Panasonic’s latest camcorder – HDC-SD9 is the smallest (and one of the cheapest) “Full HD” on the market. Panasonic ultra compact HDC-SD9 records films in full 1920 x 1080 resolution with the maximum bit rate of 17 Mbps.
When compared to older generations of Panasonic camcorders it seems that color saturation has finally been boosted, however, in outdoor shooting there sometimes is a tendency for oversaturation. Although the camcorder works really well in bright sunlight, it does not perform equally well in low light. The quality of the recorded images is really good and can be adjusted thanks to the four quality options. Panasonic HDC-SD9 can record in HA (17Mbps), HG (13Mbps) which record in 1920 x 1080 and can capture in either 1080/60i or 1080/24P, HX (9Mbps) records in 1920 x 1080 but can’t capture 24P, and the last one – HE (6Mbps) records in 1440 x 1080, and only in 60i.
Panasonic HDC-SD9 records only to SDHC and SD memory cards and although 32GB cards have been recently released it seems that this camcorder is compatible only with up to 16 GB cards. Using cards allowed Panasonic to reduce the camcorder’s size, besides memory cards have low power consumption and are resistant to weather and shock. It might also be worth knowing that Panasonic HDC-SD9 has no internal memory and that no memory card is to be found in the box, so when you buy it do not forget to buy a memory card as well.
Panasonic HDC-SD9 is rich in recording features, such as the Intelligent Contrast feature which prevents blown-out areas, Soft Skin feature which improves skin tones, and Backlight Compensation which draws out details in shadows improving the picture. There are also a few Scene modes, including Surf & Snow, Portraits, Spotlight and Sports – not a very impressive list and for sure shorter than in camcorders made by Sony, or Canon. Zoom in the latest Panasonic camcorder is fine. The optical zoom extends to 10x and the digital one to 25x or 700x, but I don’t recommend using it as the image quality decreases.
There are numerous manual controls in Panasonic HDC-SD9 including Tele macro, Guide Lines, Zebra, Colour Bar and Shooting Guide.
The most interesting one that appeared in some of the Panasonic new camcorders is Shooting guide which constantly analyzes what you are doing with the camcorder and gives hint how you can improve your recording strategy or options. What is interesting is the fact that it does not correct anything automatically, but only shows where appropriate options are to be found in the menu so that you can change everything yourself. Tele macro feature instantly extends the zoom to the full 10x so it may come in handy. Guide lines feature creates lines on the screen to make it easier to aim the camcorder and take the best shot.
All in all Panasonic HDC-SD9 ought to be a good camcorder for beginners with its low price and Shooting Guide feature which will guide beginners through the most important settings. Moreover, with almost two hour battery life and ease of use it seems perfect for amateurs.
Detailed specs are as follows:
Source: Panasonic