Hitachi dz-mv550a dvd camcorder

The hitachi dz-mv550a dvd camcorder - The DZ-MV550 is a DVD camcorder of remarkably low price, considering what it has to offer when it is compared to other DVD camcorders. With this low-priced, stripped-down machine, Hitachi promotes DVD-RAM technology with SD card compatibility and pushes the envelope of DVD camcorder market price.

Product Description From the Manufacturer

Combining an 18x optical zoom with a 500x digital zoom, the hitachi dz-mv550a dvd camcorder features DVD-RAM re-writeable technology, and DVD-R Write Once technology so you can record right onto DVD discs.

Features:

Innovative compact design
Electronic image stabilizer
18x optical zoom
USB 2.0 PC connection
Easy access to key controls
In-camera editing
DVD-RAM rewriteable technology
DVD-R Write Once technology
SD/MMC memory card slot
2.5-inch LCD
Six-mode auto exposure
Auto and manual white balance
Auto and manual focus
Composite A/V input
S-Video and composite A/V output
Lithium-ion battery

Ok it all sounds good from the marketing department, but lets see what real world users of the hitachi dz-mv550a dvd camcorder had to say:

"A great camcorder, but...," Kane D. California, USA - "For taking movies I really loved it. The image quality was very nice, the controls were fairly logical and easy to figure out, and the image stabilizer worked very nicely. On a cold Chicago day (20 deg F) I brought it into a butterfly garden (78 deg F and VERY humid) and the lens defogged faster than any other I've owned and the recorder was unaffected. The only problem was what to do AFTER shooting the video..."

"Lightweight, good picture quality and controls" David B. WA. USA - "We needed a camcorder to record softball games. We chose the mini-DVD format because of the random access that allows us to easily delete footage that we no longer want. After two weeks of using the camera, I can say that they have done a very good job with the layout of the controls and the finger joystick works very well. The 18X optical and 500X digital zoom is awesome..."

There you have it! As a camcorder, most users of the hitachi dz-mv550a dvd camcorder were quite complimentary. The negatives came when discussing the DVD format and technical issues linked to it.

DVD-R discs need to be finalized in the camcorder before playing on a home dvd player and only hold approximately 30 minutes of video. DVD-RAM discs hold more video and have slightly better images but need to be transferred via a pc as the format is not as acceptable on most players.

The tech savvy users weren't to concerned about the extra effort whereas others were. Of the hitachi dz-mv550a dvd camcorder, you may have to ask yourself "which type of user are you?"

DVD Camcorder Notice (from the manufacturer):

Hitachi Home Electronics America can only verify Maxell brand DVD discs for use with Hitachi DVD Camcorders.

Hitachi has three main reasons for not supporting other manufacturers discs:

1. Not all discs have the same standards for actual construction, therefore some may not work. An example of this is a disc that has a very thin writing surface, one so thin that the DVD Camcorder laser cannot properly write information.

2. Quality of discs...some discs may be able to be written to, but will also peel and become defective within a short period of time. This can happen within a year or so after writing a disc, which is unacceptable for someone trying to document memories.

3. While some DVD-R discs can be written and finalized from our camcorder, the percentage of DVD players that can playback that disc is greatly reduced due to different writing surface depths.

While other manufacturers may make discs that appear to be compatible, and may sometimes work, the only discs that Hitachi can verify as suitable for the Hitachi DVD Camcorders, for functionality and longevity and playback, are the Maxell brand discs.

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