Panasonic HDC-SD9 Expert Reviews

alaTest has collected and analyzed 445 reviews from magazines and websites. Reviewers really like the control panel. The zoom also impresses, but many are less positive about the viewfinder.

Control panel, Zoom, Memory, Design

Viewfinder, Interface, Usability, Battery

Experts rate this product 74/100 and users 84/100. We analyzed these ratings, the product age and more factors. Compared to other Camcorders, the Panasonic HDC-SD9 is awarded an overall alaScore™ of 95/100 = Excellent quality.

With its eye-catching, compact body and relatively low price, the Panasonic HDC-SD9 seems to be quite an attractive buy for a flash-based AVCHD camcorder. At 11.7 ounces with battery and SD card and only 3.6 inches long, it's certainly one of the ...

It's easy to be seduced by how light and comfortable the 11.5-ounce HDC-SD9-8GB camcorder ($699.95 direct) feels. In fact, it weighs less than comparably priced camcorders by more than four ounces; it achieves this by forgoing an integrated hard drive ...

Small form factor. Extremely lightweight. Dolby Digital 5.1 recording. Face detection.

Video quality is not as sharp as the competition. Struggles to adjust white balance when lighting changes. Mild purple fringing. Editing software is primitive. HDMI port is poorly placed.

This camcorder is small and lightweight, but its video quality is below par.

Prices of high-definition camcorders have steadily been dropping as a result of competition and maturing of the technology. The competition is fierce as major electronic manufacturers such as Canon, Hitachi, JVC, Panasonic, Samsung, Sanyo and Sony are ...

The Panasonic HDC-SD9 Camcorder is an ideal high-definition camcorder for the beginner video enthusiast as illustrated by the recordings we produced for this article. And we certainly qualify as beginners since this was the first camcoder that we have ...

The Panasonic HDC-SD9 disappoints in both performance and design.

Good physical shape and weight, Vibrant video colors

Generally poor video performance, Terrible button and port placement

For $689, the SD9's performance and ease of use are disappointing. The bundled software could improve with a downloadable update, but there's no fixing the design flaws and video performance. Panasonic's brilliant prosumer cameras (like the VariCam ...

The Panasonic HDC-SD9 ($799 MSRP) is the third-generation AVCHD flash camcorder in the company's fleet. Earlier incarnations were plagued with problematic video quality, but this may be the year AVCHD turns it around. The SD9 prides itself on being ...

The Panasonic HDC-SD9 has two primary attributes-low price and small size. Its video quality is good, but not great. It has limited onboard connectivity, and handling is at the bottom of the totem pole. We've watched Panasonic get aggressive on this ...

The Panasonic HDC-SD9 is the company's third generation AVCHD camcorder that records exclusively to SD/SDHC memory cards. The improvements over its ancestor, the HDC-SD1, are numerous. The SD9 records in full 1920 x 1080 with a new maximum bit rate of ...

The HDC-SD9 captures and exports video in "full HD," meaning 1920 x 1080 at 17 Mbps. Previous generations were either a slower bitrate or a 1440 x 1080 image that was stretched for playback. The improvements have gone a long way in reducing the ...

Low light performance is hindered by the camcorder's small imaging chips. The HDC-SD9 has three 1/6-inch CCDs. A three-chip construction generally produces more accurate color in adequate light, but low light capture is largely dependent on the ...

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 ...