Description

XACTI 1080P HD 14MP BLACK PERP12X OPTICAL DUAL RANGE ZOOM VIDEO

Customer Reviews

 Total Review!!! - Aug 29, 2010

In Short Words
This Camera Is Awesome!!!
Above my expectations
form quality to shape and size.

 Where's my stuff ? - Aug 24, 2010

I'd like to review the camera but Bargain Cell have not even shipped it yet even though they state 1-2 day shipping...

The slowest Amazon order ever...

 what i expected - Aug 02, 2010

i bought this camera for my wife and it's everything we expected, she loves it!!!

 Great HD Camcorder! - Jul 26, 2010

I love this camcorder! Takes great video in HD. The only thing I wish it had was a mic jack for an external mic. Other than that, it's a great camcorder for the price!

 satisfied - Jul 24, 2010

i really want to love this product. however, i'm still working on the software for it. i need to upgrade. thinking about upgrading to the adobe premiere sanyo recommends. also, the quality isn't great, but suppose its par for the $. any panning, zooming is a little jumpy. low level lighting is pretty poor too. But outside, with minimal movement. its a beautiful image. plus expandable media, digital files, good improvement over tapes.

 Amazing HD Video Camera from Sanyo - Jul 20, 2010

I did a lot of research and homework before buying the Sanyo VPC-CG102 video camera. This video camera will take lousy video/photo in a dim or dark environment. The Sanyo VPC-CG102 can and does take great video/photo in a well lighted environment. I use this video camera only for outdoors video/photo and am very please with the results. Viewing the video on a HD wide screen television is just outstanding. The video camera comes with a HDMI port without the HDMI cable being supply. I brought a HDMI cable for only 97 cents and it seems to work alright. The supplied 700mAh battery last me for approximately 1 hour of video on a 16gb SDHC Class 6 card. I brought 2 spare 1100mAh batteries from Amazon.com which gives me enough batteries for a day of shooting video. There was no video editing software supply with the Sanyo VPC-CG102 camera but Sanyo recommended three software packages. Adobe Premiere Elements 8 being one of them and it is an video software package that I have installed on my computer. I had no problems editing, processing and burning a DVD-R video disc. Windows Live Movie Maker also can be use to process and burn an video disc. This video camera uses the MPEG-4 codec and it's video files has the extension of .MP4. No manual came with this video camera but Sanyo directed the user to a web site that have an emanual for the Sanyo VPC-CG102 that I downloaded to an USB flash drive. I highly recommend this video camera for anyone who likes to shoot video in a well lighted area. I do not recommend this video camera for use in any dim or dark area. Because I am using the Sanyo VPC-CG102 only in a well lighted environment I gave it a rating of 5 stars as the video view on a HDTV is just outstanding, the best that I have seen from any HD video camera.

 as good as advertised - Jul 19, 2010

It's just what we wanted and more. Quality,and simplicity is excellent. Only disappointment is that you have to do a little work to get the full instruction manual and at over 100 pages on line it takes a while to read, but the instructions are clear. Very much recommend the item and look forward to continuing to enjoy. Close to perfect.

 1920x 1080 is nice to have but not viewable - Jul 17, 2010

I'll skip all of the good things that the Sanyo employees have already posted about this camera and get right to the point. The CG-102 has the ability to record in 1920x1080 (true 1080p) but your computer doesn't have the ability to display that resolution. I called the Sanyo Help Desk and they confirmed that it wasn't a software problem (I tried Windows Media Center, Windows Media Player and Apple's Quicktime Pro) but a hardware problem. They said that the computers couldn't play the 1080p resolution and I should record in a lower resolution (which I can already do using my digital camera). Shucks - foiled again.

 I love this camera but theres one thing.... - Jul 06, 2010

It says on the description above that "Reduce your chance of missing the perfect shot. The Dual Camera CG102 is designed for super fast start-up and shooting. With its tapeless design, the CG102 eliminates the need to queue up a video tape, allowing it to begin shooting in as little as 1.7 seconds. When the CG102 is powered on, closing the LCD display puts it in standby mode. Simply open the display and the CG102 automatically powers up and can begin immediately recording in as little as 1.7 seconds."

