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July 1, 2004
• Vol.2 Issue 7 Page(s) 25 in print issue | |
Hitachi DZ-MV550A | |
 Hitachi DZ-MV550A $799.99 www.hitachi.us/tv Although MiniDV is by far the most popular media used in digital camcorders, products such as Hitachi's tiny DZ-MV550A prove that there are some viable alternatives. This unit records video directly to DVDs, a format that comes with several benefits and drawbacks. In a nutshell, the DVD format makes things slightly more difficult to record but much easier to play back compared to tape formats. It takes a few seconds for the DVD to spin up to speed when the unit is turned on, and it sometimes takes several seconds to begin recording while the camcorder cues up the appropriate spot on the disc. On the other hand, it is easy to create discrete video segments, access them for playback nearly instantly, and watch them in any order as you can access any recorded section of the DVD whenever you like. The DZ-MV550A is very easy to handle. It's small and sits comfortably in your hand, and the important Zoom and recording Start/Stop controls are at your fingertips. The integrated color LCD pivots and swivels to show precisely what you're recording regardless of the angle at which you hold the camcorder. To conserve battery life, you can instead rely on the camcorder's viewfinder, but the viewfinder is fixed in place, so it's not as comfortable to use as the LCD. The DVDs used for recordings are not the typical discs used to store Hollywood movies, but are much smaller 3-inch DVD-RAMs or DVD-Rs that hold 1.4GB of data. This allows for a smaller camcorder frame, but dramatically cuts down on available recording time and also on playback compatibility. Few devices can read the smaller discs directly, and at most users can record an hour of video using the lowest quality setting. The highest quality setting allows for only 18 minutes of video and only works when you use DVD-RAMs (although double-sided DVD-RAMs are available that let you record up to 40 minutes of high-quality video). The camcorder's video quality is adequate but not outstanding, and we noticed a lot of mosquito noise (swirling dots of color) around high-contrast edges, especially in video we shot indoors in relatively low light. All video took on a bluish tint, as did still images. We had to hold the camera rock-steady to get still pictures that weren't completely blurry, and even then image quality left much to be desired, but that's par for the course where digital camcorders are concerned. On the plus side, the autofocus did a fantastic job of keeping objects in focus as we zoomed in and out. For those who feel that the ability to randomly access video segments is very important, the DZ-MV550A is a good choice. Other than that, it really doesn't offer enough compared to MiniDV cameras to garner a wholehearted recommendation.  by Tracy Baker |
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