Customer Reviews

Panasonic HDC-SD9 AVCHD 3CCD Flash Memory High Definition Camcorder with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I just received my camera today. Of course, I've been researching this little gem since it was first announced for production by Panasonic a few months ago. Along with that research, I've been playing with it now for several hours and I wanted to run by some first impressions:

Pros:

* Lightweight! Panasonic touts this as the smallest, lightest HD camera available for HD recording (as of 1/2008). That's certainly no joke. You're expecting this to weigh like a brick given it relatively compact size, but it's extremely light. I'm not expecting any arm fatigue here!

* Exceptional image quality. HD recording at 17 MBPS (variable bit rate) is exceptional and image artifacting that occurred in previous generations (SD1 and SD5) are pratically eliminated. I typically burn to DVD, but I'm assuming that image quality should be good considering my eventual plan on burning to Blu-Ray through Sony Vegas Pro. The video compression uses AVCHD (Advanced Video Codec High Definition) which is based on the very efficient H.264 compression.

* Flash media storage. No more dropped frames/corrupted media on magnetic tapes! No limitations imposed by a fixed hard drive! No more wasted DVD media for footage that I want to edit anyway! More importantly for me, NO MORE MOTOR NOISE. Now I can film an art gallery in true silence. Also, with the only motor in the camera servicing the camera lens (which can't be heard at all), there will be considerably less wear and tear on the camera overall. The SDHC cards are pricey, but you can get an 8 GB SDHC Sandisk Extreme III card for about $[...] - $[...] through independent sellers on Amazon, although I suspect the price for this media will be headed down. I bought 3 that way. An 8GB card will store about 1 hour of video footage at the maximum bitrate setting. Note: It is IMPORTANT to get at least a Class 4 card to record at the substantially quick bitrates. Personally, I just went ahead and got Class 6 cards (faster) since it wasn't that much more. Pony up the extra cash for the SDHC cards - at the rate that I film, it will pay for itself after several usages. Try and make the same claim about using a tape more than 2 times without some noticeable degradation.

* Image advisor. Are you panning too quickly? Subject too dark? Too much backlight? Are you not holding the camera still (pops up if you have the image stabilizer off)? The advisor identifies these issues and brings a menu option up immediately to rectify the issue; all you have to do is simply accept the advice and you're good to go! I've exposed the camera to several unfriendly environments and the advisor was quick to chime in with problem identifications/solutions.

* OIS. The image stabilizer on this camera is exceptional...and I have NEVER said that about any stabilizer for cameras that I've owned in the past. Image stabilizers are typically exaggerated on most cameras (i.e., super steady-no-motion claims), but this one does a "wow" kind of job. At 4,000 times a second, the optical stabilizer does an impressive job at stabilizing an image even at the full 10x optical zoom. This is approximately 5 times faster than Panasonic's predecessor's. I've tried the system on and off and it's extraordinarily impressive. Don't expect the same results, however, on digitially enhanced zooming which I never use anyway.

* Pre-record. Ever catch yourself saying, "Man, I wished that I had hit record about a second sooner to catch my kid saying that!" Well, with pre-record enabled, the camera keeps the last 3 seconds of video buffered in standby mode so if you do hit record at the opportune time, you can "go back 3 seconds in time to capture what you might have missed!"

* Exceptional sound. Yep, the camera comes with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. I'm a bit of an audiophile, so I truly appreciate being immersed in a home movie environment that has sound around me as if I was still there filiming it. There are 3 options with the micorphone: surround, zoom mic, and focus mic. The regular surround options records all ambient noise equally, although you can actually change the gain, if you want. The zoom mic actually directs more input to the front microphone if you zoom in closer to an object further away; this allows you to "zoom" in on sound originating directly ahead. I haven't had a chance to fiddle with the focus mic, but I'm sure that it works just as well.

