There’ a new guy in town, it’s the HDC-SD9 from Panasonic. Very similar to its younger brother the HDC-SD5, the all new HDC-SD9 has got everyone here at elite gadgets very excited.

Although the HDC-SD9 has the similar basic specification to the HDC-SD5, Panasonic have come up with some groovy new features to keep all camcorders aficionados keen.

Sporting Panasonic’s Trademark 3 CCD’s which in the case of the HDC-SD9 are in 1/6 units with 560,000 per unit. These have a fantastic effect on colour fidelity. Panasonic have also partnered with Leica to provide the Leica Dicomar lens. The HDC-SD9 also has a full image optical stabilization system rather than an electronic one which you would usually find in a camcorder of this size.

The new HDC-SD9 records in the AVCHD Mpeg-4 H.264 AVC format, which is the same as its sibling the SD5, however, Panasonic have now included a new video processor so the HDC-SD9 can records in FULL HD, unlike the HDC-SD5 which provided a 1920x1080 image but in an interlaced signal. The SD9 is superior in technology advancement as it can shoot this same resolution but this time with a progressive signal. Furthermore it offers two compression schemes in this mode – 17Mbits/sec HA and 13Mbits/sec HG. The HA Mode boasts the highest bit rate of any AVCHD camcorder currently available.

The HDC-SD9 is firmly aimed at more novice camcorder enthusiasts by providing an intelligent shooting mode which provides handy tips to improve the quality of your footage. For example, if you move the camera to fast it will tell you….which we thought was a nifty little idea. It will also tell you if the low light mode has be enable when it does need to be.

However, it will also keep the veteran enthusiasts happy to with its myriad of functions and superb picture quality.

Another new function of the HDC-SD9 is Face Detection Technology. The HDC-SD9 can detect faces and will adjust exposure accordingly. This mode is available when shooting video as well as still shots.

There is also a fantastic Digital Cinema Colour recording mode which gives your footage very very vibrant colour intensity, however, you do need a Panasonic Enable TV to benefit from this.

Now lets hear about the Panasonic HDC- SD9 – or what does the SD9 hear?? It records in 5.1 surround sound which is very unusual for a camcorder of this size. How does it do this? It utilizes five separate microphones which are arranged in a way that it can calculate noises coming from in front of you and behind you. Also, quite amazingly, it has a Zoom Microphone Function, where the sound recording is focused to whatever is in your frame at that particular time. Wow!!! Dont you just love technology!!!

We’ve had this camcorder in the Elite Gadgets office for over a month now, and we are still astounded at what it can do! It’s a perfect camcorder for all occasions and will keep all camcorder nuts happy whether they are new to the hobby or seasoned professionals.