SANYO Adds New Active Lifestyle Xacti Digital Movie Camera to Line-up
Perfect in the city, at the ocean, or in the mountains – One unit does movies and photos
Tokyo, April 18, 2008 – SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. announces its next Xacti digital movie camera designed for people with active lifestyles – the DMX-CA8. The new digital movie camera is not only waterproof*1, fully compatible with most active lifestyles, but also added are higher resolution photographs up to 8-megapixels and a new ‘Face Chaser’ function for movies in addition to the existing ‘Face Chaser’ function for photos. The Xacti DMX-CA8 will be on sale in Japan from mid-May 2008.
In his presentation at the launch, Hideki Toyoda, General Manager of the SANYO’s DI Company Products Planning Department, said, “Last year, SANYO brought a digital movie camera to the market that was waterproof and changed the way that people use digital movie cameras. This year, we are pleased to introduce the next in the line-up, a continuation of both the waterproof and film anywhere concept, freeing people to choose where to use their camera instead of allowing the use or place to choose the camera for them. Anyone with an active lifestyle, including sports enthusiasts, outdoorsmen, or mothers will surely enjoy this camera.”
Specifications and features
Product
Digital Movie Camera
Product Number
DMX-CA8
Color
White / Blue / Black
MSRP
Open Price
Sales Date
Mid-May 2008
Initial Monthly Production
30,000 units
Main Features 1. Digital Movie Camera fully compatible with active lifestyles, even in the water!*1
JIS IPX5/IPX8 qualified for water resistance
Designed to withstand snow-related water, rain, water spray, splash, and even submersion*1
Use in summer sports like snorkeling, winter sports*2 like skiing/snowboarding or everyday scenes
New underwater scene mode available in scene selection menu, making the colors more true and clear
2. Smooth movies and beautiful pictures with one single camera
MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 high compression with quality
Smooth movie recording and playback with 60 fps*3
Web-mode for simple sharing, no conversion necessary to upload
CMOS sensor allows high resolution 8.0-Megapixel still images and faster frame rates for movies
5X Optical zoom lens for beautiful close-ups
Sequential photo setting takes up to 10*4 photos with a shutter speed of 5 frames per second (fps)
Take still images simultaneously*5 while making movies, stopping or pausing movie is unnecessary
Separate buttons for photos and movies without annoying mode switching
3. New ‘Face Chaser’ function for movies in addition to ‘Face Chaser’ function for still images
Able to chase up to 6 faces during movie filming
Automatic exposure and focus adjustment allowing for easier operation
‘Face Chaser’ for still images tracks up to 12 faces
New function allows for clear faces for easy identification on playback
4. Other Features
‘Digital Image Stabilizer’*6 senses camera revolution and photographic subject movement
Connect and cut movies directly from the camera with editing function*7
Bundled with ‘Adobe Premiere Elements 4.0’ for movie editing and original DVD authoring
Option special floating strap available
‘Talking Navigation’ function informs of camera status and warning (for low battery, etc.)
‘Wind Noise Reduction’ function reduces unwanted wind noise when recording movies
Compatible with PictBridge, allowing pictures to be printed without a computer
Pixel-interpolation technology allows still photos up to 12-Megapixels*8
*1 JIS IPX5, IPX8 standard. (Up to 1.5 meters deep for up to 60 minutes)
*2 When using in cold or hot and humid environments use caution to prevent fogging and condensation caused by rapid temperature changes
*3 In TV-HR mode
*4 In 2M consecutive shooting mode
*5 Still images recorded as 2-megapixel images
*6 Images may not be adjusted in the case of slow shutter speed or high level of image blurring
*7 Depending on amount of available SD memory card memory, some editing functions may not be allowed
*8 Convert 8.0-megapixel data captured by the image sensor to the recorded equivalent of 12-megapixel
Supplemental Background and Specification Information Outline and Background
The ‘Xacti’ series is based on creating an ergonomic solution allowing a comfortable, natural filming style for photography and movie enthusiasts. Xacti series cameras have received high acclaim from the market for its capability to easily take both movies and photos in a compact body, and for adopting a movie format that is highly compatible with the Internet environment.
Since the introduction of SANYO’s digital cameras which adopted movie-recording capabilities in 1998, SANYO has focused on creating hybrid cameras that can both record movies and photos in one simple unit, freeing camera users from having to carry two separate units and allowing photos and/or movies to be recorded anytime and anywhere. Last year, SANYO announced the world’s first*9 waterproof digital movie camera model, the DMX-CA65, in response to consumer demand*10, a camera capable of recording both movies and still images underwater. Through this new style of camera, ways to use digital cameras have been expanding.
The new DMX-CA8 sports new active colors designed to represent those on the go, and has solved the problem of choosing which camera to take, as it can both take still images and movies in almost any type of weather.
