Tagged Products - 2.1mp

Panasonic 2.1MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder with 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black/Gray

...

bad the videos turned out. Only after recording the next day did I even get close to true HD looking videos.

If you plan on any type of low light level recording, stay way away from this camera.

Panasonic 2.1MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder with 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black/Gray

...

bad the videos turned out. Only after recording the next day did I even get close to true HD looking videos.



If you plan on any type of low light level recording, stay way away from this camera.

Panasonic 2.1MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder with 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black/Gray

...

9 Professional. It is NOT new user friendly, and has a steep learning curve. In retrospect, I discovered that the Nero 8 Ultra Edition that I already owned has very good support for files created by this camcorder, and is quite fast and should work well for most users. Nero 8 also provides a great program for recoding to other formats.

If you think you want Vegas - I suggest downloading the 30-day trial from Sony's website and see what you think - but in the meantime - get Nero 8 and save yourself a lot of time and money...

BTW - you do need a good PC for editing with any of the software (Panasonic's, Nero, Vegas) - most notebooks don't have enough horsepower - I strongly recommend at least a Core2 Duo desktop system with a large hard drive and a fast graphics card and adequate RAM (min 1GB, higher is better).

Panasonic HCD-HS9 Hybrid 60GB Hard Drive and SD Card HD Camcorder

...

from what I've been told Panasonic does something a little extra to the AVCHD format that iMove and FCE can't abide. There are work arounds, but I'd rather just use a camera that doesn't require workarounds. This has been documented on multiple blogs, which I should've consulted before making the purchase....I have Macs at the house, and the included software doesn't work with Macs. SO - I'm taking it back and will probably exchange for the Canon Vixia HF10 which I've read good things about. If you're not a Mac user and don't use iMovie or FCE for editing, this is a pretty nice option. Otherwise, get ready to learn workarounds or buy a non-Panny camcorder.

Panasonic 2.1MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder with 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black/Gray

...

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.

Panasonic 2.1MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder with 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black/Gray

...

or even half supported yet, so all the amazing things you film will sit on the camera/flash cards until the video editing software is updated to be compatible with this camera.

Panasonic HCD-HS9 Hybrid 60GB Hard Drive and SD Card HD Camcorder

...

or even half supported yet, so all the amazing things you film will sit on the camera/flash cards until the video editing software is updated to be compatible with this camera.

Panasonic HCD-HS9 Hybrid 60GB Hard Drive and SD Card HD Camcorder

...

I had to switch for the small things mainly from software which I'll get to later, but first let me give a side by side comparison between the two after testing out each product for a couple hours about the features that matter to me at least. I will refer to the products as HS9 and SR11 for the remainder of the review.

Appearance: I'd have to give it to the HS9 for being noticeably smaller. But the SR11 is not big (especially not 90's camcorder big), as I have a man sized hand, but the HS9 wins the compact comparison in this case. While we're on the physical appearance of it, I was disappointed in the HS9 placement of the external adapter. The battery must be physically removed every time you want to connect the adapter as the cable connector is behind the battery. Therefore you cannot charge the battery simply by pluging in the charging cable as you can on many products that you can usually do this and as you can for the SR11. And the HS9 forces you to use the external cable when transferring a video, even though this may make sense, but when you have a short clip and just took the battery off the charger, it's annoying to remove the battery and find the external adapter every time to do so. Bad placement of the external adapter on the HS9 unlike the nicely placed (as is with most camcorders, at least with a previous Canon ZR200 that I own) with the HS9. If size is an issue for you, the HS9 may be your choice.

Video Quality: My opinion of the quality between the HS9 and SR11 was comparable. Between the two it's a toss up during daylight conditions as both are excellent, and the SR11 is stunning as your eye sees it, it appears on the screen, very nice. The HS9 records in a 1080p vs. a 1080i format, that may give the albeit slight edge in terms of theoretically video quality to the HS9. Though the software provided with the HS9 to play back these high quality videos ruins the superb video recording. I hate to say my eye didn't notice the difference between 1080p and 1080i though my correction lens aren't the greatest, mileage of your eyes matter perhaps.

In low light conditions, the HS9 seems to record slightly brighter images which are decent, the SR11 are a bit darker, though look extremely realistic. A true toss up, and really based on personal preference and would have to say they're evenly matched for you to decide.