This worked for me for maybe 2 weeks but now when I hold the on/off button it takes maybe a minute to turn on or sometimes I have to click it in a specific order for it to turn on. Also when it is on and I put it in stand by mode, by clicking the on/off button, everything works fine until I close it then open it again. Instead of turning back on it shuts down. So if anyone knows how to fix this please tell me

 A Pain to Join Files - Jul 02, 2010

Whenever I record an event I start and stop the Camcorder several times. Most people do. On this Camcorder when you start and stop recording each time it will create a totally separate and new file. So let's say you are at a wedding and you start and stop recording 15 times...that means you have to spend a lot of time trying to join clips which are of the same event. Also, when you join files you are limited to 9 files and it's another additional-job to join them. I urged tech support to work toward an option that would allow a choice of one continuous file even if you stopped and started the Camcorder. Who knows what they will do?
Overall this is a good camera but needs this update.

 no internal memory - Jun 30, 2010

This camcorder has no internal memory, feels very awkward in the hand, and it doesn't come with a manual -- the booklet it comes with only tells you how to download the manual by connecting the camcorder to your computer. I did that, and still the manual wouldn't download. And you can't even download the manual on the Sanyon website. So I returned it and am going to get a Sony instead. I should have known better -- Sanyo is never good.

 OK for the money- update- NOT OK for the money - Jun 27, 2010

I like the size and weight. Easily fits in your shorts/pants pocket. Start up is quick. Other than that it's just alright. The dual zoom is kind of a gimmick. It's almost impossible to hold it still on the short zoom range without a tripod, and if you need to carry a tripod it kind of defeats the purpose of a tiny, pocketable device.

The still camera part is barely usable. The focus and "shutter" lag make it useless for anything moving. Image quality is actually pretty decent considering the 14mps jammed into the tiny sensor.

Video quality is also not very good. It's better than nothing and a little better than my Panasonic 10mp DMC FX37. Biggest benefit to the Sanyo is it's ability to zoom. I haven't had a chance to really use it outdoors, but indoors the video is poor. I didn't expect it to be great but I'm a little disappointed. Over all the video quality is very much inferior to my old Panasonic mini DV camcorder.

But, the convenience of the Sanyo is why I'm keeping it. Poor video is better than no video. If I had to use a bigger camera I would not carry it with me. Hopefully outdoor, daylight video will actually have some color and contrast.

Well I used it in an outdoor situation and it did not improve. Video is choppy, focus is soft, colors muted overall a huge disappointment. Unfortunately I was not able to check this before my 30 return policy expired. I will be sending it back anyway as the video is so poor I won't be using it. Still photos are lousy as well and it takes FOREVER to take a shot.

I just got the 4G iPhone and the video blows this camcorder away by a huge margin. So does the still image quality. Only drawback is no zoom, but the quality is so much better I'd rather live with that than the horrid stuff this camcorder spews out.

 Outstanding video quality, with a learning curve. - Jun 05, 2010

I was looking for an HD camcorder that would shoot good video in both 1080/60i and 720/60p, but that was small enough for me to carry around in my cargo pants pocket. I've had this for about two months now. This camcorder certainly fit the bill, and more. One outstanding feature is the dual zoom. When engaged, it basically puts a 2x telephoto lens into play, allowing everything from wide angle to 12x zooming without going into digital zoom, and without making the lens look like a gun barrel. There are also controls for ISO, white balance, exposure, and manual focus, among others. The learning curve is a little long, but if you take the time to learn about them and experiment with the different settings in different conditions, you can take outstanding video. I recorded my son's soccer game in 720/60P. Admittedly it was outdoors in bright sunlight - ideal conditions - but the video quality was jaw dropping. It even impressed my videographer friend. The stills are very good as well, but I haven't been able to get them to come out as nicely as my 8 MP Canon Digital Elph.

To keep the camcorder at this price point, Sanyo left out some essentials, like a mini hdmi cable, software, and a user's guide. You have to go online to the Sanyo website to get the user's guide in pdf format. The usb port is proprietary, and the included cable is literally 23 inches long, so you'll need a usb extender cable in addition to the mini hdmi. You can get both online for a few bucks plus shipping. It also does not include an AC power cord. The included battery charger does not connect to the camcorder. It charges the battery outside of the camcorder. I picked up an extra battery, as the battery lasted less than an hour on a full charge. You'll also need an sd card class 6 or better. For software, if you have Windows 7, the latest version of Windows Live Movie Maker can edit the video and burn it to DVD. I use multiAVCHD and ImgBurn (both are free) to burn AVCHD video to a regular DVD and watch it in full HD on my PS3 and Samsung blu-ray players. Consider a tripod as well. I have a tough time holding it steady. I picked up a monopod for $20 at wally world.

