When a company issues a press release that claims it has produced the world's smallest, lightest and thinnest Dual camera, you know it's time to sit up and put Sanyo's bold claims about the new Xacti VPC-CS1 to the test.

The Xacti series of camcorders was always intended to be ultra-portable and the CS1 feels like a flip-style mobile phone with a slightly enlarged, rounded head. It's certainly comfortable in the hand and there's little doubt as to who it's aimed at, styled in shocking pink and silver or all-chrome.

Ladies are going to love this because it not only looks chic, it is indeed extremely light at 159g and measuring 62.5mm wide, 123.5mm in height and just 27mm in depth. This compares to the 29mm thickness and 170g for the competing Flip UltraHD and the latter doesn't have Dual capability. If on the other hand you weren't worried about taking still photos, then the Flip MinoHD is the feather-light alternative, weighing just 93.6g and measuring a wafer-thin 16mm.

All the menu controls are along the edge of the flip-and-swivel 2.7-inch LCD screen and are easy to navigate using a D-pad and separate Menu and Set buttons. The On/Off button, though, is inconveniently placed near the hinge and just above the battery compartment, and is difficult to access when you're on the move. The remaining controls for video recording, still photo capture and zoom (9x optical, 10x digital) are a doddle to operate at the top of the spine, but it would have been a handy addition to include some form of cover for the 38mm wide-angle lens.

The good news is that you can capture everything from TV-SHQ (640 x 480 at 30fps) to Full HD at 1920 x 1080 resolution as well as 8-megapixel still photos either singly or as a short burst of 20 shots at 6fps.

Storage is on SD cards and the CS1 supports 64GB SDXC cards, so there's plenty of space to record even though a new file is automatically created every 4GB, resulting in pauses while saving. A 32GB card will give you 4 hours recording time at the highest Full HD setting, yet your battery will need charging at least every hour, so it's worth carrying a spare. An HDMI port on the side guarantees that you can play your HD clips back instantly on a compatible TV and the video format is MPEG-4 AVC / H.264.

Sound quality isn't neglected either, as the CS1 has three new microphone modes; Wide, Gun Mic and a Zoom Combination which automatically changes direction according to prevailing conditions. There's a digital image stabilizer included to help with camera shake, a Face Chaser capability that will follow up to 10 faces on the move (even from side-on), some basic in-camera editing functions and a chunky selection of software on the supplied DVD to copy, enhance and transfer your images and video clips.

In practice, still photo capture is a bit cumbersome as the display initially goes to black when you're lining up a shot and the autofocus sometimes struggles to kick in. Image and colour quality is good rather than outstanding but fortunately you can use the zoom when shooting video, and the sound quality is impressive.

Verdict
As it says on the box, this is an ideal lightweight and compact camcorder and still digital camera to carry with you at all times in a handbag or on holiday, offering Full HD video recording and 10x optical zoom.

Company: Sanyo

Contact: 01923 246363

Tags: secure digital sanyo 1080p flip minohd video h.264/mpeg-4 avc liquid crystal display universal serial bus