Sanyo officially joined the Panasonic group as of December 21st, 2009. This decision was “due to the rapid decline of the global economy,” according to Sanyo North America president Masami Murata. “This alliance will maximize and optimize Sanyo’s corporate value and will open the way for our company to realize further business development.” Sanyo will maintain its listing of common stock, the “SANYO” brand name, and its business identity.

Sanyo North America has a consumer solutions division, which develops Eneloop rechargeable batteries, sound recorders, Xacti camcorders, and various other consumer electronics devices.

New Xacti “Dual Cameras”

Sanyo is targeting a market that sits in between conventional camcorders and pocket camcorders. It’s focusing on flash-based camcorders that shoot high definition video. Sanyo actually produced the first flash memory camcorder in 2003 and the first HD flash memory camcorder in 2006. In 2009 it released the first full HD 1080p camcorder that shoots at 60 frames per second.

This year it’s announcing a pair of full HD flash memory camcorders – the VPC-CS1 and the VPC-SH1 (shown below).

VPC-CS1: $300 MSRP, available in February

Looks really nice. Very thin but still features a flip-out LCD and full HD recording (1920×1080). Will feature compatibility with Apple’s iFrame video format.

• 1.06” thick
• “Smallest, lightest full HD camcorder with optical zoom” – 10x optical zoom
• Sound zoom feature for positional sound recording
• MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 codec
• Eye-Fi compatibility – camera automatically recognizes Eye-Fi cards

VPC-SH1: $400 MSRP, available in February

Small, full HD recording with 30x optical zoom. Features a 35mm wide-angle lens and takes 10-megapixel still photos. Also compatible with Apple’s iFrame video format.

• 1920×1080 (60i)
• 35mm wide-angle lens for photos (10 megapixel) and videos
• Available in black and red
• Top-mounted record button (located above lens), along with standard record button on back
• Sound zoom feature for positional sound recording
• MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 codec
• Eye-Fi compatibility – camera automatically recognizes Eye-Fi cards

ICR-XPS01 Sound Recorder: Starting at $150, available in March

Linear PCM and MP3 recording. Doubles as an MP3 player, too, with playlist functionality.

• 2GB microSD card included
• Background noise reduction
• FM tuner

There’s a $200 kit available that includes the sound recorder and includes a cradle with built-in 2W speakers.

By Shane McGlaun

Before the global economy went into the crapper, many businesses held quarterly or more frequent meetings to talk strategy and other items. Many firms flew employees in from all around the country to attend these meetings. With the poor economy today, flying people in has become too expensive and many businesses are going to video conferencing instead.

Samsung has announced a new video conferencing LCD called the VC240 that integrates all of the components needed for HD desktop video conferencing into a 24-inch LCD that works as a computer monitor as well.

The VC240 uses V2oIP for communications and is compatible with all other VoIP systems and SIP control units. Video is compressed with the H.264 codec and the camera is a 5-megapixel unit with a noise-canceling microphone. Contrast ratio on the LCD is 1000:1 and the VC240 will ship this fall for $1,999.

Samsung

Short Version: Samsung has put out another well-priced, nicely-featured camcorder in the SMX-F34. If you’re looking for a little more than a simple handheld flash memory camcorder but don’t want to pay top dollar for a high-definition video camera, this model deserves a closer look thanks to marathon battery life, good image quality, 16GB of built-in storage, and a 34x optical zoom all at under $300.

Overview and Features

The Samsung SMX-F34 features the following (full specs here):

• 1/6-inch CCD image sensor
• 30mm lens with 34x optical zoom
• 2.7-inch swivel LCD
• 16GB of built-in storage, plus support for SD(HC) and MMC+ memory cards
• H.264 video codec (MainConcept AVC/AAC — .MP4 files) at up to 720×480 resolution (see sample file below)
• Up to 3 hours of battery life
• MSRP of $299.99, but it’s available for around $250 just about everywhere

If you’ve seen my review of the SC-MX20, the SMX-F34 is similar except that it’s got built-in memory, longer battery life, and has a few new features like time-lapse recording and the ability to shoot still images.

Video Quality

Video is shot using the MainConcept AVC/AAC H.264 codec, which produces .mp4 files. The files are easy to work with using most popular video editing software. I personally use Sony Vegas, which handles the files just fine. I’ve had trouble with files from similarly-equipped JVC and Panasonic camcorders, though. The last thing I want to do before editing video is to have to convert it to a usable format first. The files from Samsung camcorders have been usable straight off of the camera — no fuss, no muss.

Here’s an unedited sample file that shows off the 34x zoom and that you can use to see if this camera will work with your video editing software. The file was shot about two hours before dusk, full zoom, with image stabilization turned off.

Sample Video File (8.3 megabytes)

Files can be read directly off SD or MMC cards or transferred via USB. Transfer time for a 500-megabyte file takes about three minutes.

Battery Life

Samsung pegs the battery life at three hours. I was able to shoot video continuously for two and a half hours, so that three-hour claim likely factors in multiple shots with breaks in between. Whatever the case, I never travelled with the power cord as the battery life was always long enough that I didn’t worry much about it at all.

Additional Features

Aside from just recording video, the SMX-F34 features still image capture, face detection, time-lapse recording, various scene modes, YouTube uploading, image stabilization, windscreen, and more. The camera’s handle swivels 180 degrees, which makes it easy to hold at most angles.

Here’s a short clip of the time-lapse recording function:

Recommendation:

I think Samsung’s line of flash memory camcorders still represent the best value for the money thanks to the long battery life and good codec support. If you don’t need or want an HD camcorder and you like the idea of having 16GB of on-board memory in case you forget an SD card, you want to take still photos, and you like the time lapse feature, then the $249 street price of the SMX-F34 is pretty tough to beat.

Otherwise, if you can find the SC-MX20 for around $200, that’s a great deal too. You just lose the still images, the time lapse, and you’ll need to supply a memory card.

Samsung SMX-F34 [Samsung.com]