Sanyo iDshot IDC-1000Z Digital Disk Camera

Richard Price
27 November 2001

Sanyo’s iDshot IDC-1000Z may only be a 1.5 megapixel camera, but a number of features make it worth considering seriously if you are looking for a digital camera.

The iDshot stores 120 minutes of video or 12,000 still pictures on a 730 MB magneto-optical disk.

Due to the disk drive on the side of the camera it is probably bulkier than most digital cameras and resembles a camcorder.

I found it remarkable comfortable to hold, easy to operate, but slow --- it takes about 10 seconds from the time the power button is pressed before you can take a picture.

There is a viewfinder and an LCD monitor, but both are digital. I found it easier to use the LCD monitor as the image was cleaner. I also found it easier to rely on auto-focusing rather than manual for the same reason. The LCD monitor is set in place and cannot be tilted.

The iDshot offers 3 different modes for recording video. TV mode for viewing on a TV or dubbing to video tape; PC Mode for PC based presentations and; Web Mode for Internet or e-mail.

The iDshot plays video clips as QuickTime movies and offers all the standard features found on most digital cameras.

There are built in speaker and microphone and also a small external microphone.

As well as a 21x digital zoom, it is possible to get up real close (3cm) in Macro Mode.

The iD PHOTO disk works like any other disk and it is possible to create separate folders to save images in. The LCD can also display multiple images showing the first frame from each video clip making it easier to find the one you are looking for

Another feature I liked was the ability to do basic video editing. Using the LCD monitor it is possible to select two separate video clips and join them together. The joined clips are saved as a different file and the original two can be deleted. It is also possible to delete selected parts of a video clip.

The iDshot has a maximum resolution of 1360 x 1024 pixels and images are stored as JPEG or TIFF.

However, they are YCbCr TIFF files which use a larger colour palette and I am still looking for a plug-in to open the images in MGI Photosuite III (included with the camera) or PhotoShop 6.

The camera houses a Vertical Pixel Mixture CCD as well as a Hyper RISC Graphic Processor that produces clear and sharp images even at 1.5 megapixels.

There is a pop up built-in flash with three modes: auto, forced and red-eye reduction.

The camera comes with both USB and IEEE 1394 (Firewire) connections for data transfer.

I would recommend adding Firewire to your PC as the camera appears as another hard drive and images can be viewed directly or dragged and dropped onto the hard drive.

Adobe Premier 5.1 LE video editing software in included as well as MGI PhotoSuite III SE

The iDshot may be a bit expensive but it offers more flexibility and better video images than other digital cameras I have looked at.

Price AU$2999
www.idshot.com/en/

By Richard Price, Editor, EnergyME.com

For information on getting a product reviewed email richard@energyme.com