Official Sanyo FH1/ FH1A/ HD2000 owners thread - Page 6

It does work on my FH1

As ILG posted, you do have to copy the .bin file to the SD card root, press the PLAY button, MENU button, find Format and move the SET button to the LEFT for 2 seconds.

You will see the current firmware version along with the option (YES/NO, default NO) to upgrade the firmware. Simply press SET on NO or press the MENU button again exit.

No harm to check and easy to do.

quoted for future reference

Can I upgrade my FH1A to the new firmware 1.2 of the FH1?
If the hardware differences between FH1 and FH1A?
Now I have version 1.0.0.
Thanks.

Does anyone else have a problem with changing the exposure measurement setting, its always on multi, I can't change it to anything else.

I've got mine on CENTER. So I guess no. FH1 circa first weekend in May 2009.

You might try to reset factory defaults, then go about changing a bunch of settings to how you like them. You might take notes of what those are beforehand.

Mine go something like...

RECORDING MENU

1)
video = FullHR (1080p60)
photo = 8m-H (8MP)
scene select = auto
filter = NO
flash = OFF
self timer = OFF

2)
video stabilization = yes
photo stabilization = yes
focus = standard
focus mode = spot (S-aF)
exposure measure = center
ISO = 50

3)
white balance = AWB (auto)
exposure = P (auto)
face chaser = off
photo wide-D = off
high sensitivity = HS
digital zoom = off

Most everything else is default afaik. Except for the one about keeping count when naming files. Which I turned on, defaults to off.

Thanks Shadow, resetting did solve the problem.

One question about the Sanyo HD2000.

Is it possible to change from say 1920x1080 60fps recording to the 448x336 240fps mode on the fly (for 10 seconds), and then automatically (or voluntarily) revert & continue recording at the first mode ?

Or do you have every time to go to Menu, change the recording settings, and then record accordingly ?

Thank you.

I am afraid you have to go to the Menu to make the change if you want to switch resolution.

How about the Xacti HD2000 remote control ?
Does it control playback only, or can you start/stop recording as well ?

The HD2000 remote is a full function unit. You can control playback, start/stop recording, zoom, change menu items, etc. You cannot switch between recording and playback since this is a physical switch. Also the remote on/off button only functions when connected in the dock.

The remote is pretty comprehensive. start/stop video recording. take a still image. zoom in and out. enter menu and select stuff. Even power off. (although power on doesn't seem to work that way.)

It's almost the preferred way to snap pictures on a tripod. Probably a side effect of my cheap photo tripod. But every time that I have my hand on the arm to pan / adjust, just that much is enough to affect stabilization and therefor the sharpness of a given image. Not to mention the impact of pushing the button on the camcorder. The remote takes a lot of those variables out of play. The one downside is it only senses the remote on the FRONT of the camcorder.

Is there anyway to reocrd a clip stop then continue on with the same clip instead of it making a new file everytime you hit the record button?

Like a PAUSE button?

I prefer separate clips since I'm syncing external audio to it. I just tried a couple of things and pretty much any button on my FH1 either stops the recording entirely, or does nothing. So I guess not.

A pause button would have been great but i guess not, too bad.

It is very easy to Join individual clips using the built-in Edit function under Playback Menu 2.

I can't seem to find that information. Searching on focus or lock yields zero results on the front page. Looks like older posts shows it though (a small link on the bottom of the page).

Thanks for the tip. It looks like options menu 2 (just below recording menu / wrench icon) -> shortcuts (1st option). You've got to scroll up to AF and AE lock, but it's there. Wow, this should cure my photo issues. It always tries to refocus and gets it wrong too often. I like it, very useful. This cam just got a whole lot better IMO.

There's a photo mode shortcut. This seems to toggle between what you look at when taking a still image and what you look at when shooting video.

There's also one for ISO, but it appears to only cycle through upwards, but does go full circle.

The auto exposure lock seems to change you from manual exposure if you're on that, so I'm probably not going to use that one. So for me, auto focus lock is on up and down. ISO is on right, photo mode on left.

Locking focus before pulling the trigger on a still shot is almost mandatory. Especially in non-optimal conditions.

I guess some of these options are ONLY available in said shortcuts menu. There's even one to toggle flash. Being a fat finger type, I'll probably not use that one.

Hello all,

So I'm looking into possibly getting the Sanyo VPC-FH1 or one of the Canon HFXX or HFXXX models (Right now, the HF100 can be had for $439 refurb). The Sanyo is tempting for all the reasons you all know about, the 1080p 60fps 24mbps, the slow mo, the low light performance, and the sub $400 price. The Canon has the stabilization advantage, but has 1080i and 17mpbs. From the reviews I've read, the are about equal in resolution performance. The Canon has decent low light, but not as good as the Sanyo.

OK, so for me, the stabilization issue is what this all comes down to. So I have the following questions:

Digital Stabilization - Does it affect image quality noticeably? I've seen some clips where I could swear I see the DS 'working' with some 'shifting' within the video, etc., but maybe I'm wrong. How much of the zoom is it effective (I've read maybe up to 5x) when using DS?. Does it work enough to keep a steady image still while standing still, etc?

Deshaker Users - Has anyone found a way to have a relatively easy and automated workflow that uses deshaker? One that does not take 2-3 days to encode 1 hour of video? I'm not against using deshaker with the Sanyo if I bought it, but not if it takes 25-50x the time of the video to process it effectively, etc.

1080i vs. 1080p. I've seen the clips, and I've seen how the are different with motion, but does it annoy you (for any of you that have used a 1080i cam in the past) enough to really make a difference? Most of my clips are of my kids so there will be some movement, but just don't have enough experience to know if it should be a dealbreaker, etc.

