Camcorder Reviews

I have had a mini-DV camcorder for a couple of years, but when a friend bought this DVD camcorder, I became jealous. I had left the mini-DV out in the sprinkler about a year ago, and it finally succomed to reclaimed water rot (actually quite a ringing endorsement for my old Canon ZR-10 that it could withstand that). This was my excuse to buy this camcorder.

The quality of the video is fine - but not quite as good as mini-DV. Also, I would like a wide-screen mode, like was available on the ZR-10. It is, however, immensely convenient to record to DVD-RAM. To me, it's worth the 20 fewer lines of resolution and the lossy compression of MPEG-2.

The battery only lasts about 1/2 hour, but I'm OK with that. If you shoot more than 1/2 hour at a clip, you're making boring movies, but it would be nice to have a bit more leeway.

I download the video to my hard drive and edit with Vegas Video - so haven't tried the in-camera editing and probably never will.

The software that ships with it has a definite Japanese accent, and it not all that fabulous. However, it is stable once you figure out the wierd menus and procedures.

I find that I must pay a bit more attention to the exposure modes than I did with my ZR-10. But if you set it for low light, it does a pretty good job in low light. Don't set it to "Sports" and shoot in incandenscent light. Trust me on this.

I have used both DVD-RAM and DVD-R. I prefer DVD-RAM, since it acts like a disk drive. In fact, you can connected it to your computer via USB 2.0 as a DVD-RAM drive. You can't drag and drop the movies, however. You need to transcode it with the included software.

It seems to be a bit finicky about media. It didn't like Sony DVD-R media, but works fine with Maxell.

I just bought a 256MB SD card which will hold over 1000 pictures at the 1 Mpx resolution. The photos are good enough for web and video, but not for printing. You can't record photos to DVD-R, but you can record them to DVD-RAM.

Overall a good camcorder, but don't throw away your Mini-DV if you want the highest picture quality availaible in consumer gear today.

This camcorder is what many have waited for: consumer grade digital video without tape. The decision to use mainly DVD-R or DVD-RAM is best made early. For me, DVD-R is still too expensive to use. DVD-RAM allows reuse, as well as in-camera editing. But don't be fooled by this editing capability, this camera would be extremely frustrating without a computer for offline processing...

Which brings us to the bundled software. As a Mac user, and knowing that video is still very Mac-friendly, the Windows-only software was a grave disappointment. Even within the Windows environment, this software is still quite clumsy. The DVD-RAM disks require drivers to read (Included Windows drivers seem to work well). The video files are *.VRO, which is an MPEG-2 variant many decoders cannot parse, including QuickTime.

Still the bundled software allows rudimentary DVD editing and some degree of MPEG transcoding. For serious offline editing, you'll need an expensive suite of software and a good computer.

Despite its software limitations, this camera is an excellent device for capturing source material. Its three DVD-RAM resolution modes, STD/FINE/EXTRA provide a useful set of tradeoffs. Don't use the STD mode unless 60 minute continuity is essential. My 4 megapixel still camera means its unlikely I'll ever know how well the DZMV-380A operates in still mode.

In short, if you're serious about DVD content creation and have the computer tools and expertise, this camera is second to none. But the casual user will be disappointed at the expense of DVD-R disks and the complexity of using DVD-RAM.

A Five-Star camera bundled with Two-Star software. Four stars.

I have had this model for a month now and am pleased with the performance. Recording with DVD-RAM is a snap and editing is just as easy. I have a ... Panasonic dvd player s-31 and I can plop the DVD-RAM directly from the camcorder into the dvd player and watch my movies and view my photos. My first generation JVC DVD player spits the disc out and swears at me in Japanese.

It comes with sonic MyDvd which makes pretty decent DVDs. It also comes with a program that can convert the camcorder files into Mpeg files. Once they are mpeg files you can use them in any decent video editing software. I usually edit the video files and then use Sonic to burn a DVD. I have not tried VCD and considering the poor quality of a VCD, I don't know why someone would want to.

As far as video quality, I used it to tape my daughter surfing and the quality was excellent. The optical zoom is great but the digital zoom pixilates heavily at anything higher than 40x. I have tested the different recording formats (std, fine and xtra) and I now only use the highest format as the other ones show up with scanning lines on my 40 inch TV. In auto mode it sucks at low light...until I manually set it to low light mode and everything showed up but had a brownish hue.

The media is still more expensive than DV tapes... At highest quality a single DVD-RAM holds a half an hour (15 min each side). I have not tried the DVD-R as I am having a hard time justifying spending [the money] to record to a disk and not be able to do any post editing. The discs are nice as each time I turn the record on and off it creates a small movie that is accessed much like a scene menu on a regular DVD. On a DVD-RAM, I can then edit it, add transition effects or I can delete it. No more rewinding tape. Let me write that again - no more rewinding tape. That has to be the nicest thing about this toy - no more tape.

