Hitachi DZ-BD70E

Hello, I'm Richard Trenholm of CNET.co.uk, and this is the Hitachi DZ-BD70E camcorder, otherwise known as the Blu-ray camcorder. This is one of Hitachi's first generation of camcorders to record video footage onto Blu-ray disk. Footage is full high definition 1920 x 1080 video. It packs a 5.3 megapixel CMOS sensor, which means you can take decent still images as well. You also get a 10x zoom. Your movies are are recorded onto these 8cm Blu-ray disks, although it also accepts mini DVD disks and takes SD/SDHC cards as well. You can also connect to your television via HDMI and your computer by USB. Usefully, you get a Blu-ray disk in the box. Disks go in here, which as you can see is powered so if your battery dies then good luck getting your disk out. A 7.5GB disk will hold one hour of full HD footage, or more at lower resolutions. It's certainly a distinctive-looking camcorder, with these nifty blue accents. The fold-out screen measures 2.7 inches across and displays in 16:9. The screen feels a bit small next to the bulbous midsection of the camcorder, but that's the price of disk-based systems. It isn't heavy, anyway, and feels nicely balanced. There's a couple of high-end style features on the BD7OE: a retractable viewfinder and an accessory hotshoe for attaching external bits and bobs, like a flash or microphone. There's also a wealth of options like manual exposure and focus adjustment, a quick start function and an interactive guide. This feature asks you what you want to do with the camcorder, and guides you through such potential difficulties as how to connect the camcorder to your television, and which cable to use. I'm Richard Trenholm of CNET.co.uk, and this is the Blu-ray recording Hitachi DZ-BD70E camcorder.