Panasonic HDC-SD5 vs HDC-SD9

[jordan25]

Hi, i can get both camera's for the same price which one should i buy? Also which memory card's should i buy e.g. size, class, type.

[A n d r e w]

I'd get the SD9. When the SD9 was still £60-£70 dearer than the SD5, I bought the SD9 anyway. I was sold on

(1) the SD9's slightly smaller size,
(2) the marginally higher recording bitrate (17Mbps versus 15Mbps),
and
(3) the fact that, because the SD9 has a normal, external battery mount (whereas the SD5 has an internal battery compartment) the SD9 can take larger capacity batteries and also does away with the cooling fan of the SD5 (which was too noisy for my finnicky tastes).

Plus (4) Dixons had the SD9 in black, and I liked it.

The SD9 also has a progressive shooting mode, but I never use it. To my mind, it's a gimmick. Canon seems to be the only manufacturer doing progressive well in consumer camcorders.

Memory cards? Class 4 will do, you don't need Class 6. 8GB cards seem to offer the best value for money: you can usually buy two 8GB cards for slightly less than one 16GB card. Transcend is a brand that appears to have plenty of backing around here (I own several myself though haven't had them for more than a couple of months, so can't vouch for their longevity). Typically you can get the equivalent Transcend card for around half the price of a Sandisk card. You'll want to work out some kind of archival / backup strategy regardless of the brand you opt for. Mymemory.co.uk have a reasonably good deal on 4GB and 8GB Kingston SDHC cards at the moment: http://www.mymemory.co.uk/SDHC/Kings...ards---Class-6

Andrew.

[jordan25]

What's the difference between class 4 and class 6?

[A n d r e w]

Originally Posted by jordan25

What's the difference between class 4 and class 6?

Courtesy of Wikipedia:

SDHC cards have SD Speed Class Ratings defined by the SD Association. The SD Speed Class Ratings specify the following minimum write speeds based on "the best fragmented state where no memory unit is occupied":

• Class 2: 2 MB/s
• Class 4: 4 MB/s
• Class 6: 6 MB/s

SDHC cards will often also advertise a maximum speed (such as 133x or 150x) in addition to this minimum Speed Class Rating. One critical difference between the Speed Class and the maximum speed ratings is the ability of the host device to query the SD card for the speed class and determine the best location to store data that meets the performance required. "Maximum speed" ratings are quoted by the manufacturers but unverified by any independent evaluation process.