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Official Sanyo FH1/ FH1A/ HD2000 owners thread - Page 10

post #271 of 584
4/19/10 at 5:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hblondeau View Post

Thank you shadow_7.
Well I am very disappointed. I bought this HD FH1 thinking I would be getting HD dvds. So if you're only going make DVDs with your camera what is the purpose of buying HD Camcorder? I should have asked a few questions before buying!
Thank you

Buy a blu ray player fro your tv and a blurray burner for your computer and make some HD Discs.
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post #272 of 584
4/19/10 at 7:29pm
Or just buy a decent graphics card for your desktop with HDMI out. And a cable to run the distance.

-----

I like the spider brace because it has rigging behind the camcorder. So I can push on those buttons and not significantly impact the camcorders aim and position. handheld I tend towards a two handed approach. Left hand on the LCD. If I don't the stabilization is bad enough that things get a bit jittery. Less so at 60p, but most deliverables are not 60p. (yet).

I really like the monopod because it literally weighs more than the camcorder. So no mater how I hold it, I can let the monopod determine which way is UP, literally. In combination with the spider brace, I get the advantages of a monopod and a shoulder mount system. And when in a location where people are constantly passing in front of you, you can ride it up pretty high like a flag pole and keep stabilization at bay. While still occupying the real-estate of ONE average American. (plus one for the audio rig and mic stand / optional)

-----

As I hold off on actually buying a bluray player (or burner) until 60p is more widely supported. Recalling an old college buddy who bought a laser disc player, but opted to not get the auto flip feature (a $500 feature). Another one for the museums I guess.
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post #273 of 584
4/20/10 at 8:32pm
What is blu ray than? 1080P x ?
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post #274 of 584
4/20/10 at 10:43pm
Long time listener, first time caller.

I just picked up the FH1A at Amazon for $330 after spending a few months waiting for either this camcorder or the Canon HF200 to significantly drop in price. The FH1A won that race :-)

I travel internationally with my wife, and my main reason for buying this is for vacation videos. Before buying it, I knew that the main weakness of the FH1A would be its image stabilization. I have taken some sample video in my backyard using two hands (left hand holding outside edge of LCD). When zoomed at 10x and slowly panning, it is a bit sketchy.

Knowing this, I would like to buy a piece of stabilization hardware that is:

1. Highly portable (smaller size is more important than weight)
2. Somewhat effective
3. Quick and easy to use
4. Does not make me look like a complete AV nerd (*ducks*)

With these requirements, I believe some kind of telescopic monopod would be my best option. I envision myself using the monopod about half the time as a simple counterweight (not extended) and the other half for its true purpose of being a monopod (extended to the ground). Can anybody suggest one? If a telescopic monopod is not the way to go, can anybody point me in another direction?

The Hague MMC and Manfrotto 585 ModoSteady produce excellent results and are somewhat compact, but I do not think it will suit my purpose of when I jump off a tour bus and have only two minutes to film a scenic overlook. I will not have the camcorder set in it at all times, so that's a strike against requirement #3.

Shoulder-mounted solutions do not pass requirements #1 and #4. I would get really dirty looks from my wife during the entire trip, which would make it unpleasant and defeat the purpose of taking a vacation.

This is an excellent thread and I have learned a great deal about the optimal manual settings for various lighting scenarios. Thank you to everybody for this indispensable information.
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post #275 of 584
4/21/10 at 1:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PotatoSalad View Post

Long time listener, first time caller.

I just picked up the FH1A at Amazon for $330 after spending a few months waiting for either this camcorder or the Canon HF200 to significantly drop in price. The FH1A won that race :-)

I travel internationally with my wife, and my main reason for buying this is for vacation videos. Before buying it, I knew that the main weakness of the FH1A would be its image stabilization. I have taken some sample video in my backyard using two hands (left hand holding outside edge of LCD). When zoomed at 10x and slowly panning, it is a bit sketchy.