*9 For optical zoom lens video cameras
*10 According to company studies
Still pictures: JPEG (DCF*11, DPOF*12, Exif Ver2.2*13)
Movie clips: ISO standard MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 (.MP4)
Audio: 48kHZ sampling, 16bit, 2ch, AAC
Resolution (pixels)
Still shots:
12M: 4000 x 3000, 8M-H：3264 x 2448 (low compression),
8M-S：3264 x 2448 (standard compression),
6M：3264 x 1840 (16:9),4.5M：1840 x 2448 (portrait type),
2M：1600 x 1200, 0.3M: 640 x 480
Continuous shots:
8M：3264 x 2448 (1fps, max. 10 shots)
2M：1600 x 1200 (5 fps, max. 10 shots)
Movie clips*14
TV-HR：640 x 480 (60fps/6Mbps, frame rate priority)
TV-SHQ：640 x 480 (30fps/3Mbps, image quality priority)
TV-HQ：640 x 480 (30fps/2Mbps, shooting time priority)
Web-SHQ：320 x 240 (30fps), Web-HQ：320 x 240 (15fps)
Lens
Focus distance: f=6.3 to 31.7mm (35mm equiv.: f=38 to 190mm)
5x optical zoom lens, F= 3.5 (W) – 3.7 (T)
Galvanometer method structure, Auto focus: 9 groups, 12 elements (3 aspheric elements, 5 aspheric surfaces), Built-in neutral density filter
Photo range
Entire area: 10cm (wide) / 80cm (tele) to infinity,
Standard: 80cm to infinity,
Super macro: 1cm - 80cm (W)
Shutter speed
Still pictures: 1/2 – 1/1500 sec.
(Flash: 1/30 – 1/1500 sec., Lamp mode: max. 2 sec.)
Continuous shooting mode: 1/15 – 1/1500 sec. (No flash)
Video clip: 1/30 – 1/10000 sec.
Digital zoom
Shooting: 12x max., Playback 62.5x max.
(12M mode, depending on the resolution)
AV output (Video: Composite video, NTSC/PAL, Audio: Stereo sound)
USB 2.0 (high-speed mode compatible)
Language
Japanese
Power source
Lithium-ion battery x 1 (DB-L20 included: 720mAh)
Power consumption
When using battery: 3.3W (when filming movies)
Approx. battery-use time*16
Still shooting: approx. 205 shots (CIPA standard),
Continuous movie filming: approx. 75min./ Continuous playback: approx. 170 min.
Dimensions/Volume
70.4 (W) x 111.4 (H) x 40.5 (D)mm
(maximum dimension, excluding protruding parts),
Volume: approx. 192ccc
Weight
Approx. 239g (main unit only),
Approx. 258g (including battery and SD card)
Operating environment
Temperature 0- 40 Celsius,
Humidity 30-90% (not operable with condensation)
SD Memory Card Type
Movie Recording Time (Total Time)*17
TV-HR
TV-SHQ
TV-HQ
Web-SHQ*18
Web-HQ*18
Audio Memo*18
8GB
2hr51min
5hr32min
8hr3min
21hr10min
30hr30min
130hr12min
4GB
1hr25min
2hr45min
4hr0min
10hr33min
15hr12min
64hr53min
2GB
42min30sec
1hr22min
2hr0min
5hr15min
7hr35min
32hr22min
Built-in Memory
0min56sec
1min49sec
2min40sec
7min0sec
10min5sec
43min2sec
SD Memory Card Type
Number of Still Image Photographs*17
12M
8M-H
8M-S
16 : 9
4.5M
(portrait)
2M
0.3M
8M
(Continuous
shots)
2M
(Continuous
shots)
8GB
2,020
2,020
3,030
4,010
5,290
11,800
62,200
3,030
11,800
4GB
1,000
1000
1,510
2,000
2,640
5,900
31,000
1,510
5,900
2GB
503
503
755
998
1,310
2,940
15,400
755
2,940
Built-in Memory
11
11
16
22
29
67
344
16
67
*11 - DCF is the abbreviation for Design rule for Camera File system, established by the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Association (JEITA).
*12 - The DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) is a format for recording on storage media information such as the number of frames and copies desired for printing of images taken on the digital camera.
*13 - Exif Ver2.2 is an industry standard established for file formatting of digital cameras.
*14 - For this model 60fps is actually 59.94fps, 30fps is actually 29.97fps, and 15fps is actually 14.985fps.
*15 - Can use in still image 2M/0.3M mode.
*16 - Amount of pictures based on CIPA standards. When using a Sandisk SD Memory Card (2GB) and bundled Lithium-ion battery. Movies are when filming in TV-SHQ mode. Playback is when in continuous playback. Through actual operation, time may vary.
*17 - Figure projects time and amount of photos taken which will fill the recording medium. Amount varies by memory card maker, type of photo subject and photographic conditions.
*18 - When in continuous shooting mode: Web-SHQ: Maximum 5h30min, Web-HQ: Maximum 7h00min, Audio Memo: Maximum 13h00min.
*Specifications as of April 18, 2008, subject to change.
*All product names and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies
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