By Asanga H. Perera “coconuts” (Fishkill, NY) 

Overall, while it is certainly provides one with a very small Camcorder we found it quite difficult to hold and operate. The strap and main unit is not very ergonomically designed for a one-hand operation and it is very small to hold with two hands. Software is not very straight forward to make DVDs. Overall, I would not buy if I had manually tested it at a shop.

By G. OHara (San Diego, CA USA)

Unlike the rest of the reviewers here, I bought this camcorder at a STORE in Singapore. This gave me a HUGE advantage to try out the camera BEFORE I bought it! I paid about US$450.00 for the CA6 [which included all the required cables, 2 CD-ROMs of software, carrying case, 2 batteries {one 1.5-hour and one 3-hour battery}, 4GB Ultra High-Speed SD card, 2 tripod mounts {no charge}, Multi-port USB hub for 4 different types of SD cards, power cords and adapter for U.S. and Singapore voltages].After reading all the reviews here I can agree with SOME of the “Cons” comments.

Yes, it does NOT come with a tripod mount hole. However, the salesperson gave me two black plastic tripod mounts for FREE. It fits like a glove–no problems. Sorry, I don’t know where to find these in the U.S. but I’m sure they’re out there somewhere.

Yes, the hand strap is useless. Seriously, throw it away! It’s not worth the effort. My wife gave me her camera strap to use and it can be fed through the bottom ring and that works much better.

The only way to protect the LCD screen and camera lens is to keep it in the carrying case when not in use. This case was a real convenience with the metal ring that could attach to the belt loop of my shorts or pants.

A lot of people are complaining about low light situations. I haven’t noticed too much of this. The salesperson told me that this was a “Sports” model version. I was shown several other models by Sanyo that were similar to the CA6. This gave me the impression that the CA6 was geared more towards outdoor use and it has proved itself worthy.

It IS a small camcorder so it took a few days to get used to filming with it. PLUS, I’m LEFT-HANDED and used it like a stubborn left-hander in my left hand–but I finally got used to it. I know it wasn’t designed with this in mind. However, I think it gave me an advantage over right-handers with bigger fingers. I didn’t have to worry about using all the buttons and hold the camcorder at the same time. I know this sounds funny but if you’re a left-hander you might appreciate this info. Yes, I AM one of those who has to use TWO hands to dial a phone number or play games on my little cellphone, hehe.

Oh, and using the highest quality DVD setting for video gives you about 2 hours and 45 minutes with the 4GB SD card.

Be sure to get some type of camera strap for this device–not the one provided [I think this was an Sanyo afterthought]. I realized this one day as I was 100 feet up in a skyride in Singapore. As I was dangling my feet, I wondered how awful it would be for the CA6 to slip out of my hand and watch it shatter into a 1,000 pieces below me.

• Read More about Sanyo Xacti VPC-C6

Comments(0) | Add Comments |