Knowing this, I would like to buy a piece of stabilization hardware that is:

1. Highly portable (smaller size is more important than weight)
2. Somewhat effective
3. Quick and easy to use
4. Does not make me look like a complete AV nerd (*ducks*)

With these requirements, I believe some kind of telescopic monopod would be my best option. I envision myself using the monopod about half the time as a simple counterweight (not extended) and the other half for its true purpose of being a monopod (extended to the ground). Can anybody suggest one? If a telescopic monopod is not the way to go, can anybody point me in another direction?

The Hague MMC and Manfrotto 585 ModoSteady produce excellent results and are somewhat compact, but I do not think it will suit my purpose of when I jump off a tour bus and have only two minutes to film a scenic overlook. I will not have the camcorder set in it at all times, so that's a strike against requirement #3.

Shoulder-mounted solutions do not pass requirements #1 and #4. I would get really dirty looks from my wife during the entire trip, which would make it unpleasant and defeat the purpose of taking a vacation.

This is an excellent thread and I have learned a great deal about the optimal manual settings for various lighting scenarios. Thank you to everybody for this indispensable information.

Id be very intrested in the same thing too, i have my camera for basically the same reason as you.
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post #276 of 584
4/22/10 at 5:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PotatoSalad View Post

Long time listener, first time caller.

I just picked up the FH1A at Amazon for $330 after spending a few months waiting for either this camcorder or the Canon HF200 to significantly drop in price. The FH1A won that race :-)

I travel internationally with my wife, and my main reason for buying this is for vacation videos. Before buying it, I knew that the main weakness of the FH1A would be its image stabilization. I have taken some sample video in my backyard using two hands (left hand holding outside edge of LCD). When zoomed at 10x and slowly panning, it is a bit sketchy.

Knowing this, I would like to buy a piece of stabilization hardware that is:

1. Highly portable (smaller size is more important than weight)
2. Somewhat effective
3. Quick and easy to use
4. Does not make me look like a complete AV nerd (*ducks*)

With these requirements, I believe some kind of telescopic monopod would be my best option. I envision myself using the monopod about half the time as a simple counterweight (not extended) and the other half for its true purpose of being a monopod (extended to the ground). Can anybody suggest one? If a telescopic monopod is not the way to go, can anybody point me in another direction?

The Hague MMC and Manfrotto 585 ModoSteady produce excellent results and are somewhat compact, but I do not think it will suit my purpose of when I jump off a tour bus and have only two minutes to film a scenic overlook. I will not have the camcorder set in it at all times, so that's a strike against requirement #3.

Shoulder-mounted solutions do not pass requirements #1 and #4. I would get really dirty looks from my wife during the entire trip, which would make it unpleasant and defeat the purpose of taking a vacation.

This is an excellent thread and I have learned a great deal about the optimal manual settings for various lighting scenarios. Thank you to everybody for this indispensable information.

I was going to suggest the ModoSteady until you mentioned why it isn't ideal for you. It sounds like some sort of monopod would work, or another possibility, create a length of cord with a foot loop at one end, attached to a 1/4" screw at the other end. Size it so that when you put your foot in the loop on the ground, and the other end is attached to the tripod socket, the camcorder is level with your face. By gently creating some tension in the cord, that will stabilize the camcorder somewhat.
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post #277 of 584
4/22/10 at 7:57pm
Before the spider brace...

I used a mini tripod. Lets face it, while on vacation, you're probably sitting at a table or something where a mini tripod would work. Also it provides some downward weight, and you can lock it down enough to stiffen your wrist. Or just wear a bowlers glove of something with a bit of rigidity to it.