In extremely low light conditions I found the HS9 surprisingly grainy. It seems to brighten up a extremely dark image thus resulting in grain. I have not recorded the SR11 in low light conditions other than finding a youtube video of a low light condition video and it seemed to keep it's realistic tone but remained dark. The HS9 seems to be on the right track to attempt to brighten up things, as the SR11 does not, but at this point I would have to say the HS9 was unsatisfiability grainy.

Both were grainy in bedroom light condition when displaying directly from the camera to the TV (not recording, just displaying through the cables) though the SR11 might have had a slight lead when panning or moving the zoom in and out a bit more responsive, though hardly noticeable.

Formats: The HS9 takes the lead in this regard as it has a 24 cinema mode, that records frames at 24 frames like some movies. Otherwise the HS9 records in 60 frames per second. However, the Pinnacle trial version could not handle the 60 fps mode and only the 24 cinema mode (though it said it was 30 fps). Though the HS9 software could handle its own 60 fps video fine, more later on software. The SR11 records it's videos in 30 fps

Night vision between the two the HS9 uses a blue illumination for night vision and the SR11 uses the commonly known green illumination as often seen on TV. I like the green better, but the blue was a nice change and this did not affect my decision either way, though it was nice to have on both.

Transfer to PC: Both transfer to your computer via a USB extremely quickly and at seemingly equal times.

Sound: Both are 5.1, the sound is acceptable and nice on both camcorders, I would say that the wind cut function on the HS9 was nice to have and did seem to work, the SR11 does not have this feature, though I'd wish it did. I'd give a slight edge to the HS9 in this one, especially if you record in windy conditions often (soccer games perhaps), which I don't.

Optical Image Stabilization: Both claim image stabilization, the OSI on the HS9 seems to slightly work better, though not noticeably. I think both still need to work on this.

Face recognition: The SR11 impressed me with the facial recognition as it just works. Turn the camera on a person and a white box appears around a persons face and moves as the person does, always keeping focus on that persons face. The focus on the HS9 on faces seemed very good, though I couldn't figure out the white box feature, it might have had to been enabled through a button a readily accessible button at the very top, so not that bad, but the HS9 was automatic.

Cables: Both have an ample about of cables that allows you to connect your camera to the TV with both RGB and Yellow and white/red audio cables.

Remote: Both had remote controls, a definite plus.

Software: This is where I must reluctantly gives this definitely to the SR11 or Sony. First, very few software handle the AVCHD videos at this time, so both Panasonic and Sony include their own software to retrieve the videos from the camera. The Panasonic software is a bit clumsy when it asks which folder you want to save it in, it's a bit manual where the Sony software detects when the camera has been connected, and simply asks whether you want to import all your videos, one click and it does, in a folder already created with an independent name. The Panasonic software called HD Writer had some additional editing capabilities to slice, merge, and delete unnecessary scenes and save to dvd and mpeg2 whereas the Sony had no editing features.

Playback software: I really hope panasonic gets this point. Their playback software most likely did not use directx, where the Sony PMB or Picture Motion Brower does. What this does is use your video card when the HD videos are playing back video. At one point I thought there was something wrong with the camcorder because the playback would skip using the HS9 playback software, but after encoding it to another format, my native video player kicked in and played back smoothly. This really scared me thinking that there was something wrong with the HS9 when there was not, however my x2300 dual core processor was not able to handle the playback of the native HS9 videos alone. This is in contrast to Sony PMB software for playback that installed directx that utilized my video card so that playback of the native format of the camcorder was silky smooth. What's more the Picture Motion Brower is a nice video playback software that throws in additional calendar features of when a video was imported and such, a nicety that should be used with backing up as it's insanity to store large amounts of precious moments on a computer instead of constantly backup up these priceless moments on DVD's and such, those who have had hard drive failures know. Panasonic included a copy of Pinnacle trial version 11 for HD cameras, it could import the HD 60 fps videos, but did not encode them properly. The 24 cinema mode (or 30fps) videos has no problem in Pinnacle. The SR11 videos also were imported into Pinnacle with no problems. Once additional nicety of the Sony software is that you can make a still picture at any moment making a jpeg without importing it into an editing software. Though the HD Writer software has nice features to backup your videos, hard to use in other cases like loading the HD videos stored on your computer. Sony's Picture Motion Brower software is very good to view and backup, though a register folder option was awkward, why not just allow the ability to just drag in folders to register, always room for improvement I guess.

Viewfinders: Both viewfinder display a clear image, though the SR11 has a touchscreen where the HS9 does not, though understandable with the price difference. I was disappointed I could not navigate to playback a video on the SR11 without using the touchscreen since the screen would get a lot of fingerprints, though there are less buttons to complicate things because of the touchscreen. Both have easy buttons to begin recording.