Bottom line, if you're looking for an easy to use camcorder, there are better options. If you're looking for a reasonably priced HD camcorder that shoots outstanding video and will fit in your pocket so you can actually take it somewhere, look no further.

 CG102 - Jun 02, 2010

Arrived quickly, 1/3 price of equivalent Sanyo cameracorders (at the time), all the menus of previous plus face chaser, and simple menu, 14 mp photos, 1080i and p and 60fps video. No software but in windows 7 moviemaker can be edited after you load a video and movie maker downloads the proper codec which it does but not right away. I'm still not sure when or how that happens. Moviemaker specs say it can but evidently not until a while after you try it. If it doesnt recognize your clip wait a couple days and it will---at least mine did.

 The value is in having it handy on your belt all the time - May 28, 2010

This is my first camcorder. I bought it to film HD vids for the grandparents of my newborn first son. For the reviews that say the color or brightness or white balance is off, those users need to visit the Sanyo site and click on the "Let's Shoot More Movies" tab/picture. There are dozens of tips, hints and video examples.

This little cam is fantastic. I've been using it non stop for the past 4 weeks. I've captured about 5 total hours. It's very comfortable on the wrist and convenient on the hip. I keep it on my belt in an old pouch I had. I had bought the Targus small expedition and the Swiss Gear Sherpa medium, but neither of them fit. I ended up buying a Lowepro Ridge 30 from Amazon and it fits great (plus cheaper than anything at Target or Walmart). Returned the other 2 bags.

Size was a big factor for me. I just know that if it's not unobtrusive, I won't carry it, and thus won't be able to use it, and the camera would just be a waste of money. This thing is the smallest. I went to see a similar model at Radio Shack before I bought it. I decided on the vpc-cg102 because it had the higher optical zoom for only about 15% more.

I considered the Samsung with the ergo angle, but it's a little bigger and the HD model is $400+. This little Xacti wins against Sony and Panasonic which only do proprietary AVCHD. I'm no camcorder expert, but it seems like not many editing suites can do AVCHD natively (requiring more horsepower and time on your PC to convert and then edit) and since every DVD and Media player box out there is MPEG4, why would I make life difficult for myself? And if it's not easy to edit, I'm not going to sit for hours at my PC in frustration. IMHO the Sonys at BestBuy are outpriced with the lowest HD capable model around $450. The JVCs they had a BBuy were on the clunky side. Samsung was the only real size competitor to the Xacti.

I bought the Patriot Class 4 SDHC 32GB card (low cost with $10 rebate and a review said it writes at 17+Mbs (which I have not verified). But I can say empirically, it does keep up with this Xacti's 16Mbs highest rate for full 60fps HD when in the camera recording. It records 5+ hours at 1080p/30fps (a lot). And this cam also accepts SDXC cards for future flash upgrade.

I also bought 2 batteries and a travel charger shipped from Hong Kong on eBay for less than $20. And I can report they work perfectly. So the complaints about battery life are inconsequential if you know how to shop. The batteries are ultra thin and tiny (smaller than a book of matches) so carrying 2 spare all charged up is not an issue.

Cons: Tough to find a case that fits the non standard dimensions. Battery life is about 60+ mins, but who cares if you've got 3 batteries? Picture focus lock takes about 1 min of practice to master. Auto focus is a little slow and can be fickle until you master it. Definitely not was fast as even an old Canon S41 (from 2004) sensor. But once u have the touch of the half-press then full press of the picture button it's 100% predictable. Just be prepared if you give the camera to a stranger who hasn't practiced for a quick shot. They will mess up and the picture will end up blurry. Also, the gun design absolutely requires a tripod for handless shooting. The camera will not stand up without it. I bought one of the cheapie $2 mini tripods with bendable legs off Amazon, but it's not nearly as good as the Joby gorillapod style. The metal covered legs have a springy memory property to them that makes it a pain to level the camera perfectly and have it stay. I got a "gorillapod" look-alike off eBay shipped from Hong Kong. It is 99% identical to the real Joby and it was under $4 (and yes, I have a real Joby to compare it to).

