September 13 - As if making home movies in high-def isn’t cool (and scary) enough, you’ll soon be able to crank out Blu-ray discs of your favorite home videos on the fly.

Hitachi used CEDIA Expo to showcase the world’s first Blu-ray camcorders, once again beating Sony to the punch as it did when it brought the first DVD cams to market back in 2000. Two sleek models are slated to hit store shelves in October: the DZ-BD70A ($1299), featuring a Blu-ray/DVD drive that can record 1 hour of 1080i (1920×1080) high-def video on 3-inch (8cm) discs, and the DZ-BD7HA ($1499), which adds a 30GB hard drive that stores up to 4 hours of 1080i video or 8 hours of video (at 1440×1080 resolution).

With the flagship BD7HA, you can do simple editing right in the camcorder—no PC required—and burn your masterpiece to disc by simply pushing a button. So when Uncle Harry breaks out in song at the family picnic you can capture the moment and burn a disc (DVD or Blu-ray) on the spot. How’s that for instant gratification?

Both cams have a 10x Zoom, an SD card slot for storing digital stills, and an interactive user’s guide to get you up and running in no time. HDMI and component-video connections are provided for quick TV hookups.

More from CEDIA 2007

Back to News

July 20 - Hitachi has announced the world’s first Blu-ray camcorder.

This offering is still in the developmental stages, but it should be available as soon as this fall, although I wouldn’t bet on seeing it before the holiday season.

Essentially, this camcorder is exactly what you think a Blu-ray camcorder should be. It will record video at 1920×1080 resolution with a capacity to hold about 7GB worth of video. 

There isn’t a lot of info on it yet aside from what is here, but rest assured that we will post more as it comes. Read more here.

Back to the News

July 19 - JVC announced that they will soon be offering an addition to their line of Everio HD camcorders.

The new Everio HD3 will be capable of storing up to 7 hours of content on its 60GB hard drive, while still maintaining a solid 1440×1080 video resolution.

The image quality is further improved over the HD7 with image shake reduction, enhanced tools for focusing and exposure, and shutter priority.

The users will also be able to move the content off the camcorder easily and quickly through (more…)

June 13 - Canon plans on releasing a surprisingly excellent HD camcorder here in the US this summer. The new iVIS HR10 packs quite a few nice features coupled with some excellent hardware.

The iVIS HR10 will be able to burn your videos directly to DVD which is a serious plus, and it also includes the Instant AF focus system and Super Range Optical Image Stabilization system.

On the hardware side, the iVIS HR10 will have a Full HD 1920×1080 CMOS sensor with 1080i resolution and uses the AVCHD format. As a not so minor inclusion, there is also a 10x optical zoom on this badboy.

Expect an August release with a pricetag of $1,200 or so. Read more here.

Back to the News