Panasonic SD90 Full HD 1920x1080p (50p) 3D Ready Camcorder - Black (SD Card Recording, x40 Intelligent Zoom, x26 Optical Zoom, 28mm Wide Angle Lens & iA + Face Recognition & New Hybrid OIS)

There's a reason this camcorder is one of the bestselling camcorders of 2011. Last year the Panasonic SD60 hit the spot for the best balance of quality and features at a sensible price, and the SD90 inherits this crown for the class of 2011.

THE HIGH POINTS:

Great quality full HD video, including the option for 50 progressive frames a second. It easily passes the eyeball test on a 42" Panasonic plasma.

A true wideangle lens: 28mm gives a field of view similar to that of most current compact cameras. There are very few camcorders offering anything close.

An astonishing, usable zoom. Up to 40x `intelligent' zoom looks fine for daylight footage, though you might prefer to stick to true optical zoom in lower light environments. Don't even think about using the digital zoom - Why ruin your footage?

Class-leading image stabilisation. It shouldn't really be possible to hold a steady shot at 40x zoom, but it is! This really will help you get shots previously impossible due to shake. The option to further `lock' the stabilisation when you have your subject in view is an additional bonus, but you need to keep a touchscreen button depressed for this feature which I feel limits it somewhat.

Good quality low light footage. Consumer cams can live or die by their abilities in less than perfect light. I've tested the SD90 under artificial office lighting and in a garden, dusk scene and i'm happy with the footage it produces in auto mode. Yes, there is noise, and if your footage is destined for full HD output or you will be shooting primarily in poor light you might want to consider moving up the range to a more expensive unit, but for the majority of users the quality is perfectly usable. The best tip is to minimise use of the zoom to avoid smaller apertures - get closer to your subject instead!

Manual control if you need it. Panasonic don't really need to add manual control to a cam at this price point, so be happy they do. If you're happy working with manual focus, iris and shutter controls you'll find them present and correct.

THINGS TO BE AWARE OF:

At time of writing, to do any proper editing of footage shot at 50p, your best starting points are probably either Sony Vegas Movie Studio 11 or Corel Videostudio Pro x4. The version numbers are important! Most other consumer software does not support this video format. The SD90 included software is very limited and not intuitive to use, so lets the side down somewhat. Demos for the above are available so grab them and search for `SD90 raw footage' or similar to download some 50p footage to test on your machine. More expensive video editors are available, but you're immediately heading into `hundreds of pounds' territory. Working with 50p is also very processor intensive so if you have a basic laptop or desktop it's definitely worth your time testing some footage in advance of a purchase. Corel Videostudio uses an HD proxy system which essentially means it automatically makes a low-res version of your clips to edit with then uses the original HD clips when you render your video. This means you may be able to edit SD90 50p footage on a modest PC or laptop - Worth a go!

Battery life is average. Numbers are a bit meaningless as everyone uses a camcorder differently, but I got through 2 fully charged batteries on a day videoing parachuting and skydiving. Budget for a second battery!

Still images are very average. This is not a surprise, but the SD90 cannot be considered a replacement for a decent compact camera. Images taken in the dedicated stills mode are usable for standard (6x4) prints and of course viewing on a screen, and images taken while videoing are probably good enough for sharing on the web but not a lot more. Of course, the long zoom mitigates the quality issues a little as you may get shots not possible at all with a short-zoom compact.

The touchscreen is`good' but not great. It takes a harder press than most of us are used to in this era of capacitive, light touch screens. I'm sure Panasonic will improve this in 2012 as it's one of the few areas of the SD90 with definite room for improvement.

OVERALL, I'm sure the SD90 is a top contender for the best mid-range consumer camcorder for 2011. If you're tempted to drop down a level to the SD80, be aware that model features a smaller sensor and loses the 50p option. Going up a level to the SD800 buys you a 3MOS unit with the caveats of a narrower wideangle and shorter zoom.

This camera is excellent in a lot of respects, I have summarized the areas below.

Video:
The video quality is very good, images are pin sharp but do lose their edge slightly (only slightly) when blown up on a HDTV but look excellent on a small computer screen. Color wise I was impressed considering this is only a 1CMOS camera. That means it has one sensor for all three colors of light (RGB) whereas higher end cameras have 3 separate sensors for each color.The colors were pretty accurate and looked very natural and defined overall which I certainly wasn't expecting from a 1CMOS camera.it did struggle slightly with the color black and it sometimes came out slightly "purply" at times. so overall it gets 8/10 for its image quality.

