Hitachi DZ-MV780 review

Verdict:

This costs over £100 less than the DC20, but the drop in video quality is very noticeable. It's not a great video camera, but you'll struggle to find a cheaper way to shoot straight to DVD.

Review Date: 21 Feb 2006

Price when reviewed: inc VAT

Our Rating 3 stars out of 5

Review
Specs

The DZ-MV780 is about as cheap as DVD camcorders get, and although its video quality is nothing special it has a great widescreen mode.

FEATURES

This classic design has certain advantages, as its battery is mounted conveniently on the rear of the unit. The 680mAh pack lasts for only 58 minutes due to the power-hungry DVD drive, but there's space for a larger replacement. A powered accessory shoe is provided.

The DZ-MV780 records to DVD-R and DVD-RAM but not DVD-RW. All the basic controls are exactly where you'd expect them to be. A four-way joypad above the LCD controls the menu, which is uncluttered and easy to use.

The widescreen mode is one of the best we've seen and is particularly appropriate for recording to DVD. Audio is recorded in Dolby Digital stereo for compatibility with DVD players.

PERFORMANCE

Unfortunately the DZ-MV780's video can't match that from Canon's DC20. Noise isn't a problem, but the video lacks detail and definition on edges, and we could see artefacts from the MPEG2 compression. It's roughly equivalent to that of the better budget MiniDV devices.

The image stabiliser worked well and kept the image steady even at maximum zoom. Performance was poor in low light, though, with increased noise and motion blur. There's no light or infrared mode, so shooting in very dark conditions is out of the question.

The 1.2-megapixel still photos had muted colours and considerable noise. They may suffice for the web, but they're not of printable quality.

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