17mbps vs. 24mbps - I have viewed both the Sanyo and Sony clips on my 92" screen with my 720p projector and I cannot tell the difference in artifacting....can you?

Any input on any of these things is greatly appreciated. I will post on some other sites also.

Thanks!

IMO, if you're going to go Canon, don't settle for anything less than 24Mbps AVCHD. If you plan on rendering only 720p or DVD content, then by all means settle for less. Canon's do excel in optics and fast focusing. Their stabilization and rolling shutter issues are just as bad as others IMO. Depending on HOW you use them anyway.

The main issue IMO is the bitrate. At 30p, the Sanyo is only 12Mbps. Yes it's 24Mbps for 60p, but that's covering twice as many frames at full resolution. With a lot of motion (low stabilization) the limited bitrate gets used up fast. I love my 60p though. Things move so much more fluid. And as long as you're fully zoomed out, stabilization isn't that bad.

It's more likely that you're seeing the rolling shutter than digital stabilization in action. If you pan fast you get a little skew because of how the shutter and sensor work. If you bump the camcorder, you get that without panning. Digital stabilization either works or it doesn't. For some applications desired. But for most, not quite as good as optical.

Fully zoomed out and even a wide angle lens 0.7x can do wonders for handheld and stabilization. Once you zoom, stabilization becomes critical. And the Sanyo has 16x zoom in video mode. Only 10x optical though. Most of the Canons are only 10x, some are 12x. If you're handheld, you should probably avoid zoom. Better yet, avoid handheld. Do you really want to be holding it for 1+ hours without anything to lean on.

OH, so actually there is the chance for more artifacts with the Sanyo becomes of the double amount of frames at 60p vs. 60i for the Sony?.....Also, getting to 24mbps with Canon means HS11 or HF200/hf20, which presents other problems (the HS11 is older, bigger, and has other issues, and the HF200 has the smaller sensor and low light issues, and more expensive). Also, to clarify, I think I see some type of artifacts not during movement but when the user is holding the cam still and the DS is on...almost like the DS is performing some shifts to keep it more still, etc......but I could be wrong(?) Yeah, it appears if you handhold the Sanyo , you should not zoom much often, but the canon you can zoom all the way in and hold it steady and get a decent output with their OIS.

Thanks for your input!

Actually when the Sanyo runs low on bits, the image just gets less sharp. With other cams and formats you get some noticeable artifacts. Namely that HF10/11 guy if you have water with waves and reflected light, you'll see a lot of little artifacts in the smaller waves. With the Sanyo things just get a little blurry. Still sharp as tack at DVD quality. But if you take a 2MP frame grab, it's not quite DSLR quality. If you minimize a lot of the motion, i.e. not handheld, not panning, it's pretty amazing. Slowing that 60p hummingbird down to 24p is nice. Make that 5 second clip last 12. But if you wanted to mount it to a formula one race car to check out that hottie in the 5th row at 150mph+, forget about it. Even without the motion blur, it wouldn't be that sharp.

Aaaah I see..thanks for the information...good to know!

Anybody notice if photo stabilization = yes
selected in the menu if it makes your still picture a bit blurry? Mine seem at first not to look the greatest but were clear, i followed some menu options i seen in this thread and my stills seem to come out blurry now. Not sure which option is doing it.

Also somebody said to select a an option that it takes 2 seconds pause before it takes the picture to reduce the blur that can be cause by hitting the picture button, i cant seem to find that option in the menu anywher, can somebody tell me where it is?

Thanks all.

I am a new FH-1A owner and have an Imac. When I download the movie onto the computer it plays back very jerky with the audio and video not together.
When I play it back on the TV it's OK. Anybody know what I'm doing wrong?
Thanks

I believe you are referring to the 2 second self-timer. You can select it under Record Menu 1, the last item. (Page 59 and pg 102 of the HD2000 manual) Or if you intend to use it a lot, you can set it as one of the short-cut keys (pg. 142). In normal daylight, the stills should not be blur unless there is insufficient lighting.

I just love this camera, footage is just amazing, but i cant seem to get my stills to look good, changed a lot of settings , listened to people on here just dont know.

Could anybody tell me their settings they have picked on their camera for still pics please?

You need a good computer to play back these mp4, BUT i have a laptop which is nothing great and downloaded a program called splash (not sure if it supports mac) and it made all the difference in the world playing back my video. I was quite amazed on how good it did actually. Check and see if it supports Mac.

http://mirillis.com/splash.html

I pretty much resigned myself to having to preconvert the footage to watch it. Which is fine as I normally swap in external audio. And my 3yo laptop only has a 720p screen anyway.

Photos are a bit quirky. It does re-adjust the focus every time that you push the button. IF you half push the button, it'll run through that step and hold until you push it all the way. At which point it takes the picture. The issue I have most of the time is that it doesn't always get that focus quite right. The shortcuts menu options really help with photos. Auto Focus Lock is invaluable. Having one setup to swap between a video display and photo display helps a lot too. You almost have to use that auto focus lock feature for photos IMO. Which is only available in that shortcuts menu. And you have to scroll up to find it. One quirk I seem to have is that photo mode seems to kick off EIS for photo mode for some reason. Just like auto exposure lock (also on the shortcuts) kicks off any manual exposure settings. So double check your settings.

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Make sure that you set it to 8MP still images. That's the native resolution of the sensor.

I'm soon to become a first time camcorder owner and like a lot of you I am debating between this camera and the Canon HF 200. Can anybody tell me if the Sanyo has the capability to do time lapse video? If so, has anybody used it and how easy is it to use? Thanks for your help.