Sanyo C6 Camcorder????

[Tink-n-Peter]

Does anyone own or know anything about the Sanyo C6 camcorder??

I am looking to upgrade our super high 8mm Canon camcorder, before our July trip to Disney World.

Steves-digicam.com seems to think this product is decent, and great in its class.

I have been researching these for the last 6 months. I understand the basic differences between mini-dv, SD card, dvd, and hard disk recording formats. I know that the mpeg compression, this camcorder uses is not as conducive to editing, as the min DV format.

The criteria I am using in my decision:
Quality
Convenience (I will be more willing to bring a small camera with me than larger one.)
Price (I am looking for something priced under $500.)

Does anyone own, or have any experience with one of these?
Will the video quality be good enough to make decent DVD's?

As always thank you in advance for all your insight,

 

[Kelly Grannell]

Sanyo still makes Camcorder? Please look at the sticky on camcorder buying tips, especially about the size.

 

[Tink-n-Peter]

1. Camera size vs. CCD Sensor size: The smaller it is, the smaller the CCD is going to be, the worse quality it's going to have. Making it worse, no DVD camcorder have the same quality as a mid-end miniDV camcorder.

If you HAVE to go with DVD, then the Sony model 403 is for you. If you can go with miniDV, then the Sony model 90 is for you. Everything else is a compromise.

Most camcorders come with only 1/6" CCD sensors. Those Sonys I mentioned come it 1/3" CCD sensors. The fact that they have 4x the surface area means taking pictures/videos in darker lighting more of a breeze. (much less digital grain, better resolution, better colour rendition).

So now I am really confused! You state the larger the CCD sensor the better, right. The Sony's you mentioned have a 1/3 CCD sensor, the Sanyo I am looking at has a 1/2.5 CCD sensor. So wouldn't the Sanyo be better, at least in terms of CCD Sensor?????

I did read your sticky post prior to posting, however it didn't seem to make mention of any hybrid cameras. It also seemed a little bias towards Sony and Canon. I agree, Canon seems to lead the way in optics, but I have never purchased anything Sony that hasn't been a huge waste of money.

With the exception of optical zoom the Sanyo c6 seems to be better than the Sony 90 in most of the categories. Everything I am reading states the Sanyo leads the "Digital Hybrid" industry.

I am looking for the convenience of a Hybrid, and everything I have read indicates that the Sanyo C6 is perfectly qualified!

Can anyone confirm or deny that Sanyo C6 is the camera I am looking for?

 

[Kelly Grannell]

I just checked it out for you. It's the Sanyo Xacti series. I've used it, bad optics, uses expensive SD cards and extremely high compression (worse than DVD). Imagine, to get a full hour of high quality DVD you'll need 4.7 Gb of data space, miniDV (tape) for the same 1 full hour require space LARGER than 6 Gb data space. The Xacti is using only 1 Gb of data space for 1 hour of its highest quality mode.

This thing is using MPEG-4 compression (the same compression used for -- usually -- illegal movie downloads). From my personal experience, viewed on a screen larger than 20" is horrendous with compression artifacts.

Great concept, poor execution. I've also tried their new High Definition version... what a waste of technology. It's one of those "it's a good buy... considering".

Sony makes bad equipments? yes, but not for video equipment. When you watched Star Wars episode 1, 2, 3, Wolf Creek and many other newly released movies, a lot of them were shot using Sony HD-CAM.

PS: Xacti also uses digital image stabilizer instead of optical image stabilizer. Optical will create a much clearer picture and better colour rendition.