Panasonic HDC-SD5 -

I have tended to stick to Sony camcorders but decided to try the Panasonic after reading a couple of reviews of it. On receiving the camcorder and opening the box I was amazed at its incredibly small size. The control buttons are all well laid out at the back of the camera and the functions for operating the camera (accessed by the joystick) are easy to understand, the only niggle being the very small joystick which is very fiddly to operate. The camera is very comfortable in use with the side contoured to fit the palm of the hand. The camera gave excellent clear video and photographs due no doubt to the 3 CCD and the Leica lens. The supplied software is very basic but there is another disk with Pinnacle Studio HD but unfortunately this is a trial version. For some strange reason when downloading video or photos to a computer the supplied AC adapter has to be used and this means removing the battery so I suppose a card reader would come in useful here. One big disappointment was that the camera does not come supplied with a SDHC card so you have to buy your own; these are around 50 to 60 pounds for an 8GB class 6 non Panasonic one and hold approx 90min at full HD. All in all I would have no hesitation in recommending this camcorder.