Panasonic HDC-SD9
Product Rating     
Features of the Panasonic HDC-SD9 include:
- Progressive 1920x1080p recording (25p)
- 3CCD Camera System
- Face Detection
- Pre-Rec Function
- 0.6 sec Quick start
- 5.1-Channel Surround Sound System & Zoom Mic
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Panasonic HDC-SD9 Consumer Reviews
(1 review)
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Reviewed by Chris Brierley on 19/05/2008 You can buy better or smaller. There are lots of reviews on this cam on the web,so I will not repeat much of what others have said.The cam is full HD,small,like a 25ml drink's can and weighs little.It does not come with a case and Panasonic say they will not make one.(If you want a case try this zoom lens case, Lowepro Lens Case 1N.) The SD-9 is made of what looks and feels like a very cheap plastic and none of the controls have a good feel to them,I must say I was not impressed when I first took it out of the box. Performance in good light is excellent but it does tend to over expose a little,which can cause whites to lose detail,use of the intellegent contrast helps to some extent. In poor light video noise does tend to increase and this will be made much more obvious when viewing the footage on a large HD tv.When viewed on a smaller tv or computer the noise may be acceptable to some but this is missing the point of having an HD cam/tv.Using either of the manual low light options increases the noise much more.Even though video can be taken in near total darkness the resulting video is not really fit to use. Apart from point and shoot and zooming,the cam is difficult to use because all the other controls are placed in the space on the side where the screen goes.This means two handed operation on controls you cannot see unless you turn the cam sideways.To make matters even worse the four way control,which is used to select a lot of functions,is very small,stiff and almost impossible to operate first time.It ranks as the worst control by a light year that I have ever found on any cam,remote control or phone etc.It is so sharp that it will leave dents in your finger. Panasonic,in their desire to make the cam so small,had to move the controls to the side because there was not enough room on the rear of the cam and as far as I am concerned it is a design compromise too far. Another problem I found,and which I have not as yet seen mentioned elsewhere,is noise from the auto focus motor on the sound track,this is unacceptable on a camera in this class. I can make no comment on editing or ease of handling files as I am returning the cam and choosing something else. If you want something better,the Canon HF-10 is only a few mm larger and in reviews against the SD-9 out performs it in every way,especially under low light,but it is currently much more expensive. If you want something even smaller go for the Sony HDR-TG3,which is about the size of many mobile phones.I would like both but can only justify having one. Rating:    
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