Pros: Pictures can be shot at 12M widescreen 16:9 or 14M 4:3. I prefer to leave it in 12 widescreen. The auto flash has a red-eye feature that only flashes once extra, so it doesn't totally blind the subjects. And it seems to be intelligent in sensing faces so it can save battery power and not flash when it doesn't sense a face. Love the timed picture delay feature countdown of big red circles. You flip the screen around to face the subjects and can see yourself when you jump into the picture. It has 4 red circles that count down and tell everyone when it's going off.

If you want a camera you can actually use and take with you to capture impromptu moments of life, this is Xacti is the One to get. If you're looking to do more setup (tripod, etc) and get better stability, microphone hookup, 80x+ zoom, 5 hour battery, etc, then look for a bigger, higher priced barrel type unit with more features.

Sanyo also makes this same camera in a flatter non-gun type body. It's called the vpc-gh1 and vpc-gh2. But the gun handle body is one of the best features.

Cons: It's not as high quality as other cameras in the $400+ range. The plastic is thin, especially the battery door, but it's not an issue. And the controls are not as tactile as a $1500 Sony. Photo pictures aren't as sharp as with a Canon elph, but the convenience of just having a camera and camcorder in one makes up for it. Auto focus is comparatively slow to the best compact quickshot cameras (about 1.5 secs).

 Very happy with this camcorder - May 28, 2010

I waited two months before submitting my review. Now that I've used both this Sanyo camcorder for a while and have figured out its nuances, I am happy to report I am quite pleased with this product. I bought a 32G card to use with it, and have had plenty of room for filming.

Things I like:
- fits in my back pocket of my pants. When we're traveling to Disneyland or elsewhere, I like that I don't have to keep track of a camera bag or otherwise hold it in my hands the entire time. The compact size is perfect, and it easily slips into one of my pockets. I just have to be careful not to sit on it too many times.

- HD quality. The quality of the video is better than my last, larger and more expensive camcorder.

- pistol grip. Easy to hold onto while filming. Image stabilization works well - hardly ever any shaking in the video. I don't use a tripod.

- Zoom works great. Decent video even at full zoom.

- face regognition. Pretty cool to see the focus automatically centering on each person's face when you film. Works well.


Things I don't like:
- ISO adjustment. Other reviews complained about the brightness (or lack of brightness) in the video or pictures. This is true - the images to come out dark....unless you adjust the ISO settings. Now I have it down to a science - before filming I make sure the ISO settings are at 800 or so to ensure proper brightness. When taking pictures I adjust it down to 200 or 400. It takes 2 seconds to change the settings once you figure it out. It's lame that I have to do a manual override when switching from photo to video, but really not much hassle now that it's routine. Both my photo and video quality look great.

- Lens cap. It attaches in a strange place and pops off too easily. It doesn't really get in the way during filming, but just doesn't rest in a natural place.


Overall, I gave this 4 out of 5 stars. I would have given this 5 stars is not for the need for manual ISO adjustment.

 Amazing Little Camera - May 22, 2010

I have not had an opportunity to run this camera thru all the comprehensive tests, but so far, I am highly impressed! To some, it may appear to be a little awkward to hold a camera as if you were holding a pistol, but you will find that's a highly stable method of holding the camera. The detail of the still and video results are truly HD, capturing the minutia of the slightest detail. Please be aware of a couple of considerations: 1. If you take a picture in max resolution, you will have a 25MB Jpg. 2. If you engage the face-chaser option while filming a video, the result will appear as if you were taking the video from the back seat of a motorcycle on a country road.
Will provide a follow-up review on an upcoming trip to Virgina

 Very bad ligth balance - May 17, 2010

Easy to use the controls.
I returned the camera because it does not work inside. Lots of shade on the faces with backlight.
I have a 20 year old camcorder that has better low light quality then this camera.
Changed the setting to be more sensitive but it did not improve much. The pictures where also very bad in low light area's. No use having so many megapixels if the quality is so bad.
The little clip to the SD card space is very flimsy.
Looks very fancy but no quality.
I understand it is a cheap camera but expected better picture quality.