The HS9 had a feature to offer advice how to record like turn on the low light feature (should have had a feature that this would turn on automatically) or you're panning to fast, this advice can be taken as good or bad.

Zoom: The HS9 had digital zoom, but it would not work in 24 cinema mode, go figure, and was adequate. The SR11 had no such zoom, but the normal zoom was satisfactory, though not as far as the HS9.

Conclusion: If you can tolerate the size of the SR11, and wind is not a major issue and are looking for a camcorder with excellent video in all light conditions, good sound, facial recognition, and easy and nice software then SR11 is a fine choice that I am happy with.

The HS9 is a nice choice when size is an issue and windy conditions to utilize the wind cut feature, beware of extremely low light conditions and be wary of the battery having to be removed each time for the external adapter and native format playback skipping (it's not the camcorder, you're computer is too slow, just encode it to another format), there is no touch screen and there is a mini joystick that can be cumbersome as when engaging night vision is easier on the SR11 as opposed to the HS9 as well as low light mode.(though there is a price difference to offset the differences).

I am enjoying the SR11 and things are drastically improved over the miniDV of yester-years. The only thing that I battle each day is why I didn't get the SR12.

The HS9 that I've just noticed has an added feature that you can put wide angle lenses on it - nice.

Panasonic 2.1MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder with 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black/Gray

...

I had to switch for the small things mainly from software which I'll get to later, but first let me give a side by side comparison between the two after testing out each product for a couple hours about the features that matter to me at least. I will refer to the products as HS9 and SR11 for the remainder of the review.



Appearance: I'd have to give it to the HS9 for being noticeably smaller. But the SR11 is not big (especially not 90's camcorder big), as I have a man sized hand, but the HS9 wins the compact comparison in this case. While we're on the physical appearance of it, I was disappointed in the HS9 placement of the external adapter. The battery must be physically removed every time you want to connect the adapter as the cable connector is behind the battery. Therefore you cannot charge the battery simply by pluging in the charging cable as you can on many products that you can usually do this and as you can for the SR11. And the HS9 forces you to use the external cable when transferring a video, even though this may make sense, but when you have a short clip and just took the battery off the charger, it's annoying to remove the battery and find the external adapter every time to do so. Bad placement of the external adapter on the HS9 unlike the nicely placed (as is with most camcorders, at least with a previous Canon ZR200 that I own) with the HS9. If size is an issue for you, the HS9 may be your choice.



Video Quality: My opinion of the quality between the HS9 and SR11 was comparable. Between the two it's a toss up during daylight conditions as both are excellent, and the SR11 is stunning as your eye sees it, it appears on the screen, very nice. The HS9 records in a 1080p vs. a 1080i format, that may give the albeit slight edge in terms of theoretically video quality to the HS9. Though the software provided with the HS9 to play back these high quality videos ruins the superb video recording. I hate to say my eye didn't notice the difference between 1080p and 1080i though my correction lens aren't the greatest, mileage of your eyes matter perhaps.



In low light conditions, the HS9 seems to record slightly brighter images which are decent, the SR11 are a bit darker, though look extremely realistic. A true toss up, and really based on personal preference and would have to say they're evenly matched for you to decide.



In extremely low light conditions I found the HS9 surprisingly grainy. It seems to brighten up a extremely dark image thus resulting in grain. I have not recorded the SR11 in low light conditions other than finding a youtube video of a low light condition video and it seemed to keep it's realistic tone but remained dark. The HS9 seems to be on the right track to attempt to brighten up things, as the SR11 does not, but at this point I would have to say the HS9 was unsatisfiability grainy.



Both were grainy in bedroom light condition when displaying directly from the camera to the TV (not recording, just displaying through the cables) though the SR11 might have had a slight lead when panning or moving the zoom in and out a bit more responsive, though hardly noticeable.



Formats: The HS9 takes the lead in this regard as it has a 24 cinema mode, that records frames at 24 frames like some movies. Otherwise the HS9 records in 60 frames per second. However, the Pinnacle trial version could not handle the 60 fps mode and only the 24 cinema mode (though it said it was 30 fps). Though the HS9 software could handle its own 60 fps video fine, more later on software. The SR11 records it's videos in 30 fps



Night vision between the two the HS9 uses a blue illumination for night vision and the SR11 uses the commonly known green illumination as often seen on TV. I like the green better, but the blue was a nice change and this did not affect my decision either way, though it was nice to have on both.



