Hitachi seems intent on pushing the boundaries with its video cameras lately. In the June issue of this magazine we reviewed the VM-D965LE camera from Hitachi and found that, while much of its capabilities were pretty conventional, it did break with tradition in using a Hi-8 tape for digital recording.

Now with the DZ-MV100A, Hitachi makes a further break with tradition, by using a DVD disk in place of tape to record video and stills. This change could set the whole video camera market on its head.

The big advantage with this DVD format is that, unlike conventional cameras with tape, it is possible to immediately access any point in the recorded video, without the need to rewind. Instant access is virtually guaranteed for such things as viewing clips, deleting scenes, playback and more.

Accidentally recording over previous video footage, because you forgot to spool on, is avoided, as the system looks for the end of the existing video on disk and adds the new footage. In playback mode there is no need to rewind, as the camera seeks the start of the disk.

There is also a disk navigation screen to allow immediate access to specific scenes with ease. Selection of this facility automatically displays a screen of sharp clear thumbnails, one from each clip, for you to choose from. Selection of
the clip is simplicity itself with the rocker button that is used to control selections, both here and on the menus, and once selected, playback is almost instantaneous. Still or single frame viewing is also possible.

The Navigation Screen is the place where much happens once you have captured your scenes. Here you add in such things as a title, fades and wipes, delete clips, set up a play list and more. With the play list you can choose just which clips you wish to play and in what order. Effectively you get a very versatile camera cum recorder cum editing machine.

When recording video it is possible to pre-set the shooting mode to optimise the finished product. Normally the camera will pre-select shutter speed etc. but here you have a choice of Sport, Portrait, Spotlight, Surf and Snow and finally Full Auto. If for instance, you choose Sport, then the shutter etc. will be optimised, to avoid blurring in motion shots.

Add to this the fact that there is no tape wear to create noise and signal loss, plus the digital signal format, and you have a very tantalising system. Hitachi are taking a well considered punt on the future with this camera as DVDs are the way of the future in sound and video with their massive capacities.

The 8cm, 2.8GB DVD disk has a capacity of 30 minutes per side, in quality format, and 60 minutes per side in standard quality, giving a full capacity of 60 or 120 minutes. The DVD disk is capable of being inserted in a new DVD player released by Hitachi and a new PC DVD player from Hitachi, which will allow instant cable-less play or editing in your PC. Video outputs are also available in USB and S-Video.

Apart from the obvious video features, it also has a versatile still capability, with a resolution of 1,280 x 960 dots and a photo capacity of 1,998 shots.

This is an excellent camera, as one would expect from Hitachi, but it is relatively heavy at 930g, and certainly not as compact as some of the newer cameras from Canon, Sony and Panasonic. However its new ground breaking features make it stand out from the pack.

Generally it is easy to use with controls strategically placed for ease of access. There were only two access difficulties, and they may have been intentional, to minimise accidental misuse. The first was the battery lock, which is tucked away under the viewfinder, and the other, the video output connectors, which hide under a cover at the front of the camera. There is also an unfortunate omission in that there is no FireWire output or remote control available, for conventional editing packages. Fix this and the future of DV is sitting in the palm of my hand.