 Good, not great camera but what you want for the right price - May 13, 2010

Firstly, this camera is good. It gets the job done for all our stills and it takes HD video. The quality is great compared to many point-and-shoot cameras out there. The camera is the perfect utility camera for people wanting something that serves many needs.
The battery that comes with it is very insufficient, you will likely need a better battery.
The lens cover is cheap plastic and doesnt slide over the entire lens surface like most round-shaped rubber covers, instead it locks over two small groves on the case. Ours broke within the first week and I cannot find a replacement anywhere on the internet. Because of the odd shape of the lens this is a frustrating problem that I cannot resolve with the camera.

 GREAT buy for the money - May 11, 2010

This is a great and easy to use camera. It starts up quickly and has two separate buttons, one for video recording and one for still shots, whichever you need RIGHT THEN. It's compact and lightweight. The only thing I wish it had is a wrist strap, although you do have to grip your hand around the entire thing to use it, so the likelihood of dropping it isn't much. NOTE: be sure to buy a good enough memory card to get the most out of your camera. I recommend a class 6 sdhc card with a transfer rate of 15mb/s if you're buying a full HD camera. A camera can only do as good as your memory card can process.

 Low price, low quality. Look elsewhere - May 07, 2010

For what it claims to offer, this camera seems like a great deal. However, I found it to have extremely poor low light quality, very slow auto focus, and next to useless still photos capabilities. I compared it to my Panasonic still camera (roughly the same price) with HD (720) video quality, shooting simultaneous video with both of them, and truly, there was no comparison. In my living room at night, with all the house lights on, I couldn't even make out the video picture on this camera. It was grainy, dark, out of focus, and of exceedingly poor overall quality. My still camera won hands down, and that's not saying much. In the daytime with sunny conditions, the video quality was adequate, but even still I found the still camera shot better video. The image stabilization was less than stellar, and shake was a common problem on most of the videos I shot.

I'm not saying this camera is actually awful. The sound quality recorded was better than my still camera, but really, I would look elsewhere if you're looking for a dedicated video camera. I ended up returning mine....

 Can't go wrong with this! - May 03, 2010

Everytime I purchase any electronic product, I do a decent amount of research before choosing it, as I did before buying this camcorder. Some of the important features for me were:

- External drives to store videos
- Video quality
- Photo quality
- Video/photo quality in low light settings
- Flash for Photo
- Camera Lens size
- Cosmetic design
- Batter life
- Ability to shoot yourself, while seeing how it shows on the video
- Price

The contenders were:

- Flip line (UltraHD, MinoHD)
- Sanyo Xacti line (CG-102, CG-20, etc.)
- Kodak line (Zi8, PlaySport)


All of the above had pros and cons.

Flip: I didn't choose Flip because it didn't have ability to have external storage, limiting # of hours I can shoot, and I also read their camera feature sucked.

Kodak: Kodak Playsport was the cheapest with $130, and it was really durable. But it was ugly. It also lacked stereo audio, and bad Camera feature. Zi8 looked much nicer, but it lacked good Camera feature. Both were bad in low lighting.

Sanyo: CG102 was the best. It had the biggest lens of all of the choices, zoom levels were not even comparable as it was so good compared to other choices, you stored everything on the SDHC card, and it had full Camera feature, such as abilty to control ISO, and shuter speed. Some had complained about it not begin good at low lighting, but this one being the only camera with ability to control ISO, I don't know how other camcorders can be any better. Also, you can flip the LCDs back and forth, so you can watch yourself while filming yourself, which is great. It also has "real" flash, not the stupid LED ones, for the Camera. Neither Flip nor Kodak has "real" Flash. CG102 also has stereo mic. One of the major downside, however, is that CG102 was the most expensive of the bunch with $230, which was almost twice the cost of Kodak Playsport.

At any event, CG102, blew the ballpark out when compared against any of its competitors. I have been using it for past few days, and I love it, and it's everything I needed in a camcorder/camera combo.

 A disappointment - May 03, 2010

I bought this camera for my girlfriend to send me videos while I am in Iraq. Overall she liked the camera. The problem was the autofocus; it had a hard time keeping up with quick movements. Also the colors were washed out quite a bit. I had to make a lot of adjustment to the video settings on my end, just to make the videos "watchable". She tried messing with all the settings, but still had problems with the autofocus and colors. So...had to send the camera back. If you use the camera in good lighting and aren't recording quick movements, then this camera might be for you. Just wasn't for us.

