The Sanyo HD2000A can record in 1080pHD video (60 frames per second) and take 8-megapixel digital photos. With an 8-megapixel (effective) CMOS image sensor the still images can be interpolated to reach 12-megapixel quality. It's also the first camcorder to support Apple's iFrame format (more on that in a moment).

The HD2000A practically overruns with features, including 600fps "super slow motion" playback, 16X optical zoom for video and 10x optical zoom for photos, "face chasing" technology that automatically reads and corrects focus and lighting for up to 12 different mugs, and 16x optical zoom for video. Despite all these goodies, its compact enough to carry about with you. Think palm-sized power.

The Xacti's 2.7-inch Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) flips out from the camera and rotates up to 270 degrees on an axis. The screen rotates all the way around, and can actually fold back flat while facing out. This offers a lot of flexibility when shooting video or still images. And "shooting" is the proper term with the Sanyo HD2000A's design.

And shooting isn't the only thing that's quick about the Xacti. You can easily switch between camcorder and still camera modes. All the controls on the device are accessible by a thumb when the device is open. In other words, you can keep the Xacti "palmed" and still reach the controls. Also, it comes with a SD/SDHC memory card slot, remote, base station (with HDMI output) and jacks for external microphones and headphones.

I found the still picture quality to be fine, though not quite as good as photos taken with a "dedicated" still camera. But I can live with that for the added convenience of having a compact camcorder/still camera in one device. Also, photos can be imported directly into iPhoto.

When it comes to video quality, it's quite impressive, though certainly this is a consumer/prosumer device, not a pro camcorder. Three-Dimensional Noise Reduction (3D-DNR) technology enhances video clarity by reducing random signal noise. A digital image stabilizer feature works on both still and video shoots.

You can record video in HD (16:9 horizontal to vertical aspect ratio) or SD (4:3 aspect ratio). However, clips that were filmed in different modes can't be joined. Using a 16GB SDHC memory card you can capture over 11 hours and six minutes worth of video in standard definition or approximately one hour and 28 minutes in full HD video mode.

Then there's iFrame, a new video format developed by Apple. It captures video at a resolution of 960x540 at 30 frames per second and uses a 16:9 aspect ratio (a la all the HD and DVD standards). iFrame works with Mac and PC video-editing applications such as iMovie '09 because it uses industry-standard codecs such as MP4, H.264, AAC and QuickTime.

According to Apple "iFrame is designed to make importing and editing video fast and easy without taking up a lot of space on your hard drive." You can import it into your editing software with no encoding, which speeds things up. (See today's op-ed for more info on iFrame.)

There are some quibbles I have with the Sanyo device. You can't adjust the zoom speed, which is a little quick for my tastes. The manual focus adjustment disables once you start shooting video. The dual camera has an USB connection and file transfers seem a big draggy. A FireWire connector would have been better. It's faster to use a card reader or the card slots that come on new Apple laptops and iMacs.

And there some things -- not complaints, necessarily, just things -- that you should note. The flash doesn't operate when shooting sequential shots. If the digital zoom is being used, the large magnification factor may make it difficult or impossible for the motion compensation to work properly. Still photos are scaled down to 2-megapixel quality if you snap them at the same time as you're shooting video.

I have no trouble recommending the Sanyo HD2000A. I've been filming sports and family videos and photos for weeks now and am pleased with the results. And with its iFrame, iMovie and iPhoto friendliness, this is a dual camera Mac owners will love.


Macsimum rating: 9 out of 10