The mini tripod worked for me because it went into one pocket, the camcorder in the other. Sunpak I2I2 or something like that. I have a radio shack one that's smaller, but worthless. That one might work with a golf ball sized webcam, but that's about it. The sunpak one has a three sleeved leg which goes almost as long as my forearm fully extended. Works as a tripod, as a short monopod, or lock it against your chest. The legs lock pretty good so you can put a bit of pull pressure on it and it wont budge (but not massive amounts of weight/pressure). You've got to twist the legs a bit to get them to collapse. Not quite as good as a shoulder mount with three or more brace points, but noticeably better than nothing.

You might also consider a table mount tripod. Clamps down against a tables edge, or a box, or handle on your luggage. Mine has little legs that tuck inside to also work as a mini-tripod. Although if you run around with them tucked, they rattle around in there and that gets picked up in the camcorders audio.

There's a shoulder pistol thing that looks a little bit like the back end of a shotgun and other apparatus. I went towards a spider brace after putting my table mount tripod on the side of a box and running around carrying the box while recording. Having more and wider spaced brace points really helps with stabilization. The inherent issue with the FH1 is the form factor. You hold it in such a way that your wrist rotate on the Z axis, which is the hardest to compensate for digitally or optically.
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post #278 of 584
4/26/10 at 1:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shadow_7 View Post

If I had a decent editor, I'd probably venture into WMV land. i.e. plays in most DEFAULT windows installations. But I don't and I don't run windows much either. I do venture into msmpeg4v2 (ffmpeg syntax) land on occasion if I want a windows playable variant.

I think WMV pretty much has had its chance. Ok, it's standardized now (SMPTE VC-1), but it's not that common.

Long before Blu-Ray, when I was just getting into HD, there was a thing called WMV/HD. Microsoft had designed a format, based on Javascript and HTML as well as WMV, which gave you ok HD on a DVD. You could do that anyway, of course, but I had a DVD player that recognized it, and PCs generally play it automatically, like a DVD.

The main problem: no authoring tools. Well, there were some $20,000 pro level tools. A few of these discs were put out, conversions from short IMAX films, and yet, so paranoid about copy protection, they only played on PCs, even though my player was both complaint with WMV/HD and an authorized UPnP and WMV device. Go figure.

These days, AVC is by far the established standard... even if you have to use the unauthorized x264 CODEC under Linux. About the only question.... MPEG-4, Matroska, or MPEG-2 TS "wrapper", and AC-3 or AAC audio.
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post #279 of 584
4/26/10 at 1:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PotatoSalad View Post

Knowing this, I would like to buy a piece of stabilization hardware that is:

1. Highly portable (smaller size is more important than weight)
2. Somewhat effective
3. Quick and easy to use
4. Does not make me look like a complete AV nerd (*ducks*)

With these requirements, I believe some kind of telescopic monopod would be my best option. I envision myself using the monopod about half the time as a simple counterweight (not extended) and the other half for its true purpose of being a monopod (extended to the ground). Can anybody suggest one?

A monopod will work great, but of course, you do have to use it -- there could be some setup time. And you're correct, in that the camera with the monopond, even just used as a counterweight, will help in stability fairly well. It's no Glidecam/Steadycam, but it's very useful. And you can always ground it if you need to.

I solved this problem for myself for backpacking... I can't carry much weight, I need stability, etc. My old backpacking cam was the Canon HV10, but backpacking mostly killed it.. it just wasn't rugged enough. The new one is the FH1.

For the monopod, I actually found a trekking pole that can double as a tripod. The one I bought was discontinued three years ago, but you can find references online.. here's an example: http://www.sierratradingpost.com/Pro...x?baseno=94895
Some people put ball heads on top, better though for photo than video.

The trekking poles are typically much lighter than most monopods, and can, well, be used as a trekking pole too.
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post #280 of 584
4/28/10 at 10:02pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpbhrC0GZT4

Just testing out how close I can get to something. It looks like 1/3rd zoomed and between 1' and 2' out. Fully zoomed out and you can get about 1' out. With some zoom you're closer to the subject, but have to back away to maintain focus. 1/2 to full zoom and focus seems impossible with proximity. Or I could be wrong.