Cons:

* Battery life. According to the manual, the supplied battery can optimistcally handle 1 hour and 45 seconds of continuous record time (a full charge does register at 119 minutes). Realistically, the manual says, it would last about 1 hour, if you factor in zooming, switching it on but not recording for a few minutes between shots, lighting conditions (and compensation), etc.; Panasonic's predicted time is probably close. I would recommend getting the Panasonic VW-VBG260 battery from a 3rd party dealer which will last twice as long (got mine for $129.95 - Panasonic charges $169.95). You could get the VBG6 battery which lasts a LOT LONGER, but it requires a separate pack to carry the power supply since the battery is so large. Not worth the hassle, in my opinion.

* No viewfinder. Minor inconvenience for me, but I prefer the old style viewfinder. However, the camera is so small and comfortable that using the LCD screen works fine. I'm willing to concede that this is a non-issue.

* No accessory shoes. You want to hook up a camera light? Forget it - nowhere to put it unless you rig something to it (shoestring anyone?). Again, though, I'm fed up with trying to light a completely dark room and I find myself not really wanting it. That said, the low-light function on the camera as well as Magic Pix (full color in both modes, not the green washed out night vision with scary eyes!) does surprisingly well with 1 lux of light available.

Overall, the camera is extremely impressive for the price and the 3rd generation of HD cameras from Panasonic are a cost-effective way to enjoy high quality images. For standard DVD usage, this camera is more than perfect. However, as a caution, check that your video software is capable of using the AVCHD video format. It's still in its infancy, but an increasing number of software vendors are adopting it is a viable alternative. If you're serious about video editing, I would highly recommend Sony Vegas Pro Version 8.0 (current version as of 2/08) or later.

I got this camera as soon as it came out. I'm extremely happy with how small and light it is - i can carry it around in a coat pocket and record easily. The pre-record function is very nice, especially if you don't want to be recording all the time.

Video editing was a little sluggish, but that's not hte camera's fault - just takes a lot of muscle to edit HD video. I started out with the included software (Pinnacle 11 trial) with a Quad-core 2.4Ghz machine with 2GB of ram, 800mhz FSB, and the computer just about died. I upgrade the RAM to 3GB and it is still sluggish but works. So definately should make sure you have a FAST computer.

I would agree with other reviewers that having the HDMI port behind the battery is bad. Also, you ahve to have the camera on AC power to move video from the card to the computer. Otherwise, you can just unplug the SD card and plug it straight into the computer througha card reader - seems to be alot faster that way anyhow.

Battery life seems pretty good, especially since you are using the LCD screen all the time. Which, by the way, even in bright sunlight is very visisble.

Overall, very happy with the camera, and looking forward to taking lots of videos of our upcoming newborn. But i will definately be looking to upgrade the software package to get better editing.

This camera is great! I have had this camera for 3 months... The highlights include great HD video quality, very straight forward usage, very good and easy SD to DVD transfer software and tiny size. You can take the SD card out and pop it right into your PS3 for immediate HD playback. You can also use the software to create same quality HD-DVDs on DVD-R-DL discs that hold 1 hour each. Buy the 8GB SD card to match 1 hour of DVD-R-DL. I thought that the price was good at $800 for this camera and now I see that it's less than $600. Buy it - you will want to send me a thank you note after you get it... (but it's really not me you should thank - I thank panasonic for coming up with this winner).

PS. While some people here complain about the low light performance, I think that they should really read the manual... They probably tried the Low Light mode (which really isn't very good)... they just need to switch to manual mode and open up the iris a couple of notches (1 switch move + 4 clicks) , it's very quick and easy to do with this camera and then the low light videos will be good and the camera will also stop playing with the white balance as is commonly an issue with indoor video camcorder shooting).

There are already several very good reviews here, so I'll only hit on a few points that should be emphasized:

1.) Very small and light; almost unbelievably so. This camera is already getting much more use than our older one simply because it fits easily into my wife's purse or a fanny pack.

2.) Quick startup. I haven't timed it, but the startup is so quick that many spontaneous events, which you'd usually miss, get recorded.

3.) Removable SD card. Very easy for transferring files to the PC for editing or backup. My wife and kids love the ability to shoot something, remove the SD card, plug it into the PlayStation 3, and watch it. DON'T pay for the built-in 16gb memory; it costs too much, but more importantly you lose considerable ease of use.

