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Takes very nice still pictures also. Don't even need the digital zoom. Took many short movies of the scenery on a trip to Utah. It's easy to use, too. Looks just as great at home on the TV. HD quality picture is superb, even when played back on our big 42" HD TV.
Zion National Park was amazing. Love the small portable size. The zoom capability is phenomenal. Battery life isn't bad at all.
The trick (and only difficulty we had) was to purchase a "fat 32" format off-line drive, not to try to reformat one which was originally manufactured with a different std. The optional wide angle lense allows the autofocus to work more easily, and also makes it easy to hold the camera very steady. Outdoors, however, the standard lense works out well. Indoors at night we had some mediocre results at first, but this is not a problem now.
Switching back to "normal mode" instantly resets about 10 internal settings to enhance low-light shots.I really enjoy this camera, and recomend it to anyone who can deal with a few technicalities to then achieve amazing results in an easy, even lazy way. To improve the color and sensitivity for indoor use, I tweaked the many control options toward indoor/night use, and now leave it that way. I'm a tall guy, but yes, it fits in my pocket just fine, and that matters. I just hope my review is not too late, hopefully prospective buyers of updated models will see this.The ease of use with our widescreen is key. We just pop the camera in it's charging base and can randomly access any video we have ever taken from the easy chair with the tiny remote provided. Better than cable hi def. Without the wide angle lense, this camera has a rather long lense angle.
The trick is the little switch for "simple mode"--in good light I simply switch to simple mode, where the camera works beautifully with plain vanilla full high def. A few negative reviews did not stop me, and I'm very glad I went this direction. A 500 gigabyte drive holds years of hi-def from this camera.The video quality is superb outdoors. I usually leave the wide angle at home, and this way the camera still fits in my pocket.
I won't buy another Sanyo again.At the time, I didn't have a credit card which automatically doubles warranty. It was an okay camcorder to be honest, but I paid full price (688) and now it's out of warranty (1 year and a couple of months) and no chance of getting it repaired. I definitely recommend using one regardless of the brand now.
Go with a better brand that supports their product and customers. This, too crapped out and they now tell me it is out of warrenty. Finally, they replaced it with a refubished one. Don't waste your time or money on one of these. I purchased the XaCTI HD camera and it failed several times. I sent it in for repair three times without success. They completely ripped me off with this peice of SH**.
Good luck. The HD picture is clear but it changes the color all the time while watching the video, it is very disturbing. It definately has a big problem with stability. We bought another HD camcorder and it is great. We've returned this item within three weeks. The picture quality is very poor and unstable. I do not recommend this product to anyone.
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