 Low Price, Lower your expectations - Apr 18, 2010

I've had a Sanyo CG102 for a couple of weeks. It's okay for what it is, but honestly, an iPhone will take much prettier video. This is a pocket camera, and as such, you should not expect much more.

I took lots of different shots in lots of different kinds of lighting. The auto-white balance is extreme -- a close up of a bright green lamp shade will turn gray after a few seconds. The only way to stop it is to use the white balance programming option, which I found unpredictable at best, especially in low indoor-only light.

The size of the video is good -- definitely beats standard definition.

The battery is very small -- lasts maybe 75 or 90 minutes when in use. You must use the charger, and there is no A/C adapter included, but a 5-volt plug-in hole is available. I could not find a battery meter on screen, but it will tell you that you're about to run out. You must also provide your own SDHC memory card. I prefer to take the card out and pop it into an external reader, which was fine. No external microphone jack. And an 3-prong RCA cable is provided (2 for audio, one for video). [CORRECTION: There is a battery meter, but it is only accessible while you are not recording. So, you can't tell while recording something long if you are running out of juice.]

Low light is awful -- extremely grainy or underlit. It's really a daytime camera, where the video is much clearer. Also, zooming in and hand-holding is not going to look good. Zoomed all the way out, or with a tripod are the only viable options. A tripod of some sort would be required since the vertical nature of the device makes it not likely to stand on its own. Stabilization is sub-par. And the zoom button is a vertical, thumb-operated switch that does not make for smooth recording or slow zooms.

I took some footage inside a loud nightclub and was surprised that the audio was not blown out by the volume and bass. That's nice! There's no volume meter on screen so, you don't know what you're getting. [UPDATE: The automatic audio attenuation is overdone, leaving the sound tinny, high-pitched and hard to listen to on play back in some situations. No way to turn it off.]

As another reviewer said, the files are MP4 and not native to Windows Vista's Movie Maker or Media Player. (Free Winamp can play the audio.) But you'd need to get some kind of converter. Mac's iMovie worked fine, though. [UPDATE: Quicktime & UStream Producer will play MP4 videos fine on Vista. And Windows 7 will, too.]

And the still photo button is pretty useless -- very slow. It's best use is to get the camera to focus on something that the video button is not doing very well.

The menu's are okay -- better than Sony's.

Also, I had the same problem with the soundtrack not matching the video, and that took a lot of time to correct with editing. And I also had a problem where the camera would not focus at all without tapping on the device -- like the motor was stuck. Not good! It's brand new. The focus is kind of slow when it works.

I'd give it 2 stars, but with the low-price of this product, one can only expect a simplified result. And that's what it does best. A simple, fairly easy way to capture video moments. You're not going to Hollywood with any of this footage, and trying to get "great" shots is just frustrating.

I bought this as an interim camera because I don't have much cash on hand, but I wanted "something" to capture moments going by. Now, I'd recommend searching for something else, really -- save for another month or two and get a mid-priced Canon or Sony.

 Good product - Apr 14, 2010

As a user of the earlier model, the Sanyo HD-2, I waited for this model to be released. However, the video files are not playable on my computer, using Windows Media Player, no matter what resolution I set it at. Even my old Sanyo (also using Mpeg-4 technology) cannot play its videos. You can, however play the videos on QuickTime, and some others. The videos are also not compatible with Windows Movie Maker, but can be played on Windows Movie Maker Live, which many reviewers claim is inferior to the original Windows Movie Maker. I purchased the Nero Smart Suite 10, which works well with the CG102.

So if you are willing to drop using Windows Media Player, and Windows Movie Maker there are positives here. It is very easy to use, takes excellent videos and stills, and is wonderfully compact like its predecessor. The price is very good (I paid $229.00). Also it is faster to power up, has a 33% larger monitor (3"), face detection, and some other nice goodies.

The processor is a bit faster than the earlier Sanyo, and the wider angle of the lens is a much needed improvement. The picture quality of both the videos and stills are a noticeable improvement.

To summarize, plus is the small size and weight, the picture and video quality, and the price. The negatives are the pool stereo separation (typical of these small cameras), and the lack of compatibility of most versions of Windows Media Player, and Windows Movie Maker.