The Sanyo VPC-PD1 - The best value pocket HD camera (AFAIK).
Monday, May 9, 2011 at 12:39PM 
I’ve always been very interested in 3D and therefore managed to convince myself that the Sony MHS-FS3 would be a good first 3D camera for me to experiment with. I decided that even if I ended up rarely using the 3D functionality – it would still be a good pocket HD video camera anyway.
So I waited patiently for the camera to come out. Eventually, five months after the camera was first shown at CES, 3D footage shot by early adopters in Japan started to appear on youtube. Unfortunately it looked terrible, shaky, out of focus, washed out and blocky.
So I quickly cancelled my £220 pre-order for the MHS-FS3 and decided instead to go on a hunt to find the pocket HD camera that offered the best bang for the buck, and I think I found it in the £70 Sanyo VPC-PD1.
I bought this camera without reading any reviews – this wasn't by choice, I just couldn’t find any. However it turns out that this camera is better known as the VPC-PD2 in the rest of the world, it came out in the last quarter of 2010 but appears to have been largely ignored or forgotten about. This may be a result of its initial high price point of £200. At that price it may be a difficult sell, even taking into account the camera’s additional features over it's competition. However when it is re-evaluated at the discounted price of approx £70 (eBay), it offers outstanding value for money. Video review below.
UPDATE 09/05/11
A couple of links....
The PDF Manual on the German Sanyo Website
A 2 minute montage of 1080p clips posted on YouTube (this was a special request - Be aware that your computer will need to have some serious horsepower to play 1080p Flash video smoothly).
Reader Comments (22)
Another great review!
need to have some serious horsepower to play 1080p
and this is real OOLOLLO i've tried to play and it played with breaks LOLOLOL i guess i dont have a strong horse over here ehehhe
nice review again
Certainly a better camera than most pocketcams available, specially for that price. Excellent review, thanks for sharing.
Hi there, how does this compare to the VPC CS1 you reviewed earlier? Does this trump the CS1 in terms of video/audio quality?
Thanks!
@HK. I'm pretty sure the video quality will be identical...but I gave the CS1 back so can't do a direct comparison. It's down to personal preference, but for some reason after using both, I prefer the PD1, I keep it in my work bag all the time. I probably would have left the CS1 at home.
@Techmoan, thanks for the reply and thoughts! I thought I'd ask because I couldn't really see a (big) difference between the CS1's video quality when compared to the PD1, although the PD1 does look better, likely because it was a newer model.
I think the CS1's colour was probably the biggest single reason why you were reluctant to put it into your work bag! :P
I bought the Samsung HMX E10 recently, it seems to perform quite well, in my layman's opinion, and seems to do better in low light compared to other similar sized camcorders, likely because of its larger aperture. Check it out if you have the time!
Hi there
I enoy reading your product reviews. Just one question which is about the battery. What is the lenght of time I can use the unit before the battery needs recharging. I have just purchased one from e-bay following your review as I was after somthing better than my ZX1 cam.
regards
What a fantastic review. Really enjoyed it. Thanks to this review i'm going to be purchasing one today!
Hello Techman, it´s possible to use this camera with a 180º lens like this??
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/15mm-detachable-180-degree-wide-angle-fish-eye-lens-for-cell-phones-and-compact-digital-cameras-39814
Thanks you, for this blog
IS NOT HERE SORRY
I'm so glad that I stumbled across your Web site. The reviews are delightful: smart, accessible, clear-eyed, enthusiastic but also properly skeptical. I saw the Sanyo come up on Woot.com and quickly bought three at an embarrassingly low $90 each. Can I ask what method(s) you use to download the video? I have a Mac and the Sanyo downloader seems to work only with Windows. My Mac recognizes the still photos on the Sanyo when connected, but not the video files. It will download the video files into iPhoto and I'm in the process of transferring one to iMovie but it looks like it will take an hour to transfer 12 minutes of video. Have you found an easier way?
I
@Voxoford
Hi - and thanks for the comments.
Your Mac is set up to auto-load iPhoto when a camera is attached. It then starts downloading the photos.
iMovie doesn't auto recognise video cameras like this - and to make things less confusing you would be better off switching off the option that auto-loads iPhoto because when you attach your camera you don't want iPhoto loading every time - some times you'll want iMovie instead.
So go into iPhoto Preferences>General> Change "Connecting Camera Opens" - to show "No Application"
Then open up iMovie, and connect your camera to the Mac - iMovie's importer window should open up - but if it doesn't then click on File>Import from Camera
If all this doesn't work for you, you could always choose File > Import Movies> then navigate to the folder containing the .mp4 files on the camera and import this way.
Importing video does take a while - expect to leave your Mac importing for a couple of hours (at least).
HI there
Great site and great reviews.
What speed/class of card do you recommend to use with this device to ensure no dropped frames etc...
Would a class 6 be sufficient or is a class 10 needed?
Based on your review I've ordered a PD1, but now need to order a card asap to stick in it when it arrives, and I'm conscious of the great variations in price between class of card and capacity.
Id rather spend the money on a class6 32Gb than a class10 16Gb as long as its going to work ok.
Many Thanks! :)
@Inspector Gadget. Yes, Class 6 is fine. I use a class 6 in mine and haven't had any issues at all. If I were you though I'd get a couple of 16GB cards rather than one 32Gb one. Having too much one one card can get a bit unwieldy when it comes to importing the footage into a PC.
Thanks for the quick response! :)
Good advice about splitting the size.
Class 6 it is! :D
PD1 arrived an hour ago, very quickly from ebay seller. It looks a nice bit of kit, and that that price something that can come out with me all the time and get knocked about without any tears if it gets dropped, lost or water in it. It looks much more expensive than it was too, which is always nice for bragging rights.
Thanks again! :D
I saw the review and picked up a PD2. It has some features I like: wide angle, non-fixed focus, optical zoom.
On the other hand, it has a few issues, too. The quality of video and images is surprisingly poor for something that says it has a 10MP sensor. I have a Kodak Zi8 (advertised as a 5MP sensor, research says it's really 1.6MP) which provides a more detailed image than this.
I guess I should probably do a comparison review of my own. In the meantime, if you're in the market you can probably find a Kodak Zi8 for a similar price and you'll enjoy better image quality if you do.
Here's a quick video to compare the two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpNC7A_tNWY
Zi8 has now been discontinued.
Didn't know James May did camera reviews :p lol
Nice review - think I might just purchase this camera
I saw your video-review on YT, very nice and pro! Im looking for a small device like that for documentary purposes and thought, this sanyo would be just the right thing. But when i went through german amazon, i saw a lot of compliants about the sanyo. This leeds me to the question: is it possible that there is a weak QC with producing that kind of mass-market devices, and/or a massive difference in the producing (sensors, optics, placing)? it is not possible that some authentic professionals are excited about the cam while other buyers complaining *much*? what do you mean? i was myself working in quality controls a while back; i know whats up in the (german) industry...
Do you think the Sony Bloggie Touch or the Sanyo PD1 is better is ?
@John. Never tried the Bloggie Touch...but it has no optical zoom or stabilisation (as far as I know)
The Sony Bloggie Touch does have image stabilisation, but no optical zoom like you said. Have you heard of the Samsung HMX-U20? It also has a 3X optical zoom, but no flash. The Samsung HMX-U20 does have a metal tripod mount, a hand strap is included in the box, it has touch sensitive buttons, and a timelapse feature.