Hitachi DZ-BD70E - Expert Reviews

Review summary: James gets to grips with Hitachi's DZ-BD70E - a Full HD camcorder that can record to Blu-ray discs.

Verdict: Hitachi wins top marks for bringing the storage capacity of Blu-ray to camcorders, so optical discs can now hold a useful hour or more of footage. The ability to pop these discs into your set-top player has tremendous appeal, too - assuming your player is

Review summary: If you're not keen on fiddling with A/V cabling or video editing, most camcorder formats can be annoying. You either need to plug the camcorder directly into your TV to watch what you've shot, or transfer footage to a PC.

Verdict: Fulfils its promise of Blu-ray player compatibility, but loses out on features and image quality to the competition

Review summary: The format war is over and with Blu-ray victorious, the Hitachi DZ-BD70E attempts to claim the spoils as the first Blu-ray camcorder on the market. Recording 'Full HD' footage on to Blu-ray discs, this shooter also provides plenty of features, plus an int

Pros: Records to Blu-ray discs; viewfinder and accessory shoe

Cons: Chunky frame; slow to process footage

Verdict: If Blu-ray is the future of disc-based media, the Hitachi range of Blu-ray camcorders score cool points with anyone looking for the ease of disc-recording with the image quality of high definition. The DZ-BD70E has some image quality issues, but is stylis