Thumbs Up:

Simple operation, supports Blu-ray, DVD, Hard Disk and SD Card storage and easy file transfer between them without a PC. Good photo and video quality.

Thumbs Down:

Low on some features, slow performance, generic design

The Whiz Kid Speaks:

Hitachi DZ-BD10HA Blu-ray Camcorder has 1/2.7” sized CMOS optical sensor of 5 lux illumination, gives 240x digital zoom. The sensor has 7 Mega pixel resolution. The effective video resolution is 2.07 Mega Pixel and effective still resolution is 6.22 Mega Pixel. The still image format is JPEG and the video format is AVCHD.  The camcorder has Optical Image Stabilizer with Digital photo mode.

DZ-BD10HA has a built-in hard drive of 30GB and it supports the SD Card (with one SD Card expansion slot), DVD R/RW/RAM and Mini BD-R/RE for storage. A dub button to initiate the file transfer from a card to BD/DVD Disc, from hard drive to SD card or a BD/DVD disc is also located on the body.  There is also an option to trans-code HD video to standard definition for DVDs

The Zoom lens has a focal length of 6.1mm to 60mm with an aperture of F/1.8-3.0 to support the 10x optical zoom. Lens has a filter size of 43 mm and the focus adjustment modes are both manual and automatic. The zoom adjustment is motorized drive. Hitachi has introduced some additional features like camcorder remote control, Dolby Digital AC-3 (2 channel) recording,  USB compatibility, Built-in help guide and face detection with this camcorder.

The display is 2.7 inches big and works as a viewfinder. DZ-BD10HA supports 1 Composite Audio/Video Output, 1 USB and 1 HDMI Output. The built-in microphone works on stereo mode. 1360 mAH Lithium Ion Hitachi DZ-BP14S rechargeable battery has a battery life of 1 hour 20 minutes. Hitachi is giving one year warranty on parts and 90 days labor warranty.

The package includes External Power Adapter, AV cable, USB cable, component video cable, a 3 inch BD-RE disc and discs for Drivers & Utilities.

Razzle Dazzle:

Like most of the DVD-based camcorders, the optical drive is located at the side of the main body. Hitachi DZ-BD10HA weighs 17.06 Oz, the device is 3.4 inches high, 3.1 inches wide and 5.5 inches deep. Hitachi has fitted everything in an ultracompact body, though; it’s a bit bulky. The smaller hands might have some problem while using the device. However, it fits fine in large hands.

Inside Dope:

Convenience with extra features takes the consumers from older technology to the latest one available in the market. When we talk about the camcorders, a camcorder has to support the customers preferred format. Believing the same, Hitachi’s DZ-BD 10HA Blu-ray Camcorder is the most convenient one we have ever seen. A newly developed 7 mega pixel CMOS image sensor captures rich and vibrant videos and stills in FullHD (1920 x 1080) High Definition. The new DZ-BD10HA can record up to 4hours 20 minutes of 1920×1080 video or 8 hours 40 minutes of 1440×1080 video onto the built-in 30 GB HDD. The built-in SDHC card slot provides additional flexibility by allowing for Full HD video and still recordings.

DZ-BD 10HA can record videos to SD/SDHC Cards and to 3-inch DVD-R/RW discs. The recording flexibility of camcorder seems like novelty, however, it allows users to capture good quality videos, share them online and see them on TV. There are composite AV jacks, component, mini HDMI and USB for the output.

Most of the controls are located on the backside of the optical drive that falls under right thumb. There are four buttons located at top: zoom rocker for 10x zoom lens, playback button, face detection activating button and shutter release for capturing 6MP still photos. Switch to toggle still capture and video shooting, three activity stills, eject switch for BD/DVD drive and the on/off/mode toggle are slipping over the back edge. The photoflash is also included.

DZ-BD 10HA lacks some features like video light, accessory shoe and jacks for an external mic or headphones. An instructional utility program built into the camcorder that guides users through setup and input/output connections with peripherals. Five membrane buttons on the display cavity are LCD Brightness Control, LCD Information Display, BLC (Backlight Compensation), Full Auto, and Guide. Playback buttons, a Menu button and five-way joystick are located on the screen’s bezel.

It is very simple to operate the Hitachi DZ-BD 10HA. We used this camcorder and found that it lacked a lot of features. There are wind filter, four scene modes, activation for optical image stabilization and three white balance presets for easy usage. However, the menus has low options. There are manual controls for white balance, exposure and focus.

The file transfer is a straightforward in which you just have to select the “from” and “to” options. Before dubbing from hard drive to card slot or to Blu-ray/DVD discs, the camcorder will report the required number of discs. Each 3 inch BD Disc can hold 7.5GB to record 1 hour best quality HD Video. Normal BD-R costs around $20 and re-writable BD-RE costs around $30. The dubbing speed is 4x, so full HD video can be transferred to BD-R disc in 15 minutes, however, playback finalizing might take a minute more.

Video is recorded in AVCHD files at three levels: 1440X1080 Fine Mode, 1440X1080 Standard Mode and 1920X1080 HX Mode. Blu-ray discs are higher capacity discs as compared to DVD. Blu-ray discs use the same encoding algorithm and compression like AVCHD which is used, by Canon, Panasonic and Sony for recording to DVD. All AVCHD discs will play in your Blu-Ray player.

Hitachi DZ-BD 10HA performs slowly in various operations. It took a lot of time to access drives, prepare for next shot and to store photos. The Blu-ray Camcorder is also slow to switch between storage modes, for e.g., it takes 10 seconds to toggle the storage from BD/DVD to hard drive; which seems to depend on what is being captured. The still photographs can only be stored on SD Cards so there is no chance to take quick snapshot because storage switching will take time. We found menu system is quick and generic. The battery life is 70 minutes, however, during test with frequent switching of storage modes, the battery life decreases to one hour.

The video quality is fantastic from 7 Mega pixel CMOS sensor. The video is sharp and detailed with more accurate white balance and colors than what you’d expect. We did not have any issues while playing the recorded video in Blu-ray disc, however, the HD output from the camera has little noise and few artifacts. In low light, the video quality is not so good, but video is looking decent with softens and noticeable graininess. The built in mic works good and high-to-standard trans-coded video are better than expected.

The still photograph quality is well in bright conditions. They have some artifacts and colors are a bit off much like the still captures of standard definition 7 mega pixels JVC MG730. Indoor quality degrades, losing detail and increasing noise, degrading the results for Web use at small sizes. Even the flash did not work well.

The optical discs are a poor choice for video recording as scratches can damage the disc. They are more prone to critical data errors and have lesser storage capacity.

If you like, the convenience of all-in-one design and are ready to pay some premium for it, then it is better to have a flash or hard disk based camcorder that docks to a PC-free DVD Decoder. Hitachi DZ-BD 10HA is a decent HD camcorder with Blu-ray recording attraction but gives clunk design, limited feature set and slow performance.

Nitty Gritty:

Amongst all the camcorder competitors, Hitachi is the only company to provide the HD video transfer facility from internal hard drive to flash media, to DVD-RW/Blu-ray and vice versa. Hitachi DZ-BD10HA is the most hybrid camera and still easy to operate. It gives the good video and photo quality.

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