4.) Awful low-light performance. The camera works like a dream in bright light, but suks donkey b*lls in anything less; It does work, but the quality is barely acceptable. I really really hope that a company will some day realize there are consumers who are willing to pay a significant premium for high-quality low-light performance in consumer (small and easy to use) camera.

5.) Almost too light. The image stabilization is barely adequate offset how much this thing bounces around. I guess everything is a tradeoff (see point #1)

All-in-all a wonderful camera as long as it's used within its limits. The low average score really represents the poor state of AVCHD editing software and, to some extent, the camera's poor low-light performance; it seriously mis-states the quality and usefulness of this camera.

I purchased this camera from a B&M store (sorry Amazon) and since I always use Amazon reviews in my evaluation of new products, I wanted to leave an update for those of you looking at this camera and are concerned about software. There are plenty of reviews out there on performance, size, etc....read those for that info. This is specific to software and importing.

Several reviewers have stated that the footage from this camera is not editable. Up until recently, this was true.

iMovie 08 does not yet support this camera's files. There are rumors swirling that Apple is close to releasing an update to take care of this. Given Steve Job's personal endorsement of AVCHD and Panasonic at recent Keynotes, I don't doubt this will be addressed. That said, folks have said that a product called VoltaicHD can be used to process the .mts files into .MOV files. This software costs $30 but a trial is available.

Another reviewer said that the included trial software, Pinnacle Studio Plus, does not handle the files either. As installed from the CD, this is true. However, go to the Pinnacle website and look for the latest update. After updating to 11.1.2 (you can do this while still using the trial, just bypass the product registration), Pinnacle is able to process, edit and export the .mts files. I have successfully exported to MPEG2, MPEG4 and DiVx from Studio Plus.

The reason for 4/5 stars - it is only trial software and right now there is only the single software package out there that handles it. It should be expected that you will need *some* purchased editing software to edit enhanced codecs such as this but only having one to choose from is a little limited.

Other than the software/editing hiccups, this camera is destined to be a terrific addition to my family.

This camcorder is probably the tiniest of its category.
It fits in my jacket pocket.

It has many interesting features : face detection (the video is always well focused on the faces), pre-record (to record 3 seconds before the "record" button).

But the best of all, I would say, is the optical stabilizer, which is very powerfull (and particularly useful on this 270g camcorder, because your hands shake more).
The colours are pretty good, and the sound quality is simply outstanding, far better than anything I've heard from a camcorder (I don't use 5.1 though, just stereo).

However, I suspect the sharpness of the videos would be better with a DV camera. But then it would be heavier, noisier, and more fragile than with SD cards (my previous camcorder was out of order within a year because the heads were dirty).

The only BIG issue, with the camcorder, is the software compatibility.
On windows, it seems only Vegas recognizes the files.

On mac (the platform I use), il works with FCE4 (and FCP, i've read) in 1080 and 24p only, after installing the latest perian.
After importing the videos, you can do pretty much everything with them (the process converts the fils to .mov), including importing them in imovie 08.

But you will need patience to edit in high res with FCE4 or imovie (compression time take about 4 times the movie's length in mpeg4).
And beware of the export settings : I noticed that using h264 with quicktime, or with imovie, washes out the colours and makes red look magenta, even though less pixels are noticeable.
I prefer to use advanced mpeg4, which produces genuine colours.
And also, don't expect much difference of quality between 720p and 1080p, because the AVCHD is still a bit limited by the bitrate (17max on this particular camcorder, which is still better than many others).

OK, I knew about Apple software engineers getting caught napping regarding the new AVCHD format**, yet I bought this anyway. How could I opt for any other, after seeing what this one could do -- even more so, considering the price?

For those not happy with the joystick, try using the remote instead. Works great! Perfect solution for us.
For those who mentioned poor picture in low light, try turning on the Low Light setting or even MagicPix, the later of which is intended for near-total-darkness.

