Sanyo’s Xacti-branded pistol-grip Dual Cameras are ideal for capturing the memorable events in your life. Whether it’s your family vacation, friends gathering at the skateboard park, or a child’s birthday party, the Xacti cameras are typically up to the task at hand. The pistol-grip cameras in particular are easy to grasp and small enough to carry in your pocket. Unfortunately if your idea of fun involves being in or close to water, either liquid or frozen, these cameras could easily get damaged. But that changes with the introduction of the Xacti DMX-CA100, available the end of June.
It is generally not a good thing when a camera or camcorder gets wet, but the DMX-CA100 thrives in water. Not just splash-proof, the DMX-CA100 is waterproof to a depth of 3 meters, or about 10 feet, for up to 60 minutes. So not only does the DMX-CA100 laugh at rain and snow, it’s also perfectly happy to be used while snorkeling or surfing. Try surfing with an ordinary camcorder in hand and all you’ll end up with is an expensive paperweight, and nothing caught on video.
It’s easy to overlook a gadget’s technical specifications when its main attraction is that it’s waterproof. But the DMX-CA100 specifications should not be overlooked. That’s because the camera captures full HD video at 1920 x 1080 pixels. It records in the MPEG-4, or H.264 video format, which is easily handled by a computer or the Internet. In addition to HD video, the DMX-CA100 captures high-resolution 14-megapixel still images. A high-speed continuous mode lets you capture up to 22 still images at 7 frames per second so you’ll never miss that shot of a lifetime. Separate photo and video capture buttons ensure that you’ll never have to fumble to switch modes.
The DMX-CA100 is equipped with a 5x optical zoom lens along with an advanced double-range digital zoom. A Zoom Range button lets you switch between a Wide Zoom mode (40 mm to 240 mm) and a Tele Zoom mode (80 mm to 480 mm), much like having two different lenses. The different modes basically just change the size of the video capture area on the image sensor. A 2.7-inch flip-out LCD monitor and built-in speaker let you review your captured content. The camera has 50MB of internal memory and it’s also compatible with SD, SDHC, and SDXC memory cards up to 64GB in capacity.
Other features worth noting are digital image stabilization, Mini HDMI and Composite video outputs, a USB port, and a rechargeable Lithium-ion battery. The battery will last for up to 200 still shots or one hour of continuous video shooting. The price of the DMX-CA100 has not yet been announced, but you can be sure that once B&H has it in stock, the price will be the best you can get.