Product Description

The DZGX5080A is a DVD Camcorder with a built-in LED light, ensuring proper illumination even in the darkest environments. Also included with this model is USB 2.0 connectivity with PC and Mac software support. Ease of use is taken to a whole new level with features like Photo Frame Capture and 1-Second Quick Start. Photo Capture allows users to browse video scenes and choose individual frames to save as digital stills to SD card. 1-second quick start makes recording nearly instantaneous when powering up from sleep mode. 4-Format DVD compatibility, a powerful 30x optical zoom and a 2.7" widescreen LCD display complete the robust feature package.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6273 in Camera & Photo
• Brand: Hitachi
• Model: GX5080A UltraVision
• Released on: 2007-02-28
• Dimensions: 5.00" h x 7.00" w x 9.00" l, 7.00 pounds
• Display size: 2.7

Features

• Multiformat+ compatibility; support for DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, and DVD+RW
• 2.7-inch widescreen LCD screen
• Photo Frame Grab feature lets users easily capture any video frame as a still image
• Cinema Res image processing
• USB 2.0 connectivity

Manufacturer Description
The UltraVision DZGX5080A DVD camcorder, with support for DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM and DVD+RW formats, is ideal for easily archiving important moments and memories, such as weddings and graduations, to send to friends and family, or play back on most home DVD players. The Photo Frame Grab feature lets users easily capture any video frame as a still image.

DZGX5080A Highlights

Multiformat+ compatibility The Multiformat+ drive will burn DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW and DVD+RW. So not only will DVDs play on your home DVD player-they are also compatible with your friends’ and family’s players, too. In addition to DVD, SD cards can be used to store digital still photos.

True 16:9 widescreen Not only can Hitachi camcorders record in true 16:9 widescreen, but the on-board 2.7-inch widescreen LCD screen is true 16:9, too. It means that what you see is exactly what you’ll get -- no cropping, no compromise.

Cinema Res Cinema Res image processing ensures video and pictures always appear detailed and accurate. By reducing "noise" and increasing sharpness, your home movies will look better than ever.

Photo capture from DVD Why do people always blink in photographs? Fortunately, that’s now history with Hitachi camcorders. You can now select any frame from your movies and turn it into a digital still photograph. Simply save the photo to an SD card and then print or share by e-mail.

1-second quick start Life doesn’t wait to be filmed. That’s why Hitachi camcorders feature 1-second quick start from standby--the fastest start-up time on the market. It means you need never worry about missing the moment again.

USB 2.0 connectivity USB 2.0 connection enables you to connect to your computer with high-speed data transfer and produce professional movies at home with supplied editing software.

Included Accessories

• Battery
• AC adaptor/charger, DC power cord
• Special S-video and composite A/V cable
• Shoulder strap
• Lens cap

Customer Reviews

Not quite what I expected
I bought this camera to replace a Sony Digital 8 that went bad. I wanted to save the time of putting my tapes on DVD, and figured I'd buy a DVD camera.

I like the compact size of it, and it has a decent optical zoom. You can also film in widescreen mode, which is cool, but you can't switch between 16:9 and 4:3 on the same DVD.

Now for the downsides. The main one is that when I try to play back a DVD on the camera (whether it is finalized or not) sometimes I get severe pixelation - to the point where the camera pauses playback. If I put the finalized DVD in any of my players, it works fine. I don't know if this is expected behavior, but I wouldn't think so. I emailed Hitachi support about it a couple of weeks ago, and I've heard no response.

Another problem is the indoor video. The color and contrast are poor. I even bought this model with the light to try to avoid that, but it doesn't help much. Actually, it is too direct, and not powerful enough. This results in it being very harsh within about 5 feet, and ineffective past about 10 feet. Outdoor shots look pretty good.

One last comment is on the finalizing. The automatic indexing is nice, but you have to have the camera plugged in to finalize the DVD. I guess this makes sense, but it is a little inconvenient.

So, overall this purchase has been a bit of a let down.