Putting together my "backpack journalism" kit for Denver, I figured I ought to have some kind of video camera. I don't care much for video, but I expect there will be some "YouTube moments" at the convention so I thought I should be prepared. I ended up getting a Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG9 pocket digi-camcorder. My initial review after the jump...

The last (only) video camera we had was a Sony 8mm circa 1990, and it's way beyond obsolete if it even still works. For this application, I wanted something that was small, recorded to flash memory instead of tape or disc or internal hard drive, and had image stabilization and optical zoom. Small, easy to edit video files would be a plus, to get "breaking news" edited and uploaded fast. HD was not a requirement, because this is mainly for "YouTube quality" video only.

I thought about one of the Flip Video digi-camcorders for simplicity, ease of use, and cost. But I didn't like the idea of being locked in to using their proprietary software for conversions and uploading and stuff. Plus it doesn't have optical zoom or image stabilization.

I tried one of the $99 Aiptek digicams. It also didn't have optical zoom*, but it did have image stabilization. The IS works fairly well, but what you end up with is "jerking" between frames, which I guess is better than shaky videos. The video quality was just OK, and my software had trouble understanding the format. Battery life seemed short, but at least it uses standard AA batteries. It's an OK camcorder for the money, but I wanted something a little better. (*I see they now have a $99 version with optical zoom).

After doing some more research, I ended up with the Sanyo Xacti VPC-CG9 ($260 at Amazon). It has 5X optical zoom, image stabilization, and records in MPEG-4 H.264 format (which is apparently becoming the new standard). It also has a 9MP still image function, and audio only mode for voice memo recording, meetings, etc.

It starts up fast, takes decent videos, and has pretty good sound quality (in stereo). It outputs small files (approx. 16MB per minute, or 2 hours on a 2GB card), has a whole bunch of different recording formats to optimize for space or quality, and it fits in your pocket.

It uses a proprietary lithium-ion battery and comes with a plug-in charger. I don't know about battery life yet, but it seems to be pretty good. I'll probably get a second battery just to be safe. The Sanyo battery is $50 (!), but there's an aftermarket battery for $15. I'm a little hesitant about cheap li-ion batteries voiding the warranty or worse blowing up or catching on fire, but that's a pretty big savings.

The video colors look pretty good, auto white balance works well, and so does the auto focus, auto exposure, auto aperture, auto ISO, etc. It's basically idiot proof, so that works for me. But there are lots of menu settings to fine tune things if you want, plus several "scene mode" presets.

The menus are easy to use and navigate, and the 220 page manual explains everything in easy to understand detail. It has lots of advanced recording options, some basic photo and video editing functions built-in, several different playback and slideshow options (using a built-in S-Video connection to your TV), several USB attachment modes (you can even use it as a video webcam), and built-in photo (or video frame) printing for PictBridge photo printers. It also has a "simple menu" mode with just the basic recording/playback options and settings.

Still images are pretty good, on par or maybe a little better than a typical inexpensive point-and-shoot digital camera. It has a pretty good lens, a decent flash, and the standard digital camera menu settings and controls. 9MP is overkill for this camera, though. Fortunately, you can set it to something more reasonable, like 1600 X 1200 2MP. It also has a 640 X 480 setting for "ready to upload" JPEGs. Fancy DSLRs ought to have this option.

The available video resolutions are 640 X 480 60FPS (59.94), 640 X 480 30 FPS (29.97) high bit rate, 640 X 480 30 FPS standard bit rate, 320 X 240 30FPS, and 320 x 240 15 FPS. Those last two are all you need for "ready to upload" YouTube videos, and would stuff lots of video on a 2GB card in small files that are fast and easy to edit. I will probably use 640 X 480 30FPS standard bit rate most of the time, though, and convert it as necessary using video editing software.

To get videos and photos off the camera, you can hook it up to your PC with the supplied USB cable, set it to "card reader" mode, and simply open the folder and drag and drop the files to your desktop or wherever. Or (to save battery) you can remove the SD card and put it in an external USB card reader. The camera has a built-in 40MB memory so you can use it without a memory card, and you can access those files via USB or copy files/images stored there to an SD card.

I use Pinnacle Studio Plus software to edit files and convert to various formats. It reads the MPEG-4 H.264 files just fine (after installing a maintenance update). A one minute clip output for YouTube is only about 2MB, so uploading is relatively painless. QuickTime also plays the files fine, and the Quicktime "Pro" (ha!) version can save/export them in a variety of other formats.

Overall I'm very pleased with this camera, although I haven't really given it a good workout in a "news reporting" situation yet.

So far, my only complaints are:

• Windows Media Player won't play MP4 files. You have to use Apple QuickTime. That's a Microsoft thing, though, and not the camera's fault. I'm sure Microsoft will catch up to industry standards sooner or later. In the meantime, you can get third-party plug-in codecs for WMP if you really need it, and there are a bunch of cheap or open source video players and converters that read the files just fine.

• The USB cable is proprietary, so you can't use an off-the-shelf cable if you lose it. I should probably go ahead and order a spare or two.

• The camera doesn't operate off USB power (much less charge the battery) when connected to your PC, so it can drain the battery pretty fast. The simple solution is to remove the SD card and transfer the files using an external card reader.

• The battery seems to take a long time to charge, and extras are expensive.

• Image stabilization doesn't seem to work as well as I hoped. But, there are some conflicting settings that disable it so I need to study up on how all that works to make sure I've got it set up correctly.

These are minor complaints, though, considering the overall value and quality of this camcorder. It's perfect for what I want, which is an inexpensive "citizen journalism" video/photo kit that fits in your pocket, and so far I'd recommend it for that. It may or may not be suitable for recording home videos of precious memories such as baby's first steps, but it offers a lot of bang for the buck.

Here's a short "YouTube quality" sample clip in either Windows Video or QuickTime MP4 format.