Motion:
Motion handling is very good until you zoom in. the OIS does a very good job of keeping the shots still but they start to get shaky when you zoom in or walk while filming. I think this is mainly due the fact that the camera is so small and light and it has no weight to it. However if you have a steady hand you can manage to get fairly smooth shots. there is also tripod mounting if you want it.

Still images: The still camera is by far the worst part of the camera, the colors came out completely wrong and the images looked 'smudged' but if your buying this camera then you are not likley to be too worried about still images, its a Video camera :)

Other points: The camera is very small and very light so it could easily fit in a small bag and just about fits in your pocket. This camera also films in 1080p as well as 1080i but the 1080p mode is pointless as it uses a file type that cannot be read on your PC (Ive tried numerous different software including Sony Vegas)so the only way you can view it is on a 1080P TV through the camera. another point is that it includes a shoe adapter which allows you to plug in all sorts of accessories such as lights and microphones. this is a nice feature.

In conclusion this camera is excellent, the images are sharp the colors pretty accurate and the fact that you can manually adjust a lot of settings to get the best picture is great. The only things that let this camera down are the fact that you cannot edit the 1080p video files, the fact that the video can be a little shaky when zoomed in and finally that there is no viewfinder. They do not seem to make viewfinders on cheaper cameras anymore :( If your serious about filming I would spend an extra £150 and get the SD800 which has a full 3CMOS, but for occasional filming or for filming Holidays and family moments this is an excellent pick.

Had the SD-90 for about a week and overall I'm impressed with it.

First off, the video quality is very good. Played videos back on a 37" HD TV via HDMI link direct to camcorder and the videos are crisp and clear (set at the default recording quality, which I think is the second highest its capable of). Maybe some slight blurring when panning very fast and colours could be at times more vivid, but there are a multitude of scene and manual setting I have fully explored yet. Generally, pictures look great. Camera works well in relatively low-light (tried inside under electric lights) and the auto focus is very quick.

Sound quality is OK via the twin microphones at the front of the camera. Seems to cope with ambient and near sounds well (not tried on a windy day so can't comment on noise pickup). Tested the range of the camera at picking speech, wasn't great, I'd estimate it was OK once within around 10 metres. Obviously sound issues could be addessed using the convinent mic port on the side of the camera and a directional mic on the shoe on the top of the camera.

Controls are simple and well placed. The touch screen works well, although using the menu to the side of teh screen (when video is displayed) can be a tiny bit fiddly. As with all touch screens the chunkier your fingers the tricker it will be. The camera is pretty feature packed. Detect faces in almost all cases, and you can have it recognise up to six faces (which you can set as a prioirty for focus, e.g. set the bride and groom as the priority focus at a wedding). The recognitions weren't 100% but was acceptable.

Build quality is very good. The camera settles neatly into your hand. The zoom is outstanding, the clarity of detail of extreme distance objects blew me away. However, with such a small camera (with no shoulder support) a tripod (dirt cheap on ebay) is a must.

Battery life is not the SD-90's strong point. With the standard battery you get about an hour playing with it and using all the different features. The camera can be charged off the mains while still in use, but this isn't always ideal. Spare batteries and fairly pricey and not yet widely available. I intend to try using something like the Peeble (Veho VCC-A008-PBP-XT Pebble Portable 5000mAH Battery Pack Charger for iPad/iPhone/iPod/Smartphones/PSP/NDS/NDSi/GPS) but haven't got round to checking it has the correct adapter.

Memory is less than issue. The videos take up a heck of a lot space, but SD cards can be swapped in and out quickly and easily. 16 GB gets you about 2 and a half hours at high quality, which will set ou back £20-£30 per card. The Panasonic software is better than expected but still not amazing. Films in AVCHD format, which is decteded by Microsoft media player/movie maker by default. I'm sure there are convertors to mroe firendly formats (and it may be possible in the Panasonic software). If I find a solution I'll try to add it to this review.

Overall I give the SD-90 five stars. Basically it does the job I want very well, with several features I jhadn't expected. Of course its not a pro camcorder, and the battery life is an issue (as it probably is for many camcorders - if you want extended battery life you'd best check spares/mobile charger options before buying any camcorder). However, if your intended usage is along the lines of filming the kids at Christmas, a family wedding or a day at the seaside, then you will find the SD-90 extremely capable.