| The HDC-HS9 hi-def hybrid camcorder boasts an extra-large 60GB* internal hard disk drive, which can hold up to 23 hours of your precious memories (in HE mode). And since this camcorder records to both the internal hard drive and SD card, you can add up to an additional six hours of recording (also in HE mode) onto a 16GB* SDHC memory card (sold separately). Panasonic full-HD camcorders record horizontal pixels at an HD resolution of up to 1920 pixels, which results in a total of around 2,070,000 pixels. And with progressive scanning, our hi-def camcorders provide twice as much data per picture as conventional interlace scanning. This means you get breathtaking images with exceptional resolution and detail. Combine that with a 1080/24p format, which lets you capture scenes with a rich, film-like quality, and you can see why Panasonic full-HD camcorders take visual expression to the next level. The new Intelligent Shooting Guide function helps you get magnificent shots by displaying a text message in the LCD monitor, telling you which settings are best for the current shooting conditions. With Intelligent Selection Playback, poor or inadvertent shots (such as shots of the ground or overly dark scenes) are skipped and all normal scenes are played while viewing. Panasonic's Advanced Optical Image Stabilization (O.I.S.) suppresses the effects of hand shake as you shoot. The system uses gyrosensors to detect hand shake, then shifts a lens and adjusts the optical axis to compensate. This all happens a remarkable 4,000 times per second. And because the system is optical, no image quality is lost. Thanks to Advanced O.I.S., the images you capture look incredibly clear, sharp and beautiful on a big TV screen. |
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 First digital camcorder |
| Review Date: March 12, 2010 |
| Reviewer: The Man, IL, USA |
| This is my first digital camcorder purchase. I was lucky enough to get it at a huge discount when Circuit City (sorry amazon) was closing its doors. After using it on a road trip: outdoors, indoors, in a moving car, in a cave - I would have gladly paid full price. The software that comes with the camcorder leaves much to be desired. I use Pinnacle Studio 12 Ultimate and it works great. The movies and pictures that I have captured have been nothing short of excellent. There is a low-light mode and it works great. The USB hook up is quick and easy and the quality of the videos are amazing. |
Great camera, but no support
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| Review Date: February 28, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Zachary L. Terranova, Kenosha, WI |
This camera does not do well in dim lights at all. Best shooting is outside.
However my computer no longer recognizes the usb, and I have purchased a new cord and tried on three different computers. The customer service is beyond terrible, and they wanted to charge $228 to look at the camcorder that I purchased 13 months ago (which is out of 1 year warranty). Keep in mind that was the quote to look at the camcorder, not to fix it. They would also not guarantee my files would not be deleted from this terrible device.
Use at your own risk, because Panasonic will not help you solve the problem. |
video camera
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| Review Date: January 7, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Kim August, |
| This arrived just in time to take to a Robotic Competition our son was in with a team from school. We had one day to learn how to use it. That was no problem, as this camera was easy to use. It has a lot of functions, but it also recommends which to use, and how to. For example, when using it to video the family building an igloo in the snow, it recommended using "smart contrast" and with a display on the screen, told me how to do that. The picture taking feature is very useful, however, the photos are not as good a quality as a camera. It is definately more of a video camera. I would recommend it to anyone. |
Average hardware, horrible software makes a painful combination
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| Review Date: January 5, 2010 |
| Reviewer: Alexey Leonidov, |
The video taken by the camera is good, but doesn't stand out from that taken by any other HD camcorder. The software (HD Writer 2.5), on the other hand, is outstandingly bad. In the digital realm, software is inseparable from hardware (one is useless without the other), hence the entire package gets 2 stars. The software gives you limited editing options and is next to useless for making DVDs from recorded video.
My father bought this camera and took hours of vacation videos. The software made it easy to import the videos to the hard drive, and to convert each day's recording into mpeg2 format (about 700 MB per 10 minutes of video). Now we would like to make a DVD. Each scene in the recorded video is on average a minute long. There are 100s of these scenes. By default, each scene becomes a DVD chapter, meaning the playback stutters for a few seconds between scenes. This is unacceptable, but there is a solution: you have to merge the scenes. Unfortunately, in order to merge scenes, you have to do them one by one, and it takes 3 mouse clicks and 5-10 seconds per scene on a fast quad-core Intel Core i7 CPU with 6 GB of RAM.
I apologize for sounding like an editorializing curmudgeon, but as both an engineer and a technology buff, I have a sore spot for shoddy design that needlessly wastes the user's time and/or money. Based on my experience with this product, I have no intention of purchasing anything made by Panasonic. |
Great quality, little package
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| Review Date: August 26, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Robert Cotran, |
This camera is small, has a GREAT quality picture, and is feature rich.
Only gripe is low-light performance isn't so good. |
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US $175.00
