Hitachi DZ-BD7HA - A Blu-ray Disc Camcorder

**Sniperz** · 06-06-2009

Introduction

Where every camcorder companies has been ducking it out with the HDV and AVCHD formats, Hitachi decided to skip that and venture into an even bigger format war, one being waged between hundreds of companies with billions of dollars at stake Blu-ray versus HD DVD. Hitachi has released the world's first Blu-ray Disc camcorder, the DZ-BD7HA. This is Hitachi's flagship consumer camcorder and is actually a hybrid that also sports a 30-gig hard drive.It provides the Blu-ray disc recording capability along with a 30 GB built-in Hard Disk Drive which can record approximately four hours of 1920 x 1080 high-definition video or up to eight hours of 1440 x 1080 high definition video.

Nevertheless, the DZ-BD7HA was essentially thrashed from top to bottom save for its stylish design and satisfactory outdoor shooting performance.With the simple push of a button, it can copy the contents from HDD to BD within the camcorder itself. DZ-BD7HA has a massive lens in the front, which features a 43mm filter diameter for attachments.

The lens is capable of a 5-50mm focal length and an aperture range of f/1.8-f/3.0. A flash is embedded to the left of the lens with a flash light receiving sensor just below. Its 5.3-megapixel, 1/2.8-inch CMOS image sensor Captures high definition video through a newly developed CMOS image sensor that can record video at 1920 x 1080/60Hz and still images at 2400 x 1800 pixels.

It comes with a handy guide button, which is kind of like an electronic cheat sheet that shows up in the viewfinder.In a rather strange decision, the BD7HA has a microphone input jack, but no headphone jack. So, while you can use an external microphone to get much better audio, you have no way of monitoring that audio.

This seems to be a poor design decision, because, if users are going to go through the trouble of using an external microphone, they're most likely going to want to hear what it sounds like.Another plus is the way the camcorder feels great in the hand, a characteristic that we can vouch for after our brief encounter with it

**Sniperz** · 06-06-2009

Features

DZ-BD7HA comes with great manual features, including human control of the focus, exposure and white balance, which come in handy in overriding the circuitry in difficult shooting conditions and also has a full complement of automatic controls.It can only record still images to an SD/SDHC card in one size, 2400 x 1800. There is no quality setting and images cannot be saved to the HDD.The unit also has space for memory expansion, as it has a slot for a SecureDigital flash card.

It saves movies in MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 formats, and includes built-in flash. You can transfer all you videos and image files to a desktop or notebook PC through the camcorder’s various inputs: USB, HDMI, S-video Out, component out and multi-A/V out. the camcorder overexposes a bright object in a shot, even if that object is taking up 70 percent of the frame. A better camcorder would give you the option to change the Metering mode or understand that if an object is taking up that much space, it’s probably the subject of the shot and should be exposed accordingly.

By navigating around using the joystick control on the LCD panel to select individual clips, you can specify which clips get transferred to different media and which ones remain on your device.A CMOS sensor lets you record videos at 1920×1080 pixels/60Hz and take still images at 2400×1800 pixels. The camcorder has 10x optical zoom and up to 500x digital zoom.It will make you capture once-in-a-lifetime memories like never before.

Extra Features

2.7-inch widescreen LCD; 10x optical zoom
Transfer HD video from hard drive to Blu-ray DVD with one-touch dubbing
Built-in Interactive Guide
Capture HD video to Blu-ray disc or hard disk drive
Built-in 30 GB HDD; record up to four hours of 1920x1080 video or eight hours of 1440x1080 video

The capacity of a mini Blu-ray Disc is 7.5 gigabytes, compared to 1.4 gigabytes for a regular mini DVD-R. This allows you to record far more high-definition footage to one disc. DZ-BD7HA also includes a few one-touch controls for simple image correction. In the Main menu are four Program AE modes: Portrait, Spotlight, Sand & Snow, and Low Light. A button labeled “BLC” in the LCD cavity activates the Back light Compensation, which boosts exposure to bring out the detail in subjects that are too strongly back light.