On a side note, the newest cvs/svn/git version of ffmpeg no longer requires skipping the first 30 frames of an FH1 video. But youtube still seems to hose the first 10 seconds-ish, although not nearly as bad. And ffmpeg seems to be better image wise too for some reason.
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post #281 of 584
5/1/10 at 1:28pm
Anyway it looks like the super macro focus mode is for when you want to get really really close to things. It only seems to get in focus if fully zoomed out, but kind of functional.

A frame grab of a 2001 nickel scaled to 640x360. As evident by the shadow, the camcorder is almost resting on the nickel. Which doesn't do much for the already low light.

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post #282 of 584
5/2/10 at 11:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JofCore View Post

Hmm, yeah I was shooting stills only. Not while recording video, I'm aware of that limitation... so not the problem there. I had it set to 8m-H, which I believe is the highest setting.

There's actually an interpolated 12Mpixel setting.... "12m". It's actually possible this produces better photos, but not dramatically so. The reason? The sensors in these cameras produce 14-bit color, but JPEGs store 8-bit color (that's per color channel... 8 x (RGB) = 24-bit).

Quote:
Originally Posted by JofCore View Post

So really it just looks more grainy and there's not much I can do about it seems to be the bottom line I guess I'll have to play w/lowering the ISO setting manually when I take still photos and see if that makes a difference.

You may need a trained eye to differentiate between "compression artifact" and "sensor noise"... both of these can contribute to effects that look like what you'd call gain in chemical photography. Watch the ISOs, since most cameras now factor in an "auto-ISO" (which means, auto sensor gain) in addition to the normal programmed exposure mode. While it's relevant to compare the choices this software makes from one camera to another, it's also important to compare cameras in the same lighting, same manual exposure, etc.
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post #283 of 584
5/3/10 at 6:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by PotatoSalad View Post

Knowing this, I would like to buy a piece of stabilization hardware that is:

1. Highly portable (smaller size is more important than weight)
2. Somewhat effective
3. Quick and easy to use
4. Does not make me look like a complete AV nerd (*ducks*)



Some of my gadgets. The larger minipod is most useful for "pocket" conditions. The monopod and spider brace are very useful for other than "pocket" use. The small minipod is useless. The tabletop tripod is mostly useful as a webcam stand or in combination with something else. The cat is mostly useless as a camcorder stabilizer.
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post #284 of 584
5/4/10 at 10:17am
I owned FH1A. In Setup there is no option to select date/time stamp for AM/PM, as the result my timestamp has date/time correct but it was messed up on am/pm. Anyone know how to setup AM/PM correctly? Thanks
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post #285 of 584
5/4/10 at 1:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chungchau View Post

I owned FH1A. In Setup there is no option to select date/time stamp for AM/PM, as the result my timestamp has date/time correct but it was messed up on am/pm. Anyone know how to setup AM/PM correctly? Thanks

Mine is 24 hour display so there is no need for AM/PM, and no confusion between 2:00 and 14:00.
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post #286 of 584
5/4/10 at 5:48pm
Just a big heads up, the Sanyo FH1A costs $329 at both Amazon and B&H. The last time Amazon had it that low it sold out on that day and when it finally got back in stock, the price went back up to $400. I believe this is the first time B&H ever got it that low.

Theirs a good chance that it may get back up again if you don't get it now.
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post #287 of 584
5/4/10 at 7:48pm
My FH1 only has a 24 hour clock by the looks of it. No AM/PM to worry about. Sorry.
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post #288 of 584
5/5/10 at 7:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by 83trekker View Post

What is blu ray than? 1080P x ?

Blu-Ray supports 1080/60i, 1080/50i, 1080/24p, 720/60p, and 720/50p. You can, of course, encode 1080/30p as 1080/60i, or 720/30p as 720/60i, but the 30p formats are not native. And by "60", I of course mean 59.94, by "24" I mean 23.976. It also supports 720x480/60i and 720x576/50i. All forms are 16:9, the SD forms can also be 4:3. Oh, and the 1080 line formats can be 1920x1080 or 1440x1080.

