Quick Review Camcorder : Hitachi DZ-MV780

One of the DZ-MV780’s strengths is the imaging system, improved over last year’s very popular DZ-MV580. The CCD has shrunk to 1/4.5”, but the effective pixels have been boosted to 690K. These specs spell solid video performance, with bright colors and excellent sharpness. The DZ-MV780 could not compete with the DCR-DVD403, Sony’s breakaway DVD cam that bowled us over, but at two hundred dollars more than the DZ-MV780, it’s a cost / benefit analysis that every shopper will have to make for themselves.

Ease of use should be a DVD cam’s bread and butter. If it’s not, we cannot recommend it. Thankfully, the DZ-MV780 is very easy to use. It features an automatic mode that we encourage you to leave on at all times. Automatic controls are quite good, and will accurately adjust for exposure, white balance, focus, and shutter speed without much delay. It’s a good thing the automatic controls are functional, because the manual controls are not easy to maneuver. Button placement is awkward, and the degree of control you can actually wield is limited. The lack of a manual shutter speed cooled our enthusiasm somewhat.

The DZ-MV780 can only take stills in two sizes (640 x 480 and 1280 x 960), but the quality is excellent. You have the option of saving to two media: the DVD or an SD/MM card. While the DVD is capacious (up to 999 stills), it can only record in 640 x 480.

Solid low light performance is a must-have for most consumer camcorders. Since camera lenses require more light than the human eye to perform, any number of indoor shooting situations might be considered “low light” for a camcorder. A general rule of thumb (and this is by no means binding) states that the larger the CCD, the better the low light performance. The DZ-MV780, with a good-sized 1/4.5” chip, did indeed perform well in moderate low light. Anything darker (say, a candle-lit room) and the image was unusable.

DVD camcorders advertise the fact that you can record, finalize, and pop the DVDs straight into your home DVD player. You can, of course, take advantage of this, but advanced editing techniques are almost out of the question. If thorough editing appeals to you MiniDV is the medium of choice.

At around $600, the DZ-MV780 is a great value for those set on a DVD camcorder. Point-and-shooters should check it out, as well as bargain shoppers. People who are fixed on buying a DVD cam but want superior performance must check out the Sony DCR-DVD403.

Hitachi DZ-MV780 Compared to the...