Another reviewer was not entirely correct about missing an accessory shoe. Reference item VW-SK12 (Shoe Adapter) which connects to the tripod mount; better than using a "shoestring", I imagine. A lamp can be purchased for this accessory, another way to resolve the low light issue many have mentioned.

All of the included software, either trial version or Windows-only, was useless to me. But the included software wasn't even a factor in my buying decision.

The included user manual is excellent - so far it has been very easy to use and sufficient for every question I've had. It is very well organized and it is even printed in full - an increasingly rare find, where often the printed manual is only an overview and the detailed manual is only available on DVD.

Opening the little door to access the USB connection was a little tricky and the door hinge itself is just a springy strip of pliable material. I sure hope that little door is sturdier than it looks. I have very small, child-sized hands, yet even I find connecting the USB, AV, or DC cables to the camcorder a little hair-raising; the unit is just so tiny, and the connections require a significant amount of force to insert the cables.

But the memory card is very easy to access, and the contents can be uploaded to a computer using a memory card reader - no need to remove the battery to access the DC input, no need to open the flimsy door to connect the USB cable, etc.

Onscreen feedback (icons, menus, alerts, etc.) is very helpful and easy to understand. The video footage looks surprisingly good displayed on our 46" HDTV even with just the supplied AV cables. My husband captured some video in our rather-dark garage yesterday and I was worried about the lighting; but then when he handed the camera back to me, I saw that the low-light setting was ON, as well as intelligent contrast, and the resulting footage looks remarkable, clear as daylight, with no color cast.

I purchased the VW-BN1 AVCHD-DVD drive for this camcorder to preserve my video in it's full AVCHD/5.1 glory, since I must then down convert the clips to .mov/2-channel sound using Voltaic to migrate it onto my iMac for editing. Contrary to product description, **Final Cut Express 4 does NOT fully support AVCHD, especially not from this camera, and it doesn't support 5.1 surround sound in any format anyway.

I'll start by saying that I did what seemed like endless research and tried out every camera in this range before ultimately deciding on this one. What I hope to do with this review is share my experiences and hopefully provide the kind of information I wanted to see when I was doing research.

Now, about the specifics of this camera. It's a 3CCD model, which was one of the major selling points for me. I do a lot of outdoor shooting of high action sports (rock climbing), and this camera surprised me with it's quality and it's ability to capture colors so accurately. The 3CCD design also means that if you're going to be doing some blue/green screen effects that you'll get a better key. It's build quality is very solid; and by that I mean it doesn't seem flimsy at an point. The the automatic lens cover is wonderful. It has 4 recording quality modes, and a 24p cinema mode. I use the HA1920 mode, which records 1920x1080i60 resolution at 16Mbps AVCHD and works out to 2 hours 8 minutes on a 16GB SDHC card. While I don't use the 24p mode shooting action sports outdoors, I have tried it indoors and it really does give a cinema-like feel to the video; it's a nice feature to have. I'm using this card Transcend 16GB SDHC CARD (SD 2.0 SPD CLASS 6) with Co Card Reader, and the included card reader tends to transfer files slightly faster than the USB connection on the camera does; plus-it allows you to charge the battery while you're importing the video. The optical image stabilizer on this camera is nothing short of amazing. It records consistent jitter-free footage, even while hanging from a rock face 30 meters above the ground. The zoom is also VERY smooth, and there is absolutely no zoom motor noise picked up by the microphone. The intelligent shooting guide, and the other assist features are great.

Pros:
-Amazing quality video
-Superior optical stabilization
-Intelligent shooting guide
-Battery life is very good, often better than the manual quotes
-Smooth zoom/zoom noise not picked up by microphone
-Uses SDHC cards, which are cheap enough to keep a few on hand
-Editing is easy on OS X. iMovie imports the video into it's amazing user interface, and the Final Cut products let you browse and select which video to import using the Log and Transfer window (Shift+Command+8). I prefer importing the footage into the Apple Intermediate Codec using Final Cut, then importing to iMovie if I want to browse it quickly.

