The Panasonic SD9 and HS9 thread ; (2)

[senu]

Guys these long ( popular) threads slow the forums down and mean we are best having a Part 2

The Panasonic SD9 and HS9 thread

[Captain-K]

Well I've just walked out of Comet in Bedford without a camcorder.

Went to the cash desk to pick up my reserved SD9EB-S, but asked that the box be opened to make sure the cashback form was there before I handed over my credit card. The assistant talking to the cashier seemed to know all about the cashback offer and confirmed that the leaflet is in the box. I wanted to be sure though.

When the box arrived, the cashier said it couldn't be opened before I'd paid for it (security seal and all that). Then another assistant said that there were no leaflets in any boxes they had opened to take the camcorders out for display purposes, so I spoke to the manager. The manager then tried to convince me that Panasonic would give the cashback and warranty when the camcorder was registered on their website. Fortunately, I had already printed a copy of the terms and conditions of the offer from the Panasonic website, which clearly showed that the only way to claim the cashback is with the leaflet that comes in the box. On reading this he shrugged, and said he couldn't help me!

I then walked next door into Currys. The black version was on display at £420, and had the cashback offer displayed next to it. So I now have a dilemma! Clearly Comet are not going to be helpful, and I'm not going to give them my business. So do I go to Currys and pick up the black one for £370 (after cashback) and get a 3 year warranty, or do I get one from Amazon for £359 (only a tenner cheaper after all) and get an 8Gb card with it. I have to say the black one is a lot sexier, but on the other hand I've never had an electronic device pack up outside its 1 year manufacturers warranty before, and I never buy warranties as a rule. That said, I can pick up a Kingston 8Gb SDHC card for £18, so with the Currys Package this would equate to having the black SD9, 3 year warranty and an 8Gb SDHC card for £388. I think I've just talked myself into it.

[A n d r e w]

You'll get a 4GB card with the SD9 anyway. I've nothing against Amaz*n (in fact I think they're great as far as online vendors go), but if there's only a tenner in it, I'm thinking that - extended warranty notwithstanding - knowing you can walk back in to Currys should anything go wrong has a lot to be said for it.

Andrew.

[GSi-AL]

Comet would give me a cash back voucher because I reserved my SD9 on line (£359.00), and didn't go through the in store demo palava.

I then popped into my local store@Panasonic and asked to view the SD9, and when the assistant open the display case, my other half helped herself to SD9 leaflet, and 2 cash back vouchers

If you drop me a PM Captain-K, I'm sure I could share my luck with you ?

[gunneredw]

Went to catford comet and they do not have any leaflets for cashback and did not know anything about it or whether they were involved. Manager also confirmed this.
So Do you need the cashback leaflet to get the cashback from comet or is a receipt good enough if they ARE involved n the cashback? And how do i claim if i buy from Comet? Has anyone else had success?
Picked up a cashback leaflet from currys but it says currys in the leaflet.

[Captain-K]

PM duly sent GSi

[GSi-AL]

No problem !

Will post 1st thing in the morning !

[avid fan]

I was all set to get one from Amazon this morning (with the free memory card) and couldn't track down the offer

The only SD9's on the site were sold by other suppliers rather than Amazon.co.uk, which makes me cautious in terms of posssible returns/ warranties.

Can someone else check I'm not losing my marbles??

[A n d r e w]

I believe this is the one you're after: Panasonic HDC-SD9EB-S HD Camcorder: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

[daKlone]

Originally Posted by gunneredw

Went to catford comet and they do not have any leaflets for cashback and did not know anything about it or whether they were involved. Manager also confirmed this.
So Do you need the cashback leaflet to get the cashback from comet or is a receipt good enough if they ARE involved n the cashback? And how do i claim if i buy from Comet? Has anyone else had success?
Picked up a cashback leaflet from currys but it says currys in the leaflet.

Is this the form you are talking about?

If so, it certainly has a checkbox for Comet, so I would assume that they are included in the deal.

My local camera shop (Park Cameras) has dozens of these forms on display by the Panasonic counter.

[sheffieldeagle]

Hi Everyone

Can anyone tell me what software they are using to edit footage taken on the Panasonic SD9?
I don't want to spend £400 on professional sofware just now and after reading a review on this camcorder on the internet I found a link to some software, allowing you to convert your highly compressed AVCHD files into either WMV or AVI format, which Windows® Media Player and Microsoft® Movie Maker can handle (there words not mine). The software is called VoltaicHD.
Does anyone use this or similar software?

Many Thanks

[senu]

Originally Posted by sheffieldeagle

Hi Everyone

Can anyone tell me what software they are using to edit footage taken on the Panasonic SD9?
I don't want to spend £400 on professional sofware just now and after reading a review on this camcorder on the internet I found a link to some software, allowing you to convert your highly compressed AVCHD files into either WMV or AVI format, which Windows® Media Player and Microsoft® Movie Maker can handle (there words not mine). The software is called VoltaicHD.
Does anyone use this or similar software?

Converting AVCHD footage to wmv is not a good idea, just so WMM can edit it. You will lose

• The Hi def
• The intrinsic quality

Also degrading your Hi def files to a poorer quality SD so that WMP can play them is completely missing the point of Buying a Hi def camcorder
Im not sure what AVI means as it consists of different codecs but I cannot imagine quality will not be lost either

If WMM cannot edit Hi def or WMP cannot play it
WMP
You need better software. period
None of the current range of consumer Software costs £80 let alone £400 pounds
Sony Vegas Movie Studio ( platinum)
Ulead VS 11.5/Corel X2
Pinnacle Studio 12
Magix Movie Edit Pro
Cyberlink Power producer
Adobe Premier Elements 7
Nero 8/9 ..9 Nero Vison) not fully featured but not incapable. nero Showtime will also play back without any fidddly converting
Roxio Suite
are examples
What is not in doubt is the need for a decent spec PC to play or edit the files
At least a beefy C2D with 2Gb RAM

[sheffieldeagle]

Many thanks for all your help!
I'm a little confused why these AVCHD camcorders are being sold currently when it seems the current crop of sofware and PCs are not upto the job of editing them. Editing is atleast 1/2 the fun of owning a camcorder for me and the example rendering times I've seen don't make for fun editing.

Thanks again Senu

[A n d r e w]

Perhaps I'll be flamed for typing this (indeed I held off originally because your post indicated that you're using Windows) but any Intel Mac with the latest version of iMovie is brilliant for editing AVCHD. Admittedly, this is because iMovie (and Final Cut for the matter) converts AVCHD on import into a format that even a modest processor (say, 2GHz with 2GB RAM) can handle.

Ironically, if you head over to Mac Forums, you'll see plenty of people moaning about the lack of native AVCHD editing support from Apple. If only they knew how much fun you Windows users are having . . .

Andrew.

[kinza]

I started this thread a LONG time ago. Do you believe I still haven't bought one