Panasonic HDC SD9 - Expert Reviews

Award: Recommended!

Review summary: James gets his hands on Panasonic's SD card-based HDC-SD9 again for a more extensive test.

Verdict: Now we've had a chance to give Panasonic's HDC-SD9 a proper going over, we can't help being rather bowled over. It's definitely not a camcorder for the serious hobbyist, even if it can shoot great-quality video in all but the worst lighting conditions ...

Pros: Ultra lightweight design, stunning 'full HD' video resolution, improved battery/SD card arrangement, solid still images mode, Face Detection technology

Cons: SDHC media not cheap, no external microphone jack

Verdict: The HDC-SD9 is an evolutionary upgrade of the SD5. While the majority of changes are arguably minor, they combine to lift the camcorder head-and-shoulders above its predecessor, not to mention the majority of competitors.

Review summary: James previews the HDC-SD9 on show at Panasonic's HD Networking Convention in Valencia.

Verdict: The HDC-SD9 has a similar basic specification to its predecessor. It sports Panasonic's trademark trio of CCDs, in this case 1/6in units with 560,000 pixels apiece. These will have a good effect on colour fidelity, but sensors this small usually have ...

Award: Recommended!

Review summary: Impressed as we were by the HDC-SD5 a few months back, it was still a surprise to see it become the top-selling HD model that it has. Now, fewer than six months later, Panasonic has brought out a new version: called the HDC-SD9, it takes the solid ...

Verdict: Some key improvements over the HDC-SD5 make this an enticing pocket HD camcorder prospect.

Review summary: The HDC-SD9 is Panasonic's third generation of memory card-based AVCHD camcorders, even though the first generation HDC-SD1 was announced only 13 months ago. In the interim, the form factor has changed little - these things are tiny. In fact, the HDC ...