It only has a USB connection - no fire wire. I am running XP and connection to the computer was a snap.

It takes 1 mega pixel photos which are the quality of, well, 1 mega pixel photos. I have an old 2.5 mega pixel Olympus that obviously blows it away but in a pinch it makes decent small pics.

Would I buy this again? Yes. So far the overall quality is on par with its peers and not having to muck with tape is a big benefit for me. It loses 1 star for the media recording length and price of the DVD discs.

A great camera with many wonderful features. The manual is chocked full of information, all except the most important feature: Format your disc before recording!!!! From the get-go with DVD-R, it prompted me to format the disc. But with DVD-Ram, It did not tell me to format the disc at the start. I took movies of my trip to Europe and was able to view them back through the finder/display. However, when I got to the end of the disc, I was prompted with a notice to "format the disc now" and that all video will be lost if I do format!! I couldn't believe I had to lose all my Europe footage all because I did not format the disc BEFORE I started recording. London Eye - gone! Meusse-Argonne Cemetary in France - gone! Hitachi could not help me. Again, great camera but Format first!!!

My wife bought me this camera for Christmas. After experiencing video cameras for the better part of 2 decades (remember the gigantic, tv-camera-looking VHS cameras?!), I am elated that technology has come to this. So refreshingly simple, and so integral to one's peace-of-mind in knowing that the clips will endure until our sun burns-out (hope my descendants hang-on to my dear, recorded memories!). I find myself using the RAM disks more, since I can transfer the individual clips to my computer, and edit or arrange as I see fit; the -R disks are a 1-shot deal----what you tape is what you finalize at the end is what you watch on your DVD player. But even those are handy, if you want to simply move seamlessly from taking the disk out of the camera and straight into the DVD player. And even with the -R disks, you'll still get "menu chapter points" on the finished product---separated by each start and stop of the recording, and by date of the recording session. I find the quality great---even the "standard" quality (lowest setting) was great, when we recorded a gig that my band played at (low-light conditions and all). The RAM is great because you can record over and over and over---just buy 1 or 2 $20 disks, and if you transfer to computer, and thence to regular DVD disk, you don't need to buy too many additional. The only real problem has been stocking-up on some of these blank mini-disks----all the cold, unfriendly mega stores (circuit city, best buy, compUSA) always seem to be out, or low on supply. I resorted to ordering them from a company on-line.

this camcorder is phenominal. i was skeptical about buying something other than sony but i'm glad the hitachi salesman told me why this camera is better. let me explain.

sony dvd cameras are on there first generation (they are just coming to the market). This hitachi camera is a third generation model. this basically means that what consumers didnt like in the past has been implemented into the newer models. anyway, the price is a steal if you ask me. you can buy a digital camera for a few hundred bucks or you can spend a little more and get this wonderful toy.

okay now the nitty gritty. this camera can take pictures onto sd memory cars or onto dvd-r disc themselves. you can insert dvd-r media into this camera, record your movie, finalize it and then pop it into a dvd player to watch it all in a few minutes. talk about convient. you can also upload your movies to a PC and do special effects or whatever, then copy it back to the camera so you do not need a dvd burner on your computer!

The camera is very light weight and very portable. It is such a breeze to use. you can record a bunch of different shots and easily replay them on your camera. its like changing tracks on a cd player vs a tape player (other cameras) where you must fast foward or rewind to find the right scene. Its almost instant on this camera.

I bought this camera so i could take videos of my family and mail it back home to relatives so they can just pop it into there dvd players and enjoy! it does the above wonderfully. Keep in mind what you are getting when you buy this camcorder. You are getting THE LATEST in technology at an affordable price, it has a digital camera function (so to speak), dvd recording for very crisp pictures and sound, very small and portable for travelling and basically all the features you want in a camcorder. Did i mention it has a color view finder? This is very useful when trying to determine what to focus the camera on, if you arent using the color swivel screen of course.

i would recommend this camera to all of my friends, relatives and all of you! the picture quality is remarkable, dolby digital sound (awesome) and its just a great camera. Never again will i buy a sony camcorder while these are on the market :) dont waste your money on other crappy camcorders, get this!

I bought a Hitachi DZ-MV230A DVD Camcorder from Future Shop, Surry, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on 28th Sept., 2003. My computer OS WIN XP (Home Edition) does not detect the Camcorder, nor the recorded DVDs are detected by the DVD ROM installed with the Computer. So, I cannot download anything from the Camcorder. The Camcorder is thus useless to me though I like its picture quality and shape. No software was supplied along with the gazette and it was written on the manual that it would work with WIN XP. I wish, the manufacturer gives weightage to this letter and send me the solution.

We got this camera as a Christmas present. For simple movies and communicating with the family, it serves well. There are some design errors that Hitachi will need to fix before I recommend it, though.

