HD camera will fit in your pocket

ONE OF THE RITUALS I perform at CES is to follow up on the neat stuff from last year. The camera with the most promise 12 months ago was the Sanyo VCP-04, an oddly shaped movie camcorder with good still picture resolution. It was neat enough that I spent the better part of a day searching the back alleys of Taiwan's computer district looking for one during Computex. So, in the waning days of CES, I set out to find the replacement, and hopefully to write it up with less spelling errors than the 2005 model.

There were two new ones, neither of which seems to have lost any of the inherent goodness of the VCP-04, but both added a lot of functionality. The lower end one is the Xacti C6, and the higher end model is the HD1. No points if you guess what the HD1 gets you over the C6.

Both are the same rough form factor, with the C6 being a little more stylish and angular than the HD1, but both were better than the VCP-04. The reason I am drawn more to the C6 (pictured top) is the cleaner, sleek look.

Both cameras have a pivot out screen in left side of the handle, but that is where the similarity ends. The C6 has a 2.0 inch transflective 4*3 screen while the HD1 has a 2.2 inch OLED 16*9 one. The OLED is quite bright and crisp, the fact that you can make anything out in the wake of my flash and miserable camera skills is a testament to its quality.

The C6 can record video at 640*480*30, and has a 6MP still image resolution. The rather unique design allows for a 5x optical zoom and 10x digital on top of that, and also has a stereo mic built in. The HD1 adds HD movie recording at 720p resolution, it will record at 1280*720*30 directly, but for some reason it will only do 5.1MP still shots. On the plus side, it ups the ante to a 10x optical zoom, something that would make my life easier at trade shows.

Sanyo did with the Xacti line what was almost impossible to contemplate at last year's show, it put a true HD camera in your pocket. Not only that, they made it look good and handle nicely while pulling off that magic. Look for the C6 to cost around $599, and the HD1 to come in at $799. What more can you ask for? Not much, I can't wait to see how it beats that in 2007. µ