Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1 Flash Media Camcorder

I love my Sanyo Xacti. I have had the yellow one for about a year 1/2.

We live in a warm climate so we use the underwater feature a lot. It takes great photos & video. It even can take a picture while you are taking a video. The only problem is that it will pause the video while the picture is being taken.

Battery life is good, I bought extras. I also bought the 4gb card & have never had any space issues.

I also bought the strap to use under water so that it doesn't accidently sink to the bottom of the lake or ocean.

After relying on my Sony Cybershot for years and putting it through all kinds of abuse, I finally realized the little camera wasn’t going to last much longer. After shopping around, I came across the Sanyo Xacti VPC-E1 camera, and it was love at first sight.

First, as you can tell form the image, this isn’t your standard looking camera. Instead of being mostly horizontal, you hold the camera vertically, and it has a fold-out screen like video cameras do instead of the screen on the back of the camera. This and the placement of the buttons make the Xacti very easy to use one-handed.

Another great feature of the Xacti is how easy it is to take video. The camera does a really good job of it, much better than other digital cameras I’ve used. You can even take still digital images while recording video, which is a really nice bonus.

Finally, the Xacti can be put underwater! It’s completely water-proof and takes great images underwater. All features—still images, video, audio—work just as well underwater as they do normally.

I have yet to discover anything negative about my Xacti. The 6 megapixel images, zoom, and easy to use camera controls make it a very nice digital camera. It’s also small enough to fit in a pocket and comes with a protective sleeve to store it in. While it’s a bit expensive—mine cost around $600—the extra features and the size make it a good choice if you’re going to be taking a lot of pictures.