First, the DVD disk noise is audible during playback. It is a high-pitched whine in the background. It is not overwhelming or too distracting, but people interested in making amateur films or top notch home video should find a less noisy camera.

Second, the camera does not come with a separate battery charger. You have to put the dead battery into the camera and then use the camera as the charger. This means you can't film on one battery while recharging the other. So, you either charge them all ahead of time, or you hope that you catch all your footage in one go.

Finally, the editing software for this camera is not yet available in the US (as of Dec. 2002). The editing options built into the camera are pretty limited. There are three fade options: fade to white (not black), vertical wipe, and fade to b/w. The interface would be fine for a road trip, but splicing long sequences together is a real pain. The fade features also require additional dead air, or else they cut into the sound portion of the tape. This may be my inexperience, but it bugged me for a while.

Overall, I found the camera very intuitive and easy to use, and I wouldn't give it up for a different gift. Still, there are probably some tape or other DVD-based models out there that are more polished in
their design.

I spent a lot of time researching camcorders before finally deciding on the Hitachi 230A. I purchased it to record my childrens band performance at halftime and to share the recording with the band director for teaching purposes. It worked great..I recorded the performance, put it in my lap top and was able to replay it instantly for everyone. It was quite a hit, until I got home and tried to download it to my computer to make copies. It seems the salesman, in his zest to sell me the camera, neglected to sell me the correct interface kit. This camcorder comes with 2 different interface software kits. One is for still images only and is relatively easy to find. The other kit (DZ-WINPC3) is a scare commodity. At this time you can only order it directly from Hitachi at the cost of $179.00 plus shipping and handling. AND it's on back order for 2-3weeks. This kit is not even carried by Circuit City, the major supplier of this camcorder. I love the camcorder for it's eaze of use and the digital picture quality but I spent my first weekend with this product on the phone trying to figure out why I couldn't download my video into my computer. I at least got to transpose it onto VHS but the manuel supplied leaves much to be desired when it comes to explanations. It tells you the correct way to plug it in to your VCR but neglects to note that you have to set your TV and VCR to a different input mode in order for it to work. I guess that you're supposed to know that already. Would I buy this camcorder again...only if I had all the correct software in my hand as I walked out of the store. Also, the customer service department at Hitachi is wonderful. I'm sure that they recognize my voice by now.

PROS: Timely Hitachi support response to all 4 of my emails. CONS: Impossible to edit/transfer w/ leading software, Limited edit/media transfer with bundled Ulead Movie Factory SE. OPINION: Buy for top quality recording of 30 min. DVD-R/DVD-RAM with playback limited to use of camera cabled to PC or TV. If you want to do anything more, the software is not available to help you without 3rd party program to convert .vob files to MPEG2 (which most software programs can import).

SPECIFICS: No easy way to do burn to VCD. After 3 weeks of patience, 4 bundled software programs, 5 downloaded demo versions, and 3 purchased programs I have 2 poor quality VCDs and one AVI upload. All leading software (Pinnacle, Ulead Movie 2, DVD Movie Factory, Power DVD, Instant Write, Video Explosion) requires a Firewire connection to "capture" directly from the camcorder. Hitachi does not make a Firewire cable to the camera- only a "PC Kit" wire connection via USB. Hitachi support said the ONLY software capable of grecognizingh the camera is the bundled Ulead Movie Factory SE (not the full featured, powerful version). The output is VERY poor. Final results on 3 different files had dropped frames, loss of audio in some frames, and loss of quality (fuzziness). The process was time consuming. First, connect & transfer the files via USB. The process of powering, accessing the disc, safe connection to PC, and reading the files took about 5 minutes (another 5 to reverse the process using "safe disabling of hardware feature"). Then was 40 minutes to transfer a 30 min side onto my Dell Pentium 4. I then launched the bundled program and imported the file (another 20-30 minutes depending on file size.) Once I was interrupted and used the save command. A mistake. None of my efforts were saved. I had to start over with importing the file (20 more minutes) and reconstructing the product. The software default is DVD (not VCD) and it cannot be changed. Once I forgot to manually select this on the first screen and I had to start my project again from the beginning. The SE version comes with NO user manual and no help screen in the program. I am headed back to return everything and await the next generation with smooth software capture interface.

I'm currently own this particular model. I truly enjoy using my DVD cam and find it very appealing, but I'm overly regret ever buying the particular brand name. My main criticism comes from not being able to located Hitachi PC kit for this particular model and it has prevented me from making my own DVD videos. Therefore, for the money spends on the particular brand it's a total lost--Thanks Hitacti for your excellent! Overall, If you're not interested in using your PC to make DVD home movies, then perhaps it's right for you.

Just a note for people who buy this camera. Takes great images and easy to use however if you plan on importing your video to your PC, you won't be able to edit it with any normal video software. The ONLY program that currently is able to edit the .VRO files that this uses is ULEAD personal edition. This adds... to the price of the camera.