Sanyo VPC-ZH1R Dual Camera High Definition Video w/30x Optical Zoom (Red)

I wanna keep this review short and simple but I hope it helps. This camcorder can be described in 1 word, FANTASTIC!!!. First off, I wanna say that I was shocked when I opened the box and found a carrying case, a mini HDMI cable, a spare battery, and a 1 GB SD card that came with the camcorder and just receiving the extra battery alone was worth it. The reason I bought this camcorder was because I needed an HD camcorder to shoot videos to YouTube. This camera shoots in 1280x720 HD at 30 FPS and looks very crisp when playing back on your HDTV with the included Mini HDMI cable. This camcorder also shoots good still images at 2 megapixels but I would recommend only using this for videos as it was not meant to be used as a camera to take pictures.

One major plus about this camcorder is its autofocus capabilities. I have been able to get something up to 1 centimeter away from the lens and it will still focus This camcorder has very good autofocus for being at this low price. The camcorder adjusts very quickly and is overall up to par with some higher-end HD camcorders.

One downside I have is with the software that is included. It is not the best software but you really don't need to use the software included with the camcorder to pull any videos from the camcorder or to edit any of the video. the only plus about the software is that it has export to Youtube which is okay if you just send the video without any form of editing.Another downside I have is with the image stabilization at long range. The camcorder tends to look like it is shaking when you're zoomed in all the way.

Overall, this camcorder is worth the money you will spend on it but it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the higher-end HD camcorders from Sony and Canon. I see it as a plus that Sanyo actually includes the extra carrying case, mini HDMI cable, spare battery, and 1 GB SD card. Hopefully this review will help anyone in their decision towards buying this camera.

UPDATE 1: I recently looked into the menu options and found that this camera has manual controls to change the quality of the picture or video you take. You can manually adjust the focus, aperture, and shutter controls. I wouldn't recommend adjusting these controls unless you know what changing them will do. Another thing that is amazing about this camera is the battery life. I was able to get a little over 3 hours of battery life out of 1 battery. Charging these batteries takes about 2-3 hours.

After doing much soul searching as well as researching for the best bargain camcorder, I settled on this one. After receiving it and shooting tests clips for over a week, I cannot find anything disappointing with this purchase. The video quality is very good and it focuses quickly. You will need a trip pod to stablize the camera when using the 30x opital zoom, darn near impossible to hold steady without getting a wobble. The plus was it came with extra battery and all the cables you would need.

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This camcorder is great! I does exactly what I expected and more. The price is amazing. I've played around with it for a while and the only problem I can find is that when you zoom in with the 30x optical, it's hard to keep a steady hand, but that's the same with any camera. Awesome that it comes with two batteries, A/V cable, HDMI cable, USB cable, charger, 1GB SD card, and a case. I definitely suggest this camera.

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*(I Included a video I filmed & performed professionally with this cam) I really love this cam.......It was a gift but, I use it for video editing and its great compared to my other Expensive cam...........and it's video quality is great, if you want better quality try the class 6 cards and you will get better quality, But it's already great with a class 2 card. Make sure you set it to the correct zoom for HD 30x or Digital zoom..........If recorded Indoors you will need proper lighting & for a steady shot as usual you need a Tripod. Not really good with pictures but Overall the best cam for video and lightweight!!!! -17Musicsouth Ent.

**Video edited with After Effects CS4

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I bought this mainly because it was cheap, portable, and supposedly has HD recording ability.

Positives and what's included... It has optical zoom, which for camera noobies out there means it has REAL zoom and not that fake digital zoom. It can handle SD cards up to 32GB, which is great. The bundle included with the camera has an HDMI cable, USB cable, and AC Adapter cable. HDMI cable, unfortunately, does not connect your camera to computers with HDMI ports, only TVs. In order to connect to the computer you have to use the USB cable. Bundle also comes with all the necessary software for whatever you need. There is flash on the camera, but only for still pictures (which is another nice feature). The bundle includes a 1GB SD card. This should be used as an emergency card only, as you only get 20 minutes of HD recording with it (though a bit longer on regular settings). Two battery packs are included in the bundle which is awesome considering most other devices require that you have to purchase any additional battery packs separately. It's nice to have the emergency battery in-hand. The camera can also be used as a webcam, which is nice since it's much better quality than the webcam that's built into my laptop.

The shortcomings... indoor recording is pretty bad. It's not the worst but it's not very good at all. It seems to work very well outdoors. Focusing is a problem. Auto-focus rarely ever really focuses completely on whatever I'm trying to record, and it also takes forever for the auto-focus to kick in. It's actually rather annoying and I have no choice but to use manual focus. This wouldn't be a problem if I could easily change focus mid-recording, but that's not how the camera operates. You have to stop recording, manually focus, then start recording again. Yeah... not good. I've been playing around with all the focus settings to see if I can improve the auto-focus but so far it's not much better. The HD footage never seems to be trully HD, but outdoor footage does look very nice.

Recommendations... if you're looking for a bargain camera that's portable and more versatile than those Flip Ultra HD cameras (since they don't take SD cards, you're stuck with the Flip's built-in limited memory storage) then this is the camera for you. The bundle has a lot of things to make the camera even more worthwhile. I recommend getting a different carrying case than what's included in the bundle. The case doesn't completely seal, so the chances of an extra SD card or battery slipping out is always there. I wouldn't risk it.

Overall, I don't regret the purchase.