Hitachi DZ-GX3300A Camcorder Review

Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control (6.5)
The default mode for the Hitachi DZ-GX3300 is Auto, where exposure, focus, and white balance are automatically controlled. In default mode, EIS is also engaged. There is no Auto or Easy button, enabling a quick and error-proof way of toggling between Auto and Manual settings. That is a liability because it requires users to be diligent about monitoring the on-screen display where manual function icons are shown. One could easily fail to notice the Manual Focus icon indicating that Manual Focus is engaged, and resulting in a poor image.

In order to override full auto mode, the user can press the buttons inside the LCD cavity to engage specific Manual Controls. 

In terms of the camcorder’s performance in Auto mode, the DZ-GX3300 performs adequately but not well. The camcorder can take several seconds to snap to accurate focus, especially in low light, and exposure does not seem as accurate as on competing camcorders. This camcorder struggles especially in telephoto, and tends to “pump” as it searches for focus. Refreshingly, the auto white balance is quick and yields decent colors when, for example, swinging the camcorder from a fluorescent-lit interior to an exterior view through a window.

The camcorder offers a select few automatic controls that you can turn on and off to give it a performance boost. These are not manual controls, per se, and offer little in the way of fine control.

First of all, the GX3300 offers Backlight compensation, initiated by a dedicated button inside the LCD cavity. This function can be used to boost exposure when a subject is too backlit (say, standing in front of a window) and appears silhouetted.

The second major automatic control is a set of Program AE modes (which other manufacturers sometimes call Scene modes). These modes – which include Auto, Sports, Portrait, Spotlight, Sand & Snow, and Low Light – are one-touch adjustments that you can make in specific shooting environments where exposure may be tricky. Of course, these are only the approximate settings for what the manufacturer anticipates those environments to be like. Your actual shooting situation might vary, so getting to know your manual controls is a good idea. Manual adjustments are almost always more accurate.

There are also a few white balance presets, which may help if the auto white balance is not doing the job properly. White balance settings include Auto, Manual, Outdoor, Indoor 1 (for incandescent or halogen lighting), and Indoor 2 (for fluorescent lighting).

Overall Manual Control (3.0)
The suite of manual controls is not very impressive for a top-of-the-line model. The GX3300 offers controls for zoom, exposure, focus, and white balance. There is no shutter speed or manual control, which every other manufacturer but Sony offers on most models and certainly on their top camcorders. The GX3300’s controls are a disappointing set, to be sure.

Pushing the Menu button on the left side of the camcorder will access the menu. It's laid out simply, which is fortunate, because maneuvering through it with the four-way touch pad is extremely awkward (more on that in a moment).

The menu contains five sections (Camera Functions, Record Functions, Date, LCD/EVF, and Initial Setup), each of which contains a submenu. The first two submenus contain most of the manual control functions that don’t have dedicated buttons on the exterior body. The last three menus, as the names imply, contain non-picture quality controls which allow you to set the time or change the menu language.

The first submenu, Camera Functions Setup, offers controls for the Program AE (described in the Automatic Controls section above), white balance, electronic image stabilization on/off, and digital zoom on/off. The second submenu, Record Functions Setup, has controls for video quality, 4:3/16:9 aspect ratio, input source (the GX3300 has analog input), and onscreen display output (if you want the onscreen text to appear on the TV during playback).

Animated gifs of the main menu (top) and the Camera Function submenu (bottom).

The Hitachi also offers a “Quick Menu” option: an abridged, easier to read version of the menu, specially designed for technophobes. Of course, you still need to be savvy enough to turn it on in the first place.

Zoom (7.0)
A sliding switch on the top right rear controls the zoom and is well-placed for the index finger. However, its design does not offer as fine control as is available with a raised toggle (like on the Canon ZRs and Eluras) or the rocker control you’ll find on upper-end and prosumer models. The toggle is pressure sensitive, and you can get about three distinct zoom speeds. There are no alternate methods of zooming.

One final note. Many camcorders offer a one-touch “TeleMacro” mode, which helps record small objects in as large a picture as possible. The GX3300’s manual offers a different approach, and we appreciate their candor. If you want to perform “Macro Recording,” or shooting a small object up close, they recommend moving the zoom down to 0x, then shoving the camcorder right up in front of the object. It’s that simple. Thanks for clearing it up.

Zoom Power/Ratio (10.0)
The DZ-GX3300 has an optical zoom of 10x: a common range for consumer camcorders in this chip size (1/3”), and adequate for most uses. Many of Hitachi’s lower-priced camcorders with smaller CCDs feature a 16x or 18x zoom. Other manufacturers have optical zooms as high as 33x. The GX3300 also has a digital zoom, which can be capped at 40x or 500x.

Focus (3.5)
Pushing the Focus button inside the LCD cavity engages manual focus. A small “MF” icon appears in the upper left corner of the screen. You then use the + and – buttons to focus. Unfortunately, there is no numerical or visual guide except the rather small image on the LCD screen to tell you where in the focus range you are. If you’ve never seen it happen before, let us warn you that small focus mistakes become much more apparent when you play them back on a larger display (and pretty much everything is larger than a 2.7” screen). As bad as this is, it's not much different than the focus control of other manufacturers.

Exposure (Aperture) (4.0)
As with manual focus, you can adjust the exposure by pushing the Exposure button in the LCD cavity, then using the + and – buttons to make adjustments. Thankfully, unlike with the focus, a sliding scale with a cursor in the middle tells you where in the exposure range you are. The scale measures EV steps, which are a combination of aperture and shutter speed, with 11 steps in total, from -5 to +5. Panasonics and JVCs offer aperture controls in f-stops, which is a finer control and independent from shutter speed. Again, this is something you should expect on a top-end model.

Shutter Speed (0.0)
There is no shutter speed control on the GX3300. This is a sorry omission for a top model from any manufacturer. All Panasonics and JVCs offer fully independent manual shutter speed. Sony does not offer any shutter speed control. Canon offers shutter priority mode, which allows you to make shutter speed choices while the camcorder assumes automatic control of the other functions.

White Balance (6.5)
Manual white balance appears in the menu. The adjustment is quite accurate. If you have no white or gray cards to make a manual adjustment, there are also pre-set options for Outdoor, Indoor 1 (incandescent and halogen lighting), and Indoor 2 (fluorescent lighting), as well as an auto setting. This range of pre-sets is on par with other camcorders in this class.

Gain (0.0)
There is no manual gain control on the GX3300. All Panasonic camcorders offer manual gain from 0dB to 18dB in 3dB increments. JVC allows you to turn the auto gain control on and off.

Other Manual Control (0.0)
There is no other manual control on the DZ-GX3300.