Reviews for Hitachi DZMV780A Digital Camcorder - 2.5" LCD - CCD

Good Point-and-Shoot DVD Camcorder

Strengths: Quick Start-up, Good picture and sound capturing, Easy to use, Resonable Price

Weakness: Don't see any yet

It's my first camcorder, and I love it.

Before making up my mind on this one, I was struggle to decide whether to get a MiniDV (tape) camcorder or a MiniDVD camcorder. Tape camcorder is bit cheaper, but I am afraid if MiniDV was diminished from the market. I will need to find way to convert those tapes to up-to-date storage format. MiniDVD might face the similar fate in the future, but at least if you have a computer and a DVD drive you can copy the video to PC without additional equipment (even if the camcorder is broken). This is my reason on picking a DVD camcorder.

My budget was around 400-500. I needed a camcorder that is easy to use without any manual configuration. I did my research on web, and quickly found out Hitachi DZ-MV780A and Panasonic VDR-M75. Both of them are similar in terms of quality and features, but Hitachi one was 50 bucks less. Unlike many manufacturer, Hitachi ONLY produced DVD camcorders. (So I believe this is why they are good at producing those and drag down the cost on production, as a result, consumers get better product for a lower price.) Also based on the reviews on camcorderinfo.com, MV780 has higher scores than M75 as a point-and-shoot camcorder and budget camcorder. (Later I found out camcorderinfo.com named MV780 as Low-End Camcorder of the Year 2005) So picking MV780 is really a no-brainer decision.

The package came with almost everything you will need. After charging up the battery, I first tested it with my Mini DVD-RAM because it is the format which can store motion picture and still image. (Well, it is wise to test it with your own disc than the DVD-R came with the package, in case you need to return it.) All I need to do is just turning the navigation wheel to "Video" and click the "Rec" button. So cool. Picture and sound quality is so good on TV. I definitely enjoy it. I know I could also shoot in 16:9 widescreen mode, too bad, my TV doesn't has a widescreen.

I took it to my trip last month. I was first afraid of the battery couldn't last for a whole day without recharging, but it turned out not a problem. Each of my takes was about 2 to 5 mins long, and I used the viewfinder most of the time and didn't play the video back until back to hotel. (I know the LCD screen does consume a lot of power.) It was claimed to last for 1 hour+. Practically, as mentioned in the menu, it may only last 30 mins if LCD was used for shooting and playback. I might get a higher capacity battery if I would use it for shooting any whole-day events, like wedding or graduation. As the previous reviewer mentioned, bigger battery will definitely poke your eye if you like using viewfinder because the battery is just plugged right below the viewfinder.

In short, if anyone asked me for a low-budget, point-and-shoot camcorder, I will definitely recommend this one.

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Very Good DVD Recorder

Strengths: Light weight, DVD sets fast, much better then the Hitachi 730a entry model, automatically jumps to next recording preventing over writes, records 16:9 or 4:3, wireless remote,records DVD-R

Weakness: Picture slightly grainy in low light, uses Ram disc's for erasable recordings, these work great but only found on Panasonic, Hitachi and certain DVD machines

I totally agree with bcariveau's review. My story is, I purchased the Hitachi 730A and was very disappointed. (Poor picture quality) I was able to return it to the store and upgrade to this model (MV780A) WOW, what a difference! The picture quality of this camera is greatly improved over the 730A (double the pixels) Outdoor lighting the picture is fantastic. Looks better on TV than in real life. I use a Pioneer HD Plasma and this monitor does not like poor videos. This camcorder shows a beautiful video on this plasma. (The 730A model didn't) At night I found this camcorder to work fine indoors with a slightly grainy picture with less color, but much better than the Hitachi 730A and better than most camcorders I have tried. You can flip the LCD screen around and it acts like a NIGHT LIGHT ! Cool! I tried an experiement. Using the "low light mode" and flipping the LCD screen around I was able to record in total darkness. Grainy picture with low color but how many camcorders can do this? This is so easy to operate, overall I'm thrilled with this purchase. I was thinking about going to DV tape but I'm glad I went to DVD! DVD prevents you from recording over your past material. It will just start a new segment at the end of your past recording with no worry. You can edit and combine the different segments. The remote control works great. I was surprised how fast I could record from startup. My panasonic recorder at home takes 30 seconds or so it seems to read a DVD before recording can be done. Not So with this Hitachi. I haven't yet experimented with the USB computer connection and the software, But to end my review....I LOVE THIS CAMCORDER!!!

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Great little camcorder

Strengths: Small, easy to use, tons of features and effects, DVD-RAM discs can play without finalizing.

Weakness: Short battery time, DVD-RAM discs only work in Hitachi and Panasonic DVD players, poor picture in low light.

I searched reviews and stats on all of the current DVD camcorders, and for the money, this is a great pick. I think the Canons are great, just too expensive.
This camcorder has tons of built in features, lots of effects. It's light and compact. The picture quality in good light is unbelievable, even on my 57" big screen. In low light, the picture is less than fantastic, but not horrible.
The sound is good, LCD is big and glare resistent. The menus are easy to navigate. There is a lot good to say about this camera.
There are a few minuses though. The battery doesn't last long (maybe 60 minutes?) and if you get an extra life battery, you won't be able to use the viewfinder, because the bigger battery will poke you in the face. Trust me on that. You have to know that when using a DVD-R disc, you cannot change the aspect ratio or the picture quality setting once the disc is initialized. That got me too.
For the money, this is a great little camcorder.

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not dependable

Strengths: easy to use

Weakness: not reliable

So far I have used this 2x's. The first time my husband had set up the camera to record his proposal to me. We were able to play this back one time then we got an error message stating that the camera can not read disc check dirt /crack. The disc appeared to not have any scratches, or dirt. We were unable to recover the image. 2nd and only other time we had used this for our daughter's first holidays, same error message, not able to recover images. I would not recommend this to anyone. You are setting yourself up for a heart break.

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Quick Review Camcorder : Hitachi DZ-MV780

The Hitachi DZ-MV780 is the second best DVD camcorder Hitachi is offering this year. Combining performance and affordability, it ranked as one of our favorite DVD cams in 2005. That’s not saying much, as DVD cams typically leave out the manual controls we think every camcorder should have. But DVD lovers will want to check the DZ-MV780 out.

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The DZ-MV780, Hitachi’s second best DVD camcorder this year (and personally highly anticipated), features some improvements to last year’s DZ-MV580 including a new design and a widescreen mode. But even with an increase in CCD pixel count, the camcorder performs slightly worse in low light than last year’s model. The good news is that it is very affordable, available for as low as US...

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