This is why AVCHD camcorders don't support 30p native formats. AVCHD is derived directly from Blu-Ray, and it's supposed to be compatible enough that Blu-Ray players will play it directly. That's also why the file structure used by AVCHD cameras is so goofy... it's basically a Blu-Ray file structure.
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post #289 of 584
5/5/10 at 7:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ramsinks View Post

Some guys where asking about choppy playback with the full 1080p files.
What I use:
- for windows, use CoreAVC
- for Mac I use: NicePlayer

Even my core2duo MBP/Nvidia grafix, 2Gb DDR3 is choppy, even with VLC. But Niceplayer works great.

Same on my fast Win7 HTPC. Have to use CoreAVC. Smooooooth then.

VLC is kind of dumb these days. Fast/smooth 1080/60p playback is best supported by a player that can use GPU acceleration, if you have a reasonable GPU.

For example, VLC stutters on my Q9550 based PC, it's sucking down over 60% of the CPU and not producing good full-screen HD video. When I use plain old Windows Media player (which on Windows 7 will use Microsoft's new AVC decoder, which is DXVA 2.0 accelerated), I get perfectly smooth video at 60p, with only 12% CPU use. This is with a nVidia GeForce 8800GT graphics card, but even on my laptop (2.4GHz dual core Core2, nVidia 8600M graphics) the playback is fine with accelerated video. Fails completely without it.
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post #290 of 584
5/5/10 at 11:05am
How good/bad is the autofocus on the FH1a? I'm trying to decide between the FH1a and the Panasonic HDC-TM700, and I can live with most of the features where the Sanyo comes up short as the tradeoff for the price. However, I currently own the Sanyo HD1a, and the one thing that bugs me about it is that it is constantly hunting for focus, to the point where I often have to use the AF lock. Has that improved in the FH1?
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post #291 of 584
5/6/10 at 6:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dondon View Post

How good/bad is the autofocus on the FH1a? I'm trying to decide between the FH1a and the Panasonic HDC-TM700, and I can live with most of the features where the Sanyo comes up short as the tradeoff for the price. However, I currently own the Sanyo HD1a, and the one thing that bugs me about it is that it is constantly hunting for focus, to the point where I often have to use the AF lock. Has that improved in the FH1?

The autofocus is decent. It's a little slow and it highly depends on your settings (the defaults kind of suck) and use as to what it focuses on. But it does achieve focus. And has manual focus and focus lock if that's not good enough.

In good light the focus is good. In low light the focus is noticeably slow. Not that that differs much from other camcorders. If you can help it out via stabilization and/or iso/shutter/aperture tweaks, it works better.

I find that setting the aperture one step smaller than what auto assumes that it gains focus slightly faster. If you try to zoom in on the moon in full auto it struggles. But if you set shutter + aperture for that content it achieves focus on it's own. Or just set manual focus full right for far off things. Which you kind of have to do for short lived subjects like lightning. It's better fully zoomed out (deep DOF) than fully zoomed in. But it does / can achieve focus.
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post #292 of 584
5/6/10 at 10:09am
need help..

i had Canon HF200 and returned it..not really impressed. then i went extreme and tried the pocket HD camcorders..(Kodak Playsport, Sanyo CG10) big mistake. Then my wife went to get Canon HF R11 without researching it, we thought new model might be better than HF200..again nope..

I read from this forum that there are some who went from Canon FH200 to Sanyo FH1A, it's on sale right now and went to order it.