Transfer to PC: Both transfer to your computer via a USB extremely quickly and at seemingly equal times.



Sound: Both are 5.1, the sound is acceptable and nice on both camcorders, I would say that the wind cut function on the HS9 was nice to have and did seem to work, the SR11 does not have this feature, though I'd wish it did. I'd give a slight edge to the HS9 in this one, especially if you record in windy conditions often (soccer games perhaps), which I don't.



Optical Image Stabilization: Both claim image stabilization, the OSI on the HS9 seems to slightly work better, though not noticeably. I think both still need to work on this.



Face recognition: The SR11 impressed me with the facial recognition as it just works. Turn the camera on a person and a white box appears around a persons face and moves as the person does, always keeping focus on that persons face. The focus on the HS9 on faces seemed very good, though I couldn't figure out the white box feature, it might have had to been enabled through a button a readily accessible button at the very top, so not that bad, but the HS9 was automatic.



Cables: Both have an ample about of cables that allows you to connect your camera to the TV with both RGB and Yellow and white/red audio cables.



Remote: Both had remote controls, a definite plus.



Software: This is where I must reluctantly gives this definitely to the SR11 or Sony. First, very few software handle the AVCHD videos at this time, so both Panasonic and Sony include their own software to retrieve the videos from the camera. The Panasonic software is a bit clumsy when it asks which folder you want to save it in, it's a bit manual where the Sony software detects when the camera has been connected, and simply asks whether you want to import all your videos, one click and it does, in a folder already created with an independent name. The Panasonic software called HD Writer had some additional editing capabilities to slice, merge, and delete unnecessary scenes and save to dvd and mpeg2 whereas the Sony had no editing features.



Playback software: I really hope panasonic gets this point. Their playback software most likely did not use directx, where the Sony PMB or Picture Motion Brower does. What this does is use your video card when the HD videos are playing back video. At one point I thought there was something wrong with the camcorder because the playback would skip using the HS9 playback software, but after encoding it to another format, my native video player kicked in and played back smoothly. This really scared me thinking that there was something wrong with the HS9 when there was not, however my x2300 dual core processor was not able to handle the playback of the native HS9 videos alone. This is in contrast to Sony PMB software for playback that installed directx that utilized my video card so that playback of the native format of the camcorder was silky smooth. What's more the Picture Motion Brower is a nice video playback software that throws in additional calendar features of when a video was imported and such, a nicety that should be used with backing up as it's insanity to store large amounts of precious moments on a computer instead of constantly backup up these priceless moments on DVD's and such, those who have had hard drive failures know. Panasonic included a copy of Pinnacle trial version 11 for HD cameras, it could import the HD 60 fps videos, but did not encode them properly. The 24 cinema mode (or 30fps) videos has no problem in Pinnacle. The SR11 videos also were imported into Pinnacle with no problems. Once additional nicety of the Sony software is that you can make a still picture at any moment making a jpeg without importing it into an editing software. Though the HD Writer software has nice features to backup your videos, hard to use in other cases like loading the HD videos stored on your computer. Sony's Picture Motion Brower software is very good to view and backup, though a register folder option was awkward, why not just allow the ability to just drag in folders to register, always room for improvement I guess.



Viewfinders: Both viewfinder display a clear image, though the SR11 has a touchscreen where the HS9 does not, though understandable with the price difference. I was disappointed I could not navigate to playback a video on the SR11 without using the touchscreen since the screen would get a lot of fingerprints, though there are less buttons to complicate things because of the touchscreen. Both have easy buttons to begin recording.



The HS9 had a feature to offer advice how to record like turn on the low light feature (should have had a feature that this would turn on automatically) or you're panning to fast, this advice can be taken as good or bad.



Zoom: The HS9 had digital zoom, but it would not work in 24 cinema mode, go figure, and was adequate. The SR11 had no such zoom, but the normal zoom was satisfactory, though not as far as the HS9.



Conclusion: If you can tolerate the size of the SR11, and wind is not a major issue and are looking for a camcorder with excellent video in all light conditions, good sound, facial recognition, and easy and nice software then SR11 is a fine choice that I am happy with.



The HS9 is a nice choice when size is an issue and windy conditions to utilize the wind cut feature, beware of extremely low light conditions and be wary of the battery having to be removed each time for the external adapter and native format playback skipping (it's not the camcorder, you're computer is too slow, just encode it to another format), there is no touch screen and there is a mini joystick that can be cumbersome as when engaging night vision is easier on the SR11 as opposed to the HS9 as well as low light mode.(though there is a price difference to offset the differences).



