Hitachi DZ-HS303 DVD and HDD Camcorder August 5, 2006

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This DVD-HDD Hybridcam is only available in Japan as part of their "Wooo" line, but damn if it doesn't make us say Wooo too. The disc accepts 8cm DVDs as well as SD cards for removable memory. However, it has a bonus of having an 8GB hard disk in there in order to seamlessly transition to disk when the removable disc runs out of space.

The 1/3" CCD imager has 3310K gross pixels and 2180K effective pixels in 4:3 video recording mode, and 3.05 megapixels in still mode. The lens has a focal length of 6.1-61mm, a maximum aperture of F1.8-3.0, and a filter diameter of 37mm. With a 10x optical zoom and a 2.7" LCD, numerous manual control options, and onboard features like a video flash and external microphone jack, the DZ-HS303 offers an unusually extensive array of features for a consumer DVD camcorder.

Compared to Sony's hard drive-only camcorders, like their upcoming DCR-SR80, which have 60GB, Hitachi's offering comes up a bit short. However, for those who still need the convenience of being able to swap in and out discs, the DZ-HS303 is available in Japan August 30th for

130,000 (£600). – Jason Chen

Hitachi Combines DVD and HDD in DZ-HS303 [Camcorderinfo]