:Xacti C5 Mini review

Sanyo, the mass-market electronics manufacturer that focuses more on electric household products, is not very renowned in Europe for the quality of its products. This outsider plays an important role however in a segment where we would not expect it: the Pocket Photo/Video camera. This dominance in good market share is due to the success of the Xacti C range. We already presented the C1 and the C4, so here is the C5 by Sanyo.

Video of the Xacti C5






As explained a few lines back, the Xacti is a hybrid device, somewhere in between a digital still camera and a digital video camera, all in a casing with reduced dimensions. As the device is digital, there are no film rolls , everything is stored onto a SD (Secure Digital) memory card and the maximum capacity accepted by the device is 1Gb. For more technical in-depth information, have a look at the table below.





So that was our small description of the concept behind the Xacti, let's move on now to the more serious things and have a look at what the C5 offers. To get a good idea, we're going to compare it to its slightly older sibling, the C4 (the ultimate C4 of its era).



As you will see on the pictures further in this review, the C5 has a similar shape and form when it's compared to the C4, but the new kid on the block is definitely thinner and more square. No more round shapes like on the C1 and C4, a SlimFast diet and there she is, the new Chanel model is on the runway, nothing but skin and bones.



Sanyo managed to make a machine that packs more performance compared to the C4 with 40% less electronics, so the dimensions of this beast could be reduced drastically. It's possible now to slip this C5 in your pocket... Sanyo's goal with this model is to push both a personal and a professional usage of this C5, which can be put in your handbag or suit pocket at all times.



One hell of a difference between the lense of a C4 and C5.



Some more square, more designed, more up-to-date... at first, we were not too impressed with the shape, but only fools don't change opinion. so the new shape has kind of grown on us and we're starting to really appreciate it. The use of black around the screen makes that you get the impression that the control screen is very large when the device is switched off.








Just like the its older sibling, the C5 has a large accessories range. Everything is available to suit your needs: a carrying pouch (a lot nicer than the C4's), the connectors to hook it up to the TV, a remote control, a charging station, ... . But the most interesting point is the battery: the C4 and C5 share the same component, co that's good news. Important to know is that the Xacti is not delivered with an Sd card in Japan.









The big deception... until now, the C5 was better in every single way when compared to the C4: smaller, new design... 1MP more... but in reality... nothing! Nothing new compared to the C4, we can even say that the videos are less nice than the C4's when you put the (optical) zoom is set to the maximum level. My personal explanation is that this could be partially explained by the smaller lense... but ("amateur mode on") the smaller the lense, the less light comes in. For a normal usage (when using the maximum zoom to examine the cleavage of the neighbour's wife), you will not notice any difference between the C5 and C4, there is no real difference, the pictures are of the same quality.

These are the examples:

Interior shot with low lighting conditions. The digital camera always struggle when the lighting conditions are bad, but the C5's result is not that bad.




Let's compare the Photo C4 and Photo C5. how were the pictures taken? One device in each hand, and shots were taken at the same time.

le C4



le C5



le C4



le C5



as you can see, the picture quality is quite similar, the differences are minor, and most people that will use this for normal purposes willnot notice any difference in 99% of the shots.

When we look at the video quality, the results are quite similar again, the C5 is not better than the C4, except when the zoom is on max, as you can see in this video (in the native format of the C5, so you'll need Quicktime). The deterioration around the flowers can also be explained by the fact that there was a lot of wind and they were moving quite a bit... but even then, the C5 is not worse than the C4, both are identical.

Video shot with the SANYO C5

To wrap up this review, a quick word about the menus. The C5 has exactly the same functions and no "Red eyes" function, that is not available on this product.

Thanks to GeekStuff4U.com for providing us with this test device.