Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1 Review

The E-1's viewfinder display in standby mode is ready for either video recording or snapping a photo at the push of a button. In the upper left are the still image settings - 6Megapixel-High quality, and we have room for 277 more pictures. In the upper right are the motion video settings - TV-SHQ is 640x480 @ 30fps at the highest quality bit rate, and we can record 33 minutes and 51 seconds of action. Whenever the zoom is changed an onscreen gauge is shown for a few seconds.

This is Rec Ready for photo mode. Here it displays the pertinent photography information. Here the red dot shows that in this case the AF system failed to focus, if it succeeds, it will show a green dot. The flash is set to auto, aperture if 5.6 and the shutter speed is 1/30th of a second.

While recording video, you will see the rec video camera and the REC with the red dot on the screen. You will also see a counter that lets you know how long you have been recording. Under that you will see that "Mode B" of the camera's anti shake mode is activated. On the other side you still see the basic camera information 6Megapixel-High mode with no flash.

Here you can see the Lamp Scene mode. This is used to amplify light, by boosting the ISO when shooting in low light shooting situations. It is recognizable by the small lamp icon under the flash icon.

Scene modes: AUTO (default - camera automatically selects the scene mode), Sports (faster shutter speeds), Portrait (optimized for "people" pictures with blurred background), Landscape (infinity focus), Night View (flash illuminate close subject but also capture background night scenery), Snow/Beach (for very bright outdoor shots), Fireworks (fireworks at night) or Lamp (low light non-flash photography).

Recording Menu 1:

Video Quality - TV-SHQ, TV-HQ, WEB-SHQ, WEB-HQ, MIC (audio only)
Photo Quality - 10M, 6M-H, 6M-S, 16:9, 3M, 2M, .3M
Scene Modes - Auto, Sports, Portrait, Landscape, Night Portrait, Snow & Beach, Fireworks, Lamp
Filter - No Filter, Cosmetic, Monochrome, Sepia
Flash - Auto, Forced, No
Self Timer - Off, 2 sec, 10 sec

Recording Menu 2:

Image Stabilizer - Photo View, Video View, Off
Focus - Total Range, Normal, Manual, Super Macro
Focus Mode - 9 point Autofocus, Spot Focus
Exposure Measure - Multi, Center, Spot
ISO - Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
White Balance - Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Fluorescent, Incandescent, One Push