Cons:
-Extra batteries are expensive.
-You can't use the camera on AC power and charge the battery at the same time.
-The thumbstick is awkwardly positioned, but you get used to it. It's kind of like playing tetris with the controller sideways.
-AVCHD can take a while to import if you have a slower machine(I don't but I can see how others might become frustrated).
-Manual focus is essentially impossible to use effectively.

Other Thoughts:
This camera has 3 few user-assist features that I found helpful.
1) Zebra stripe mode: This will put zebra stripes on the screen to help you identify areas of the video with poor exposure.

2) Wire frames: These can be set to various sizes, and they help you to center your shots.

3) Intelligent Shooting Guide: With this active, the camera will warn you, on screen, if you have any serious errors going on such as panning too fast, incorrect contrast settings, low light mode, etc. It even pops up the on screen menu, and skips to the screen where the option it recommends is located. For example, I was shooting outdoors and I walked into a bike tunnel, the camera recommended I activate low light mode and it skipped to the proper menu, so all I had to do was press a button to confirm. You can also ignore it's advice and it won't keep nagging you. A very helpful feature, useful for both novices and advanced users.

One last thing to consider, when you convert the raw AVCHD footage to Apple Intermediate Codec or ProRes 422 the resulting files are going to be massive. Make sure you have an external hard drive to store this stuff on. As far as transcoding the raw AVCHD to AIC or ProRes422... some may say that you will lose quality, etc. This is nonsense, AIC and ProRes422 were created for this very purpose--to make editing high res, high bitrate video more feasible on modern machines. They were designed to preserve quality, and ProRes422 is even touted as being visually lossless. If you wanted to edit raw AVCHD you would need a 8-core machine.

Summary:
While I did list a few cons, they pros FAR outweigh them, even to the point where I can forget about the cons altogether. For the features and the quality this camera provides, I think it is an excellent buy.

My bottom line is results, and my first glimpse of HD video from this micro HD camcorder was a revelation - a bed of multi-colored tulips, in sharp focus and with astonishing color saturation. Macro shot of a caterpillar that showed every fuzzy hair and even the yellow & black patterns on his body. A trip to the National Zoo yielded video of some sun-basking otters that made it feel like I could reach out and touch their fur. The backlit stained glass windows of the National Cathedral glowed with color and amazing resolution. I see I now have to take this HD camcorder and revisit every place I've shot regular, standard-def video. Several reviewers have noted drawbacks that include the hard-to-reach HDMI and power connections, but I'll put up with it. No one has yet mentioned a great in-camera editing feature that lets you easily snip out the bad parts of any given shot and delete them, made espically easy by using the remote control. With a little shot planning, I can edit a no-frills finished video right on the card. Use of the AVCHD standard allows one hour and four minutes of recording at the highest quality on an 8-gig SDHC card, now selling for 30 bucks or less. Since the price will probably keep getting lower, I just plan on saving videos on their memory cards, with the eventual option of editing on the home computer (whenever I get the time, which is never). Playback using the remote lets you freeze, slow mo and (unlike tape) instantly jump to the next shot...all without even a hint of jitter or breakup. I was torn by conflicting reviews, but what put me over the buying edge was the director of photography for Fox TV's "House", who tried out a Panasonic HDC-SD9 and told the LA Times "it's mind blowing". He added that he put the video up on his studio monitors "and the engineers were amazed. You could shoot a TV show with it--without a doubt." I finally pushed the buy button when Amazon chopped over 200 bucks off the 799 suggested price.

I purchased this camcorder to replace my old JVC DV camcorder. The great thing about this camcorder is that it takes excellent video and can fit in the palm of my hand. I purchased a camera bag to carry this camcorder. Play back videos on my mac are exceptional. The quality is better than my DVD player with component connections. The only drawback is the editing software that comes with your purchase. It's only good for playback on your computer. You will have to purchase third party software that can edit AVCHD files. I purchased Final Cut Express 4 for use with my mac. Excellent editing software and works great with AVCHD files. If you can afford a $700.00 camcorder, then just pull out your wallet and spend the extra $150.00 for the software and start editing!