Panasonic HDC-SD90 review

We were generally very impressed with the SD90’s video. Outdoor footage shot at both 1080i and 1080p was sharp and clear with accurate colours and very little noise – watching the video back on a monitor made us feel like we were walking around the streets outside our office. The camcorder struggled occasionally with exposure when we were filming from a rooftop under a sunlit sky, though. It coped well under office lighting, again showing little noise. We were surprised by the camcorder’s audio quality – the SD90 cut out the whir of the office air conditioning almost entirely, and voices had a rounded quality with little tininess.

Like most budget HD camcorders, the SD90 struggles in very low light levels. Although it managed to amplify light levels, there was little detail and plenty of noise. Its Colour Night View mode simply ruined the frame rate without doing much for the picture.

Panasonic has extended compatibility with its 3D adaptor across the whole range of HD camcorders this year. The VW-CLT1 adaptor does produce a fairly appreciable 3D effect, though your choice of shots is paramount – don’t expect Avatar like effects every time you pick up your camcorder. It’s still ludicrously bulky too, and pricey at around £250. You can see our efforts with it here, shooting the new Ford Focus in 3D.

Panasonic’s HDC-SD90 is an easy-to-use and compact camcorder with an impressive zoom and image stabilisation, and generally excellent video quality in daylight and under moderate indoor lighting. We feel it’s worth the premium over Canon’s £300 HF R206 and Panasonic’s £350 HDC-SD80, so it wins a Best Buy award.