Panasonic HDC-SD90

The basics

The Panasonic HDC-SD90 measures 50.5mm x 63mm x 118.5mm (W/H/D) and weighs just 244g. The included battery offers great recording time. We got about 120 minutes on full HD setting. The camera records to SD/SDHC/SDXC cards, so expect to buy at least a 16GB variant if you want more than an hour of recording time. The HDC-SD90 also features a powerful LED video light, 5MP still image capture, 3” touch screen LCD and HDMI, Mini USB and composite outputs, enabling connection to most devices, PC and TV alike.

The good

Though traditionally styled the HDC-SD90 is one of the slimmest camcorders around. It feels great it your hand and doesn’t give you arm ache in any way. The 40x optical zoom is monumental, allowing you to get really close to your subject. Twinned with excellent image stabilization recording feels professional and smooth.

AVCHD format meant that recordings were easy to get onto a computer and we were editing in no time at all.

We liked the option to add in a 3D lens and though most people won’t have the ability to play back what they are recording yet, it is a nice feature that really future-proofs this device.

The bad

One of the only negatives that we could find on the Panasonic HDC-SD90 was when the camcorder was in camera mode. The capture image button is very stiff and pressing can often knock your image off so that it becomes blurry or skewed.

The bottom line

The Panasonic HDC-SD90 is a brilliant little camera - packing in many of the features of its considerably pricier sibling, the HDC-SD90 is a great all round performer at a price that won’t break the bank.