I am enjoying the SR11 and things are drastically improved over the miniDV of yester-years. The only thing that I battle each day is why I didn't get the SR12.



The HS9 that I've just noticed has an added feature that you can put wide angle lenses on it - nice.

Panasonic 2.1MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder with 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black/Gray

...

I had to switch for the small things mainly from software which I'll get to later, but first let me give a side by side comparison between the two after testing out each product for a couple hours about the features that matter to me at least. I will refer to the products as HS9 and SR11 for the remainder of the review.





Appearance: I'd have to give it to the HS9 for being noticeably smaller. But the SR11 is not big (especially not 90's camcorder big), as I have a man sized hand, but the HS9 wins the compact comparison in this case. While we're on the physical appearance of it, I was disappointed in the HS9 placement of the external adapter. The battery must be physically removed every time you want to connect the adapter as the cable connector is behind the battery. Therefore you cannot charge the battery simply by pluging in the charging cable as you can on many products that you can usually do this and as you can for the SR11. And the HS9 forces you to use the external cable when transferring a video, even though this may make sense, but when you have a short clip and just took the battery off the charger, it's annoying to remove the battery and find the external adapter every time to do so. Bad placement of the external adapter on the HS9 unlike the nicely placed (as is with most camcorders, at least with a previous Canon ZR200 that I own) with the HS9. If size is an issue for you, the HS9 may be your choice.





Video Quality: My opinion of the quality between the HS9 and SR11 was comparable. Between the two it's a toss up during daylight conditions as both are excellent, and the SR11 is stunning as your eye sees it, it appears on the screen, very nice. The HS9 records in a 1080p vs. a 1080i format, that may give the albeit slight edge in terms of theoretically video quality to the HS9. Though the software provided with the HS9 to play back these high quality videos ruins the superb video recording. I hate to say my eye didn't notice the difference between 1080p and 1080i though my correction lens aren't the greatest, mileage of your eyes matter perhaps.





In low light conditions, the HS9 seems to record slightly brighter images which are decent, the SR11 are a bit darker, though look extremely realistic. A true toss up, and really based on personal preference and would have to say they're evenly matched for you to decide.





In extremely low light conditions I found the HS9 surprisingly grainy. It seems to brighten up a extremely dark image thus resulting in grain. I have not recorded the SR11 in low light conditions other than finding a youtube video of a low light condition video and it seemed to keep it's realistic tone but remained dark. The HS9 seems to be on the right track to attempt to brighten up things, as the SR11 does not, but at this point I would have to say the HS9 was unsatisfiability grainy.





Both were grainy in bedroom light condition when displaying directly from the camera to the TV (not recording, just displaying through the cables) though the SR11 might have had a slight lead when panning or moving the zoom in and out a bit more responsive, though hardly noticeable.





Formats: The HS9 takes the lead in this regard as it has a 24 cinema mode, that records frames at 24 frames like some movies. Otherwise the HS9 records in 60 frames per second. However, the Pinnacle trial version could not handle the 60 fps mode and only the 24 cinema mode (though it said it was 30 fps). Though the HS9 software could handle its own 60 fps video fine, more later on software. The SR11 records it's videos in 30 fps





Night vision between the two the HS9 uses a blue illumination for night vision and the SR11 uses the commonly known green illumination as often seen on TV. I like the green better, but the blue was a nice change and this did not affect my decision either way, though it was nice to have on both.





Transfer to PC: Both transfer to your computer via a USB extremely quickly and at seemingly equal times.





Sound: Both are 5.1, the sound is acceptable and nice on both camcorders, I would say that the wind cut function on the HS9 was nice to have and did seem to work, the SR11 does not have this feature, though I'd wish it did. I'd give a slight edge to the HS9 in this one, especially if you record in windy conditions often (soccer games perhaps), which I don't.





Optical Image Stabilization: Both claim image stabilization, the OSI on the HS9 seems to slightly work better, though not noticeably. I think both still need to work on this.





Face recognition: The SR11 impressed me with the facial recognition as it just works. Turn the camera on a person and a white box appears around a persons face and moves as the person does, always keeping focus on that persons face. The focus on the HS9 on faces seemed very good, though I couldn't figure out the white box feature, it might have had to been enabled through a button a readily accessible button at the very top, so not that bad, but the HS9 was automatic.





Cables: Both have an ample about of cables that allows you to connect your camera to the TV with both RGB and Yellow and white/red audio cables.





Remote: Both had remote controls, a definite plus.





