Panasonic HDC-SD9 and iMovie 08 - summary of current issues

I made few new observations. First, Volatic unfortunately also has some limitations. It created complete garbage when I tried to convert 24p files. Can anyone confirm this? It seems to work fine with interlaced files. Second, the converted .mov files look great in iMovie08 but they are blurred in iMoveHD. Does the older (better?!) version not support 1080 files? I talked to Panasonic support today and they repeatedly claimed that SD9 files are exactly the same as SD5 files which are compatible with iMovie08. How is it possible?

Panasonic's engineers have tried to tell me they are the same, but it cannot be true (obviously).

For one thing, the SD5 is 1080i and the SD9 is 1080p, so that's a biggie right there.

I have no problem using the well-voiced solution of only using the HA 1920 24p setting with FCP 6.0.2 and iMovie ’08 (although, the video speed issue is present with iMovie, but not with FCP). But is I try anything else, like the “medium” quality setting that also lets you select 24p, HG 1920, crashola!

Panasonic engineers are supposedly getting back to me next week. Will report anything new.

P.S. I'm P.O.'d that when it writes files to the DVD for “backup” it changes the file extensions ever so slightly so that FCP cannot recognize the files. I needed to manually change all of the extensions after copying the files to my Mac from the DVD to import. If you simply copy the files from the HD9, when mounted via USB, you can then use that file structure to import. But you can't burn a DVD from those files unless you use the HD9 or Panasonic’s less-than-stellar software with your Windows-side of your Intel Mac.

Does anyone know if this problem has been solved yet?

cause I am planning to buy SD9 within these few weeks.

are they gonna solve it actually????

if no then i should change my mind

You really should get the SD9 because it is true HD 1920x1080p, and it is the best camcorder for the price. The 3CCDs make for unequalled color saturation and vividness, and there are no other brands that have 3CCD and true HD for even close to $800!

The SD9 replaces the SD5.

Plus it has 5 microphones for Dolby 5.1 and face-recognition, as well as optical image stability. The 5 does not.

One last thing: The 9 has another higher quality setting--HA: Approx. 17Mbps (VBR)
Also the 9 has 24p recording ability in two quality settings
Also the 9 can use 16Gb cards

SD5 does have optical image stabilization and works great. Still, the ability to have 5 microphones (if they are external) is a plus, and the ability to do 1080p is a plus, although it may take the hardware and software a while to catch up with this capability.

If I was buying mine 6 months later, I would go for the SD9, and hope that Panasonic and Apple would sort out the issues soon.

Neither camera has the ability to use external mikes...the one major drawback. These models also don't have S-Video out...minor bummer because they have component out and HDMI out, which are phenomenal...but my DVD recorder only has S-video IN and FireWire IN, so I cannot "download" to a DVR for simplicity.

Using Panasonic's software on the PC side of your Mac just reminds you of how bad everything is for Windows. Nobody seems to ever "get it."

The camera is great and there is a workaround. Convert your files to .mov using Voltaic. Once the files are converted you can import into iMovie 08, edit and export to Apple TV or whatever format you prefer.

One issue is that iMovie08 is a little slow importing and exporting these large digital files using my iMac 2.16ghz machine with 2gb or ram.

Does anyone know if video processing is a lot faster with a MacBook Pro or the latest iMac at at 2.5 ghz? I am considering a new machine to edit these big video files. Also considering Final Cut Express and wondered if this program would process the digital files faster than iMovie08.

Links to video processing comparison tests would be appreciated.

I'm new to camcorders, just got an HDC-SD9 today. I bought it at Best Buy and they had the SD5 information instead of the SD9, so i thought it recorded in 1080i. My tv doesn't run 1080p, so will it be able to play dvds that I create with the SD9?