Hitachi's DZ-BD7HA Blu-ray / 30GB HDD hybrid camcorder reviewed

We've come to expect flaws in gizmos these days, particularly in first generation products, but judging by CamcorderInfo's review of Hitachi's "world's first Blu-ray camcorder," this thing should be sent straight back to R&D. Truth be told, it's not that often that we see a review this harsh, but we understand the need to be particularly critical when pondering a $1,600 purchase. Nevertheless, the DZ-BD7HA was essentially thrashed from top to bottom save for its stylish design and satisfactory outdoor shooting performance.. Testing revealed abysmal results when it was used in even the brightest of low-light situations, and the lackluster manual controls, omitted optical image stabilization (it opts for electronic IS) and a dreadful auto response system pretty much eliminated any shot at redemption. Honestly, repeatedly hearing about its "terrible image quality" throughout the review would be enough to scare away most, but if you just can't believe things are that bad, hit the read link and judge for yourself.

[shawnmos @ Nov 8th 2007 3:52AM]

Stupid. So what happens if blu-ray loses?

[Fruition @ Nov 8th 2007 4:49AM]

Recordable Blu-ray discs won't die. They're the highest density optical media on the market today. Even if movie companies cease to manufacture Blu-ray movies, people will still use Blu-ray for backing up data. At 50gb for a dual layer, you could back up nearly an entire 60gb hard drive onto one disc. Now that's useful.

Furthermore, there will always be at least one BD player on the market, known to some as the PS3. So, with no end in sight for BD-R's or the PS3, you can be watching Blu-ray home movies for some time to come.

Personally, I'd be more worried about HD-DVD, because if the movie companies ditch it, it ceases to have much practical purpose. It's less dense and the 360 doesn't need it for games. Granted, there may be other uses for HD-DVD I'm not thinking of.

[RandomCake @ Nov 8th 2007 11:36AM]

Or slightly more useful, a 1TB drive onto 20 disks instead of over 200 ;) How long to blu ray disks last? Are they a viable long term backup medium?

[Neil @ Nov 8th 2007 10:07AM]

ummmmm, i don't think blu-ray has a chance. have you seen how expensive it is buy buy a blank DL BD? they're crazy expensive. after that, you need to get a blu-ray burner. They are even more crazy expensive. for all of that money, you could've have just got an external hard drive or something. i've seen those mini ones go up to 80 gb. that definitely kicks the crap out of blu ray. AND the hard drive is reusable. i dont think blu-ray will catch on. it's a great thing, but sorry. it just wont. too many people are hooked onto to dvds and HD dvds. you cant warp a whole market to do your bidding.

[Fruition @ Nov 8th 2007 11:54AM]

Neil, you do bring up some good points.

Obviously, a BD burner is an investment, I'll grant you that. However, the cost of blank BD-R's will come down. And if this format war rages on much longer, they will come down sooner rather than later.

And once you've made the initial investment in a burner, the discs themselves are cheap in comparison to a new external hard drive, at least the mini ones as you suggest. Let's also not forget that hard drives do tend to fail. Yes, they are rewriteable, but as I've said, the intention is not to have a BD be a replacement hard drive. It would be much more useful for distributing large files, or backing up your data. Data, which would be permanent and not something you'd ever want erased. Like home movies or photos, for example.

I'd much prefer to store my precious data on a disc as opposed to a hard drive which could fail much faster than a disc will. BD's aren't immortal, but with proper care they can probably outlast a hard drive by quite a while. That kind of longevity is appealing for people looking to preserve data for a long period of time.

[Roland @ Nov 8th 2007 8:19AM]

I am not surprised. When I held the camcorder in my hands at this year´s IFA in Berlin, it felt like a cheap toy.

[Jimmy @ Nov 8th 2007 10:13AM]

I wonder about Hitachi here. It has not been that many years ago that if asked which television to buy I would have said, without hesitation, to buy anything labeled Hitachi Ultravision. Not so anymore. I am not saying that I would not recommend their products anymore its just that I would now have to go on a product by product basis.

Anyway its truly sad that the underlying camera here sucks. The design has great potential and looks good to boot. The high density optical storage is great but you have to put that recording medium on an otherwise good product. A sad waste really.