Software: This is where I must reluctantly gives this definitely to the SR11 or Sony. First, very few software handle the AVCHD videos at this time, so both Panasonic and Sony include their own software to retrieve the videos from the camera. The Panasonic software is a bit clumsy when it asks which folder you want to save it in, it's a bit manual where the Sony software detects when the camera has been connected, and simply asks whether you want to import all your videos, one click and it does, in a folder already created with an independent name. The Panasonic software called HD Writer had some additional editing capabilities to slice, merge, and delete unnecessary scenes and save to dvd and mpeg2 whereas the Sony had no editing features.





Playback software: I really hope panasonic gets this point. Their playback software most likely did not use directx, where the Sony PMB or Picture Motion Brower does. What this does is use your video card when the HD videos are playing back video. At one point I thought there was something wrong with the camcorder because the playback would skip using the HS9 playback software, but after encoding it to another format, my native video player kicked in and played back smoothly. This really scared me thinking that there was something wrong with the HS9 when there was not, however my x2300 dual core processor was not able to handle the playback of the native HS9 videos alone. This is in contrast to Sony PMB software for playback that installed directx that utilized my video card so that playback of the native format of the camcorder was silky smooth. What's more the Picture Motion Brower is a nice video playback software that throws in additional calendar features of when a video was imported and such, a nicety that should be used with backing up as it's insanity to store large amounts of precious moments on a computer instead of constantly backup up these priceless moments on DVD's and such, those who have had hard drive failures know. Panasonic included a copy of Pinnacle trial version 11 for HD cameras, it could import the HD 60 fps videos, but did not encode them properly. The 24 cinema mode (or 30fps) videos has no problem in Pinnacle. The SR11 videos also were imported into Pinnacle with no problems. Once additional nicety of the Sony software is that you can make a still picture at any moment making a jpeg without importing it into an editing software. Though the HD Writer software has nice features to backup your videos, hard to use in other cases like loading the HD videos stored on your computer. Sony's Picture Motion Brower software is very good to view and backup, though a register folder option was awkward, why not just allow the ability to just drag in folders to register, always room for improvement I guess.





Viewfinders: Both viewfinder display a clear image, though the SR11 has a touchscreen where the HS9 does not, though understandable with the price difference. I was disappointed I could not navigate to playback a video on the SR11 without using the touchscreen since the screen would get a lot of fingerprints, though there are less buttons to complicate things because of the touchscreen. Both have easy buttons to begin recording.





The HS9 had a feature to offer advice how to record like turn on the low light feature (should have had a feature that this would turn on automatically) or you're panning to fast, this advice can be taken as good or bad.





Zoom: The HS9 had digital zoom, but it would not work in 24 cinema mode, go figure, and was adequate. The SR11 had no such zoom, but the normal zoom was satisfactory, though not as far as the HS9.





Conclusion: If you can tolerate the size of the SR11, and wind is not a major issue and are looking for a camcorder with excellent video in all light conditions, good sound, facial recognition, and easy and nice software then SR11 is a fine choice that I am happy with.





The HS9 is a nice choice when size is an issue and windy conditions to utilize the wind cut feature, beware of extremely low light conditions and be wary of the battery having to be removed each time for the external adapter and native format playback skipping (it's not the camcorder, you're computer is too slow, just encode it to another format), there is no touch screen and there is a mini joystick that can be cumbersome as when engaging night vision is easier on the SR11 as opposed to the HS9 as well as low light mode.(though there is a price difference to offset the differences).





I am enjoying the SR11 and things are drastically improved over the miniDV of yester-years. The only thing that I battle each day is why I didn't get the SR12.





The HS9 that I've just noticed has an added feature that you can put wide angle lenses on it - nice.

Panasonic 2.1MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder with 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black/Gray

...

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.

Panasonic 2.1MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder with 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black/Gray

...

