I've sort of narrowed my choice of a new camcorder down to:

Panny HDC-SD9
or
Canon HF100


I'd maybe even through in one of the JVC SD cam that upconverts to 1080p but does it touch the video to upconvert while recording or only playback via HDMI? Since I edit all of my home movies that wouldn't be too helpful


OK back to the Canon or Panasonic

I like the Panasonic on a few fronts:

- price about $150 less
- free battery (now makes it $200 less)
- better OIS per Panasonic anyway LOL
- nicer package smaller easier to carry
- 3CCD might just be marketing crap though as it is a ultra small sensor

things I don't like

- only 10x zoom
- stills don't look as good


Canon HF100 things a like

- canon seems much better in the still area
- video from what I have seen seems more HD?

things I don't

- price
- pricy batteries
- only 12x zoom (better then Panasonic)


Used for home type stuff not production by any means - me and the wife like to take day trips and we go to a lot of zoo's and other natural type places.


Any guidance would be helpful


Thank you
John

you may want to check out a similar thread about this very same comparison, from April of 2008.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/archive/index.php/t-1021862.html

My personal use:

Cons:

It needs illumination for indoors, but Sima has just introduced a 20Watt rechargeable LED video light, for $40, so a solution doesn't have to be a major investment.

No coldshoe mount

The Panny's zoom is not variable, and the manual focus-adjust is very touchy.

Pro and Con:

The Panny is going to oversaturate your colors. In an odd way, it helps the look of down-converted video I give to family members. They put it on their old television, and are wowed by the intensity.

Also, the SD9 is so light, that you may not like hand-held shots in 24p mode. I've gone to using a monopod, just to diminish shakes and give some stability for panning.

It can do frame accurate editing in-camera. I use this alot to cut down the import time into iMovie.

Has good battery life.

Doesn't suffer from rolling shutter

The face detection is second-to-none. If you turn that on, children look like a million bucks.

Stills are not so good, BUT they are on par with point-and-shoot cameras of it's era, and that's not bad for a video tool.

I like my SD9.