Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG10

Still Features (12.00)

The Sanyo VPC-CG10 is truly impressive as a still camera, blowing away the cheap, ultra compact competition. The Flip MinoHD and Flip UltraHD don't even have still photo functionality, while those budget camcorders that do take still photos usually take very low quality images. The CG10, on the other hand, offers excellent still performance, plus a multitude of options in photo resolution, quality, and image controls. The largest photos available are 12-megapixels still, though this resolution is achieved through interpolation. The largest native resolution available, about 10-megapixels, is considerably larger than anything offered by the competition and is available in two compression qualities.

To support the impressive resolution options, Sanyo makes all image controls available in both video and still mode. That means that you can manually adjust focus, exposure, aperture, shutter speed, colour modes, and ISO while in still mode. In fact, still photos are even more flexible than videos, allowing the user to select a wider range of shutter speeds, including long 4-second and 2-second exposures. Also exclusive to still photos is a 2- or 10-second self-timer and a two Sequential options: 10-megapixel stills can be captured at 18 fps for a maximum of eleven photos, and 2-megapixel still can be captured at 7 fps for a maximum of fourteen photos.

Options for still photos are integrated into the main menu.		Still playback is essentially the same as video playback.

There is a built-in flash mounted to the front of the camcorder, just under the lens. The flash can be set to auto, off, and forced flash.

The small flash is just enough to give a little help for photos taken in low light.

Still Colour (13.11)

Surprisingly, the Sanyo VPC-CG10 may be the best still performer we've reviewed this year, even beating out the thousand-dollar flagship models of the competition. With Sanyo marketing the CG10 as a true still/video hybrid, it's nice to see the company backing up these claims with actual performance. Chief among the successful performance is the camcorder's colour accuracy, which came in at an impressively low 2.67. With excellent saturation to back that up, the CG10 has some of the best still colour performance we've ever recorded. (More on how we test still colour.)

The still photography colour error map: the length and direction of each line indicates how the camcorder processed each particular colour.

In terms of still colour performance, the other compact camcorders don't even come close to the level of accuracy offered by the CG10. The closest competition we've seen is from the Sanyo HDR-XR520 and the new JVC GZ-X900, two camcorders that each cost at least £500 more than the CG10. The Canon HF S100 and Sanyo VPC-HD2000 also offer good still colour performance (of course, all four of these camcorders have better video performance than the £230 Sanyo VPC-CG10).

Sanyo VPC-CG10 Still Colour Comparisons
Sanyo VPC-CG10	Sony MHS-PM1

Still Noise (9.55)

In still noise, the CG10 once again blows away the competition. While most camcorders record relatively high noise levels during still photo capture, the CG10 had a mere 0.49% noise. That's a much clearer picture than you'll get with the Sony Webbie HD MHS-PM1 or the Kodak Zx1 and a much clearer picture than what you'll get with the Canon HF S100 or the JVC GZ-X900. (More on how we test still noise.)

The closest competitors in the noise department are probably the Sony MHS-PM1 and the Panasonic HDC-HS300, though both of these camcorders have nearly twice the noise of the CG10.

Still Sharpness (9.64)

In still photo sharpness, the CG10 once again outclasses the competition, resulting in a horizontal sharpness of 2073 lw/ph and a vertical sharpness of 1993 lw/ph. This is superb still performance for a camcorder, and completely blows away other models in this price category. The Webbie and the Kodak both have much lower sharpness and abysmal undersharpening. (Those camcorders effectively scored a 0.00 in our still sharpness test.)  (More on how we test still sharpness.)

Of course, the CG10 is not without its flaws. To achieve that level of sharpness, the camcorder employs a high level of oversharpening, which can leave your photos looking slightly pixelated as the processor tries to guess at the details it might be missing. Some of the more expensive models, like the Canon HF S100 and Sony MHS-PM1, manage an even higher level of sharpness, with much less digital sharpening. The HF S100 actually reached a horizontal sharpness of2800 without any artificial sharpening at all.