that it always saves the clip in mpeg2 format at a reduced resolution (720x480), even with "Maximum Quality" setting. There is no way to convert the AVCHD clip to a 1920x1080 mpeg2.
Pinnacle Studio 11 Plus: This software simply does not work. It imports AVCHD clips from the camera, but the video it plays is garbled and when it renders it after the edits it is garbled too. I tried this software on 4 different computers, some extremely powerful that exceeded the minimum requirements by quite some margin. The result was identical - this editor cannot import, play and edit correctly AVCHD files produced by the HDC-SD9. The video is always garbled. All the computers are PCs with Windows XP SP2 or Vista.
Pinnacle Studio 11 Plus can import, play and edit the mpeg2 file that was produced by HDWriter. For this one it worked well. However, this is a file in standard definition (720x480), not high definition.
Pinnacle Systems wants $79.99 to upgrade from the trial version to the full version of Studio 11 Plus. Given that the software has proven itself unable to edit the high definition footage produced by this camera, this would be a $79.99 gamble with the odds against you.
At the end of the day, it is not possible to edit any high definition footage beyond the basic split / merge operations in HDWriter. You cannot add text, background music, adjust brightness / contrast or any other basic operation one might expect to do with raw footage. Morevoer, it is not possible to play the high definition footage directly from the computer - you need to burn it on a DVD or transfer it to a flash card.
Because of these shortcomings I am returning my HDC-SD9 back to Amazon. I am really sad because the hardware is top quality, when played from the camera the images are nothing short of exceptional. But what's the point if you cannot edit them in any meaningful way?

Sony 3.2MP Handycam High-Definition DVD Camcorder with 2.7" SwivelScreen LCD - Silver

...

ever own a PC with windows XP, you know this. Lesson learned. My previous camera the Sony 305 was a mini DVD storage based cam. When it failed, I was able to recover the disc out of the cam and rip it from my DD drive on the PC. If this had been a HDD cam, I would have lost the footage forever.
4. External mic option. I plan on using a lav mic for interview types of footage. This has the option for an external mic. Super.
Besides the jump to HD, those were the main reasons I bought it. It has all the normal options you will find in a DVR. I used Sony's website to compare shop. Very helpful.
Some things to think about when you go AVCHD.
Editing software is still behind the ball. I managed to score a copy of Sony Vegas Pro 8 which totally supports the AVCHD format and the 5.1 surround audio. Nero 8 Ultimate supports it to but, Nero is limited if you want to get creative. Adobe products, so far are still just supporting HDV, not AVCHD. If you like editing, get a MAC or go with Vegas.
The software bundle with the cam is necessary. I tried to bare bones the install and it would not recognize the cam as a valid drive. Take the hit on your start up and install it ALL.
Some additional cool things about this camera are that fact that if the cam is on and running on AC power, then a screen saver that is also a tutorial on how to perform tasks runs. Not sure if it is standard but a nice hefty NP FH-70 battery comes with it. Thats about 120 mins of recording. Most Sony cams follow the same ergonomic design so no learning curve required. This cam is not light but also not dead weight. You know you are holding cause it just fills up the hand without rendering your digits feeling fat and uncoordinated. I thought this was the icing on the cake and decided to write this review.
And NO I do not work for Sony, but let me tell you this, they have a very fair Customer Service Department.

Dave T

Sony Open Box DCR-SR200 40GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder

...

ever own a PC with windows XP, you know this. Lesson learned. My previous camera the Sony 305 was a mini DVD storage based cam. When it failed, I was able to recover the disc out of the cam and rip it from my DD drive on the PC. If this had been a HDD cam, I would have lost the footage forever.

4. External mic option. I plan on using a lav mic for interview types of footage. This has the option for an external mic. Super.

Besides the jump to HD, those were the main reasons I bought it. It has all the normal options you will find in a DVR. I used Sony's website to compare shop. Very helpful.

Some things to think about when you go AVCHD.

Editing software is still behind the ball. I managed to score a copy of Sony Vegas Pro 8 which totally supports the AVCHD format and the 5.1 surround audio. Nero 8 Ultimate supports it to but, Nero is limited if you want to get creative. Adobe products, so far are still just supporting HDV, not AVCHD. If you like editing, get a MAC or go with Vegas.

The software bundle with the cam is necessary. I tried to bare bones the install and it would not recognize the cam as a valid drive. Take the hit on your start up and install it ALL.

Some additional cool things about this camera are that fact that if the cam is on and running on AC power, then a screen saver that is also a tutorial on how to perform tasks runs. Not sure if it is standard but a nice hefty NP FH-70 battery comes with it. Thats about 120 mins of recording. Most Sony cams follow the same ergonomic design so no learning curve required. This cam is not light but also not dead weight. You know you are holding cause it just fills up the hand without rendering your digits feeling fat and uncoordinated. I thought this was the icing on the cake and decided to write this review.

And NO I do not work for Sony, but let me tell you this, they have a very fair Customer Service Department.



Dave T

Panasonic HCD-HS9 Hybrid 60GB Hard Drive and SD Card HD Camcorder

...

with some edited program.

Picture Quality depends on some part of area.. it can take great HD photo shot and some dont look right due to darkness.