**Sniperz** · 06-06-2009

Specification

Recording Media: Hard disk drive 30GB, 8cm Blu-ray Discs (BD-RE, BD-R), 8cm DVD (DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD-R)
Audio: 2-channel Dolby Digital
Dimensions: (WxHxD) 3-2/5" x 3-1/5" x 6-1/2" (excluding hand strap)
Optical Zoom: 10x
Digital Zoom: 500x
Video Out: HDMI, Component, Composite
Microphone Input: Yes
Manual Audio Levels: No
Headphone Jack: No
External Battery Charger: Yes
Accessory Shoe: Yes, cold
Media Type: Hard disk drive, 3" BD-R, 3" BD-RE, DVD-RAM (8 cm), DVD-R (8cm), DVD-RW (8 cm)
Lens Type: Zoom lens
Optical zoom: 10 x
maximum_aperture_range: F/1.8-3.0
Shooting Modes: Digital photo mode
Video Input: Camcorder
Display Size: 2.7 inches
Optical Sensor Resolution: 5.3 MP
Optical Sensor Technology: CMOS
optical_sensor_size: 1/2.8"
Viewfinder Type: LCD
Audio Input: Microphone
microphone_operation_mode: Stereo
Height: 3.4 inches
Weight: 1.4 pounds
Depth: 6.5 inches
Width: 3.3 inches
Format: MPEG-4 AVC/H.264
Image Sensor: 1/2.8 CMOS
Effective Video Pixels: 2,070,000
HDD Capacity: 30GB
Recording Times: HDD (HX 4 hrs, HF 5.3 hrs, HS 8 hrs), BD (HX 1 hr, HF 1.3 hrs, HS 2 hrs), DVD (SX 20 min, SF 30 min)
Lens: F 1.8-3.0
Focal Length: 47-470mm
Filter Size: 43mm
Focusing System: Auto/manual
Focus Assist: None
Programmed AE: Portrait, spotlight, sand & snow, low light
Manual White Balance: Yes
Image Stabilization: Electronic
Viewfinder: .02-inch color (200,000 pixels)
LCD Screen: 2.7-inch color TFT (211,200 pixels)

**Sniperz** · 06-06-2009

Hitachi DZ-BD7HA comes with the battery that lasts for about 45 minutes in real-life use and includes a separate external battery charger. This time-saving feature lets you put one battery on charge and then keep shooting with an additional battery instead of tying up your camcorder as a very expensive charging station.The DZ-BD7HA includes a mediocre editing program in the box, standard for most camcorders: Image Mixer 3 HD Edition for BDCAM.

The software allows you to import clips from the camcorder and output them as H.264 files in 1440 x 1080 or 1920 x 1080 in three quality settings, or down-converted to standard definition MPEG-2 files in 720 x 480.The built-in stereo microphone is located on top of the camcorder, just above the lens. Though this placement is usually not conducive to most grips, the DZ-BD7HA is big enough that the hand will not interfere with the microphone.

The DZ-BD7HA is equipped with a hot accessory shoe and mic input, but there is no headphone jack. It's pretty much a one-man dubbing rack. The BD7HA has various output ports, including USB 2.0 to connect to the computer and HDMI to connect to high-definition television sets, as well as the typical analog connections. The camcorder can transfer your HD footage to a computer via USB and Blu-ray Disc internally in the camera.

Pressing the disc navigation button cues a screen filled with 12 icons representing individually recorded clips or stills. You can scroll through the icons via the joystick and select an option by pressing the center of the joystick.Importing your video to your computer is done through an included utility called Image Mixer 3 HD Edition. This application is for Windows users only, so Mac people are out of luck.

Image Mixer 3 HD allows you to build and organize a library of clips, but little more than that; there are no real editing capabilities to speak of. Touted as a reliable and dependable camcorder, the DZBD7HA is compatible with five types of industry standard discs: BD-RE, BD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW and DVD-R. The user-friendly camcorder has a one-second quick start function that lets you spring into action and videotape events as they happen without fumbling for a series of start buttons.

**Sniperz** · 06-06-2009

You can transfer all you videos and image files to a desktop or notebook PC through the camcorder’s various inputs: USB, HDMI, S-video Out, component out and multi-A/V out. Its 30GB HDD Enables the hybrid camcorder to record up to four hours of 1920x1080 video or eight hours of 1440x1080 video. Its one additional feature, 1-second Quick Start Simply have the camcorder in standby mode and in less than one second the camcorder is up and recording. Not only is the camcorder ready to record instantly but it’s also consuming less power.

Strengths