Getting a video record of your scuba dives is easier than ever now that Sanyo's come out with its VPC-E1 waterproof camcorder. Before the E1, you would need some kind of watertight casing for your cam if you were going to do any Cousteau-style shooting, but the E1 changes all that. As long as you stay away from the deep end (it's rated to function up to 5 feet down) and don't stay under too long (just 60 minutes of operation while submerged), Sanyo's fishy camcorder will capture all your immersive experiences onto an SD or higher-capacity SDHC card (sold separately). The MPEG-4 video files have a resolution is 640 x 480 pixels at 30 frames per second — on par with standard-def broadcasts.

For still pics, the E1 takes them at a respectable 4 megapixels, and there's a 5x optical zoom. It weighs 4 ounces, has a 2.5-inch LCD screen… blahblahblah… the specs aren't too much to write home about — until you factor in the whole "underwater" thing. It's a cool development, and if you were planning to spend $400 on a camcorder anyway, why not have the option to take it into the pool? And dolphins complain about manufacturers not catering to the aquatic-mammal demographic.
— Peter Pachal