HDC-SD1

[Tyler2000]

I got a friend who is going to buy a camcorder and is thinking about the panasonic HDC-SD1. Is this a good camera for average use? He doesn't care about editing but he will probably want to save his video as standard definition dvds, avchd dvds, and eventually blue-ray discs. He is also going to be getting a new computer also, so what is the minimum hardware he would need? What software is the easiest for converting to those formats?

[Ollie6431]

I have an HDC-SD1 and very happy with its video quality. This cam's 3CCDs are 1/4'' and are larger than the other HDC models (SD5 and SD9) with 1/6''. The HD Writer software that comes with this cam allows one to make an AVCHD disk (using DVD-R) for one-hour of video that can play on a bluray player (or a Sony PS3). It works well on my Samsung BD-P1500 bluray player.

The disadvantage of this HDC-SD1 model is that one cannot create a standard-def DVD with the HD Writer software (other models like SD9 allow you to do this with the included software). To do so you need to buy an editing software (like Nero 8, etc.) for the job. I do not have experience with softwares other than Nero (fairly easy to use). Other users may offer their own experience on other sofwares. For my own use (family video), I have no need to downgrade high-def video to standard-def video. However, if one is to share videos with others, it would be needed.

For PC hardware, it is critical to get at least a quad-core to edit AVCHD video for fast turn-around-time.