Pew-pew-pew! Shoot videos, not bullets!
In the video camera market, the term "HD" is thrown around about as much as the word "green" is used in the general consumer market. Both are buzz words intended to lure in customers by making them feel they’re on the cutting-edge of some important new trend. The number of consumer digital video cams that claim to shoot HD is staggering, especially when you consider that most camera companies think shooting in a 16:9 aspect ratio is automatically HD.
And then we have the new Xacti HD2000A. It won’t be used to shoot the next James Cameron film, but its HD shooting modes give us faith that the term HD really does stand for High Definition, and is being used correctly again.
The Xacti utilizes a "gun" form factor instead of the tiny-loaf-of-bread or iPod form factor employed for most consumer DV cameras. The gun form factor may seem odd at first, but, frankly, it makes sense for a consumer camera. When you’re filming your child dancing to Beyonce's All the Single Ladies, a solid handle grip is more comfortable than other form factors, and gives you thumb access to the controls on the back of the camera. That said, the grip isn’t without its issues: If you plan on using a microphone or headphones with the camera, their cords will block the area at the top front of the grip. (As a result, you can either move your hand down the grip, or have your index finger pointing off into nowhere.)
The Xacti is marketed as a "dual camera" with the ability to record 1920x1080 60fps progressive H.264 video as well as shoot 8MP still images. To this end, the camera has two large buttons within thumb-mashing distance that allow you to either take a picture or shoot a video. You don’t need to access the onscreen menu to switch modes--you simply tap the button of the mode you want.
The zoom function is placed near the dual mode buttons, and is accessible by your thumb. We do have an issue with the zoom mechanism, as it seems to have only two speeds: fast and "hold-on-to-your-seats-kids-we’re zooming!" This nearly eliminates any chance of capturing smooth, slow zooms, which could turn off pros looking for a second camera and film makers on a limited budget. Below the main button interface is a joystick used to navigate menus, and is programmed to change the flash mode, the exposure, and the focus mode among other things. The manual focus is a welcome addition, and can handle macro shots from only 1cm away. Unfortunately, you can’t manually change the focus while shooting video.
The Xacti shoots JPEG images up to 8MP. While its still-image capabilities won’t make you ditch your dedicated DSLR, the camera does an impressive job catching light and dark areas in a single photograph. Even in the medium setting (6MP 3264x1840), we were able to capture quality photos. We did notice some pixel noise while taking macro shots, but it wasn’t bad enough to turn us off from using the camera for ultra close-ups. Colors were true to life, and we were surprised how well this dual-function device shoots stills.
The camera supports the new iFrame video format that Apple recently introduced. The resulting 16:9 aspect ratio video files are smaller than your average MP4 files, but still contain the detail of much larger files--and can be immediately ingested by, and edited in, iMovie ’09. The iFrame format shoots 960x540 video at 30fps. It’s not the highest quality video you can get from the Xacti--that honor goes to the 1920x1080/60fps progressive FullHR setting--but iFrame video is great for posting online
As for the quality of video shot in FullHR mode, it rivals that of much higher end cameras available just a few years ago. We found that the auto-focus and auto-exposure functions adjusted quickly during filming, but were never jarring. The Xacti can also capture a nice tonal range when shooting bright and shaded areas. Details were crisp in both iFrame and FullHR mode and quick motion didn’t result in muddy video.
A supplied docking platform keeps the camera from lying around on your desk, and helps ensure that the Xacti will always be charged when you’re ready to start shooting. Photos can be imported directly into iPhoto, iFrame videos can go straight into iMovie, and your FullHR files can load straight into Final Cut Pro when you want to create that masterpiece for film school.
The Xacti brings stellar HD video to consumers in an easy-to-hold form factor. We do wish the zoom speed could be slowed down, and that we could adjust manual focus during shooting. But most consumers probably won’t notice these issues.
Quickly switch between photos and video recording. Small iFrame video files. Great stills for a dual-purpose device.
Zoom speed is too fast, and can’t be adjusted. Manual focus adjustment disables once you start shooting video.