60GB HDD is great idea to have because the other model HDC-SD9 comes without the HDD and you gotta buy an SHDC card might cost up to $200 so thats why i had to go ahead and get the HD9 version.

Forget the mini-HDMI, PS3 can show 1080p just fine by using the USB input.

Well im still a newbie to my camcorder and im going to discover more but i love my camcorder already and i will soon buy some accessories like some WIDE Lense and other Lenses... plus some tripod. I'm going to be an movie director one day.


You wont be dissapoint if you want the best picture quality in the daylight and own an Playstation 3.. this for you.

Sony Open Box DCR-SR200 40GB Hard Disk Drive Camcorder

...

camcorder via the base that comes with the camcorder to your computer with DVD burner and USB connection or DVD recorder then just press one button and it start recording to your blank DVD.

It comes with a basic editing software for video and still pictures. But, I ended up purchasing a $49.99 editing software so that I can add titles, make special effects, narration, etc.

I like the fact that the camcorder is made in Japan. No offense to U.S. electronic products(if there's even any now) or any other countries. Japanese electronics are very good qualities.

The controls and menus are on the LCD touch screen. That means it's pretty much most of the buttons you need for functions are in front of you.

The 4.0MP still picture quality is acceptable and it has a built in flash on low light picture taking.

Everything you need (except DVD burner/recorder and blank DVD Disc) to burn DVD is in the box.

It comes with a DVD you can watch that gives you tips on how to record quality videos. I learned a lot after watching this DVD presentation.

Dislike:

The battery life. But that expected for a small battery.

Recording on low light. I have one 40 watt bulb in my room. The quality is good when I'm close to the light but when I moved 4 feet turning away from the light source, it start to get grainy. My solution, I bought a $40 detachable extra light that is compatible with DCR-SR200. DO NOT buy a light that says "fits on all camcorders" because the shoe (where you attach the light) for this model is smaller than the standard shoe.

When I'm using the extra light attached to the shoe, it significantly reduced the recording time of the battery by half. You can buy a light that has its own battery so that you're not using your camcorder battery or buy a higher capacity battery.

The editing software is just a basic editing software. You can only delete portions that you don't want to record on DVD. You cannot add special effects, titles, fades, etc.

You can only take 3 still pictures while recording video. And its only be taken on 2.1MP quality (which is crappy quality). Not the 4.0MP when you use the still camera function.

NO viewfinder! It would have been nice if I flip the LCD screen 180° so that family members and friends can see themselves being recorded while I can look in the viewfinder to see what I'm recording. People tend to smile or do goofy stuff when they see themselves which add more fun to the video.

In order to transfer your recorded video to your computer for editing, or to hook it up to your stereo TV for viewing, or DVD recorder for one touch DVD burn, you must use the base included where you sit the camcorder.

Overall, I'm happy with this camcorder.

Panasonic 2.1MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder with 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black/Gray

...

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.

Panasonic 2.1MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder with 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black/Gray

...

to my HDTV. In fact, even using the 'HD Writer' software that comes with the camcorder (which can play the *.MTS files directly) the video looks grainy with lots of artifacts. I can't tell if this is AVCHD or this camcorder, but I don't really care - it doesn't look good.

I also downloaded trial versions of Nero 8 and Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum Edition hoping to compare their outputs with Studio 11, but sadly both of them could not import the *.MTS files that this camcorder produces - so good thing Studio 11 could.

I should point out that I even bought the Extreme III SDHC SD card that has a 20MB write speed so I could shoot video at the highest quality setting (this camcorder can encode at 17MB). Sadly, this made little difference - even shooting video outside.

The video appeared more grainy and choppy than I would expect from an HD camcorder. I upgraded from a two year old DVD camcorder - and sadly the video from this camcorder looks only ~20% better when played back on my quad-proc computer with a 1900x1080 monitor - or on my HDTV.

All in all, a big disappointment. The camera looks very cool and small - but first and foremost I want to be able to record great looking HD video - and this little camcorder doesn't do the job. I'm going to send it back and wait for the Canon VIXIA HF10, which releases in April and has a bigger chip (1/3 CMOS as opposed to the 3 1/6 chips in this unit).

If all you're going to do with the video you shoot is encode standard definition DVDs you're probably fine. But if you want to encode Blu-Ray or stream high definition video to your HDTV, I'd pass.

Panasonic 2.1MP High-Definition Digital Camcorder with 2.7" LCD Monitor - Black/Gray

...

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 $70 - $80 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 was'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 c