1:45 pm - Tuesday, November 22, 2005

#48 Sylvain

I announce the creation of a "Sanyo Xacti Digital Movie users' group" and mailing liste.
You are all welcome.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Xacti/

Hi, admin of this page. I used the picture of this
page for the Yahoo mailing list, If tere is any problem, send a mail on the list and I take it off. Thank you.

Sylvain.

7:55 pm - Friday, November 25, 2005

#49 bremar

Hi,
I am a diver. Not technically minded as such but am in the market for a digital camera when I came across the Sanyo c4. However it appears to have very poor low light videoing capability which is what you need under water. You also need white balance control. Does anyone here know if the c5 or c6? have better low light capability. Ad with regard to white balance it also appears that there are 4 manual setting. Is this normal for other video cameras or do they have infiniatelly variable white ballance. Other video cameras seem to perform well under water but I do like the size and usability of this Sanyo. Thanks
Bremar

10:19 am - Tuesday, December 13, 2005

#50 virginia

I am looking for a camera to copy old movies. I sent the film to "transfer" companies and the results were terrible. The reason they were not good was because during the movie transfer/filming there was no focus adjustments, leaving half of the film fuzzy. I am willing to buy a camera and try to transfer the old film to DVD's myself. I welcome opinion/advice/ recommendations. thank you virginia

4:31 pm - Friday, December 30, 2005

#51 Sylvain

Hi all,

To correct the reported size of the 640x480 TV-SHQ mp4 files, I made a new program (only one file) that makes everything.
You can find it in the "file" directory of
the Xacti's group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Xacti

It is a shell script for Linux. Maybe a Python script is coming soon for Windows and Linux.

Who have a "motion director" program working well? I still have no answer... ;-)

Thank you, Sylvain.

12:47 pm - Sunday, April 30, 2006

#52 Ben

I have had the c4, c5 and now c6 and they are absolutely brilliant cameras. I have a 2gb card and can get 1hr 23mins at the highest quality. Combined with an OTG USB2.0 HDD. Nearly unlimited.

3:13 pm - Monday, October 23, 2006

#53 Sylvain

Hi Ben,

Could you join us on the Xacti mailling list (group): http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Xacti
and tell us everything you know about the C6.

See you on the list, Sylvain.

3:52 pm - Monday, October 23, 2006

#54 Guy

I bought an XACTI C65 and it is amazing.
The video quality blew me away as soon as I plugged it into my TV - it looks as good as broadcast quality.
I was tempted to get the hi-def version but I haven't got a hi-def TV to make use of it.
Nevertheless, its an awesome video camera!
However, stills look a bit poor in low lighting conditions though but thats probably because I haven't experimented with the settings yet.

12:12 pm - Monday, June 11, 2007

#55 Rob.

Hi - I have read other comments with interest having recently (Sept. 2007) bought a used C4. I am more than delighted with this camera and the hybrid concept. Maybe worth noting that the earlier C4 is better specified than the later C40. The earlier C4 is reported to have a higher res. (OLED?)screen; not immediately apparent. Plus the handy docking station, remote controller etc. An attraction of the C4 for me is its slightly chunkier comfortable to hold body when compared to the slimmer C5 series. Nothing in life is perfect but given some less important limitations, as a take anywhere two-in-one camera the results whether stills or movies are great. Also the neat design and ergonomics are far better than several newer mini brick shape competing hybrids. RM

1:03 am - Thursday, November 22, 2007

#56 tina

i have the sanyo xacti. when i try to transfer videos to my comp videos play back in slow motion. does anyone know why this happens?

7:07 am - Tuesday, February 9, 2010

#57 Rob.

Hi - Cannot be sure; am no expert. But am sure somebody else can help. Just wonder if the file format or resolution is mismatched. If the video is jerky not smooth even if in slow motion this suggests a computer based issue. Does your Xacti have a slow motion setting accidently or unknowingly set? My older C4 is more basic but newer Xacti's might have such features(?) Hope someone with the solution replies soon. Regards, Rob.

11:39 am - Tuesday, February 9, 2010

#58 Sylvain

Don't try to play your videos from the camera. You better download it on your hard disk first.
In that case is it still slow?

12:04 pm - Tuesday, February 9, 2010

#59 Tina

Thank you guys so much for your help. so i figured out that Videos come in HD. my Laptop is alittle older and not that up to date. So videos were transfering over in HD which my computer was not compatiable. There is a option for HD or just shooting regular. I switched over and it works!!! thanks for the help

8:27 pm - Tuesday, February 9, 2010