I am a big fan of Panasonic equipment. I have owned quite a few things from the Panasonic range and it is a brand I trust and feel I can rely on. For this reason, whenever I am looking for a new piece of kit that is electrical, I always find myself looking towards the Panasonic range first and foremost. It was for this very reason that my camera I decided long before I bought it was also going to be a Panasonic. After looking up a few different models I finally decided on the Panasonic HDC-SD900.

This fantastic handheld digital camcorder retails at around the £500 plus mark but I got mine for £449 from Ebay. This particular model appealed to me as it has high definition screen, which is what I was after, it also has 3.05 megapixels and the difference from non high definition cameras is really remarkable. It also has an impressive 12x optical zoom. The quality of this camera is brilliant and I am more than pleased with it and the quality of the output.

The picture qulaity is second to none, as is the sound quality. It is so simple and easy to use and navigate and it barely needs the instruction manual as it's all quite self-explanatory. The remote control can be a little fiddly and I find I have to press down quite forcibly on the buttons and direct it EXACTLY at the screen, but this aside, I can find no fault with the device at all.

The camcorder has some brilliant features, considering the price and they are really impressive. There is an optical zoom which is of excellent quality and also the option of a twelve time focus. Last time we used this was for a major family holiday to the States and it was never out of my hand. As it has an impressive memory size it was also very easy to transfer all of our family photos and videos onto our HD TV. Once back from our holidays we sat around our TV and were not only able to watch our videos of our holiday but it was easy to set it up to show a slide show of photographs too, which the little lad loved. I also like the fact that the battery in this camcorder seems to last for ages but if it does run down it's simple and easy to charge. I did, however, also purchase at a later date, a charger for the car lighter and I found this a useful additional device.

This camcorder also has a motion sensor detector, which I personally find quite an appealing feature, but using this unfortunately does slightly lessen the quality to 2.53 megapixels and a three times zoom (when in motion), however, I think this is to be expected, really.

Overall, I cannot really fault this camera at all. We have used it a lot since we have bought it and not just for family holidays, but for weddings and days out etc. It is light and portable and easy to transport around with me. The carrying strap comes in handy too, or course. I thoroughly recommend it and have nothing negative to say about it.