What i'm looking is something better than Canon HF200 picture quality and low light performance and if FH1A can top that i may be happy. However, i do see Canon HF S100 refurb for $598 which is a higher up model than HF200..not really sure which one to get now..
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post #293 of 584
5/7/10 at 1:12pm
I remember someone saying that their Sanyo seems to turn off image stabilization mid-recording. I thought that it was this thread, but it could have been another. Anyway, I think I ran into that same situation this morning. The expo center was running some pretty good A/C and settings that normally work for me in room light seemed to trigger this effect. Bumping the ISO up seemed to have solved it.

The odd thing is that it didn't kick in initially, but kicked in after running at those settings for a while. It was my nieces college graduation (before graduating HS / next week). I was just farting around between important parts when it kicked in, so I didn't miss anything. It was really odd, like my camcorder had been possessed by jacob's ladder. That side to side shake and focus got unruly too. I was on a monopod and even had a mini tripod ace bandaged to it for an extra arm of stabilization, so I was pretty sure it wasn't me. Slapping the cam didn't help. Cold booting didn't help. Adding more ISO helped. Even though the LCD looked fine for the settings I was using. But I'm not normally indoors so I'm not that familiar with these shooting conditions. 200 ISO minimum for indoor use I guess. Pictures seemed to favor 1/30 or less shutter at that venue. 1/15-ish if left on auto.
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post #294 of 584
5/8/10 at 7:41am
As I learn more and more.

Here is a little movie I made of the family. (only mom/dad love, but just see it for the tech. ) I just got the TrekII monopod, It really helps. Love this thing. also can be a tripod. I turn off image stab, image looks much better.

http://vimeo.com/11065696

I just ordered a wideangle and telephoto lens from Dealextreme , both for like $30.
btw, all the videos I shot = I never put the monopod on the ground.. like your probably suppose too.

Here are the all the latest videos. (more entertaining)
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showp...0&postcount=43
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post #295 of 584
5/9/10 at 8:31am
Newbie here!..first post

Ordered a Sanyo VPC-FH1A Camcorder today from Amazon for $329 + Free Shipping based on several reviews here and on other websites.

I was looking to a dual camcorder which took still photos(at least 8MP or higher) and videos and the Sanyo fits well since I had a budget of about $350.

The max SDHC capacity listed on Sanyo's website is 16GB.

Does this support 32GB or even 64GB SDHC cards?

Also, 32GB cards are priced about $80+ on Amazon. However, on ebay they go for $20-$25 from Chinese/Hong Kong sellers. How reliable are these cards?

Regards!
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post #296 of 584
5/9/10 at 11:35am
The class 6 16GB cards on newegg are like $30 shipped.
Happy with mine.
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post #297 of 584
5/9/10 at 1:48pm
The FH1 takes up to a 32GB card iirc.
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post #298 of 584
5/9/10 at 8:10pm
Urgent help please!
I owned FH1A. Today I taped my daughter piano recitals there are two files that are over 700MB (722 and 744), I transfer every files(videos) to my PC all other smaller size file tranfer correctly but those two resulted in 0 file size. I replay those two videos with no problem in the camcorder. Anyone else having this issue and how to resolve this?
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post #299 of 584
5/9/10 at 8:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chungchau View Post

Urgent help please!
I owned FH1A. Today I taped my daughter piano recitals there are two files that are over 700MB (722 and 744), I transfer every files(videos) to my PC all other smaller size file tranfer correctly but those two resulted in 0 file size. I replay those two videos with no problem in the camcorder. Anyone else having this issue and how to resolve this?

Are you out of harddrive space?

Are you trying to put them on CDs?

700MB is not a normal filesize limit. It is however a capacity limit of CDRs.

You should keep your filesystem 20%+ free for optimal performance. Much lower than 40% and some filesystems start doing strange stuff when managing space.
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post #300 of 584
5/9/10 at 8:21pm
When it comes to memory cards, reliable sources and/or known cards are recommended. In case you want to shoot in 1080 60p some day, you should stick with class 6 cards. The last thing you need is for the recording to stop after around 10 minutes more or less.
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