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Panasonic HDC-SD9 Camcorder Reviewby David KenderPublished on Mar 4, 2008 4:42 PM 
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Still Features (7.5)
There is no designated Photo mode on the HDC-SD9 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $0.00). This camcorder can only capture still images in one size—1920 x 1080 in Fine and Normal quality. If you plan on using the HDC-SD9 as an alternate digital still camera, you should probably just go out and buy a cheap one instead. Sony and Canon offer a lot more still features, including larger image resolutions and histograms. The best use of the photo feature on the SD9 is to create reference photos if you want to duplicate a shot later.
The HDC-SD9 has a Hi-Speed Burst mode in which images can be captured rapidly while the Photo Capture button is held down. A Red Eye Reduction feature is available and the HDC-SD9’s Photo Capture button is accompanied by a Shutter Sound that can be turned on or off. All Manual Controls are available, including Focus, Exposure, Shutter Speed, White Balance, and Gain.
A flash is located to the left of the lens, but you might experience off-center lighting because of its placement. Previous Sony AVCHD camcorders, such as the HDR-SR1 (Review, Specs, Recent News, $1119.99) (Review, Specs, Recent News, $999.00), featured flashes mounted directly above the lens, which offered more even lighting. The HDC-SD9’s Flash can be set to Auto or On and the Flash level can be set to -, +/- 0, or + brightness levels.
The HDC-SD9 has a Self-Timer that can be set to 2 or 10 seconds, located in the third page of the Joystick menu.
The Picture menu can be accessed from within the Administrative Menu. Here, you’ll find the following options: Picture Quality, Hi-Speed Burst, Flash, Flash Level, Red Eye, and Shutter Sound.
Still Performance (7.29)
The still performance of the Panasonic HDC-SD9 was tested by shooting an X-Rite Color Checker chart at an even, bright light, then running the stills through Imatest imaging test for analysis on color accuracy, noise, and saturation. At best, the camcorder was able to produce a color error of 8.23, slightly worse than most of the Panasonics we tested last year. Noise remained low at 0.8725%, and the saturation measured 110.2%.
In order to get this best score, the camcorder was taken out of auto mode and the aperture was adjusted to f/3.4 and the shutter automatically adjusted to 1/50th.
In real world shooting, the HDC-SD9 held up decently against low-end point and shoot cameras. We did some casual side-by-side with the Panasonic DMC-LZ8 (both in full auto mode). While the low light abilities and dynamic range of the LZ8 were clearly better, the camcorder showed a better ability to fend off ghosting. The resolution was obviously better on the 8.1-megapixel still camera, but for stills destined for the web won’t see much difference.
Still Resolution (5.45)
The still resolution of the Panasonic HDC-SD9 was tested by shooting an Applied Image ISO 12233 resolution chart at an even, bright light, then run through Imatest imaging software. At best, the camcorder was able to produce a horizontal resolution of 553.8 line widths per picture height (lw/ph) – with a 14.2% oversharpening – and a vertical resolution of 493.7 lw/ph – with an 18.6% undersharpening. These scores were average for a camcorder with three small chips.
In order to get this best score, the camcorder was taken out of auto mode. The aperture was manually adjusted to f/3.4 and the shutter then automatically adjusted to 1/50th.