Hitachi DZ-HS300A Camcorder Reviewby John NeelyPublished on May 2, 2007 4:00 PM
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Picture & Manual Control
Automatic Control (3.0)
The Hitachi DZ-HS300A is a classic case of middling performance in Full Auto mode. In practical terms, this means the camcorder displayed the typical weaknesses that are encountered when the driving is left to its electronic brain. Focus worked well only when faced with even lighting and clearly contrasting focal planes near the center of the frame. Unlike some competitors, the DZ-HS300A offers no spot focus option to make up for the fact that it’s calibrated to use the center of the frame as its focal reference. Exposure suffered from the same lack of subtlety, with good exposures only in easy lighting situations. While shooting indoors, a lamp or window near a subject invariably skewed the whole picture towards underexposure.
White balance was another weak point in Full Auto mode, with the picture showing properly balanced colors only in single-source lighting. This issue, as well as problems with focus and exposure are notorious deficiencies of auto mode because camcorders are programmed by manufacturers to “split the difference” in any situation that is remotely challenging. In mixed indoor/outdoor lighting, the DZ-HS300A chooses a compromise white balance that may leave your subject either too blue or too yellow. In high-contrast lighting, the camcorder exposes for what it believes to be the average exposure for the whole frame, but this may leave your subject over or underexposed.
A number of AE presets are available that shift the camcorder’s auto calibration to match a smattering of common lighting situations that pose challenges for Full Auto mode. These include Auto, Sports, Portrait, Spotlight, Sand and Snow, and Low Light. Each of these AE modes will deliver improved automatic exposure for each situation. For example, in Sports mode, the shutter speed is raised to reduce blurring of fast-moving subjects, while Low Light drops the shutter speed to increase the imager’s sensitivity. Given the mediocre performance of Full Auto mode on the DZ-HS300A, these AE options should prove valuable to shooters who don’t want to venture into manual image control.
Overall Manual Control (3.0)
The Hitachi DZ-HS300A has what amounts to a standard suite of manual controls for an entry-level camcorder. This includes focus and zoom, exposure control in unspecified EV steps, and white balance but does not include control over shutter speed, gain, color, sharpness, or assists like markers, color bars, or focus assist. While we love choice, and have long appreciated the fact that Panasonic and Canon do include a broader manual control suite on their entry-level models, for most casual shooters they are not necessary.
As noted throughout this review, we strongly dislike the fact that Hitachi has opted to keep the camcorder’s entire menu and manual control interface on the left side of the body, and in the LCD cavity. This arrangement is just plain inconvenient, and every other camcorder maker has migrated the important controls, especially those used while shooting, to a rear-racing arrangement. That said, the DZ-HS300A does keep some of the manual controls that it features quite accessible. In terms of speed, this offers some real benefits over camcorders that bury manual controls deep in the menu by offering one-touch access to focus and exposure control.
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Close-ups of the menu/touch pad button array (left) and mode dial (right) |
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The dedicated buttons offer only partial consolation to the flaws of the interface, however. The touch pad (facing left, away from the user) is the only means for making adjustments, and while it’s OK for stepping through exposure settings, it is a very poor focus control. White balance remains in the menu, as do Program AE modes. If the response time of the menu were faster (instant response is not too much to ask), this would be fine – but there is an annoying delay every time you step between options or make a selection in the menu.
The left-facing interface and touch-pad controller are big issues, and this camcorder offers only a basic suite of manual control options. The relatively quick access does offer a benefit over many entry-level camcorders, however, so on balance, the DZ-HS300A shoots par for manual control.
Zoom (4.0)
The zoom slider on the DZ-HS300A is easy to operate and responsive for a zoom control of this design. We prefer rocking zoom levers, such as those found on most camcorders this year from Canon, Sony, and JVC because they are elevated slightly from the body, and allow for subtler zoom control. However, the slider on the Hitachi is better than many of the sliders we’ve encountered, and it allows for adequate speed modulation and start/stop control.
A zoom position bar is displayed onscreen while zooming, and it acts as a rough visual indication of where in the zoom range you are.
Zoom Power Ratio (25.0)
As an entry-level camcorder with a 1/6” sensor, the DZ-HS300A sports the feature that no similar camcorder does without these days: a ridiculously powerful digital zoom option. The optical zoom ranges up to 25x, a magnification level that should be adequate for most of your telephoto needs. We live in the midst of an optical zoom arms race, however, and even 25x pales in comparison to the 40x zooms found on some entry-level Sonys this year. To keep up with the Joneses, Hitachi includes a digital zoom that can be disabled, capped at 100x, or maxed out at 1200x. If you do decide to make use of the digital zoom option, keep in mind that you are magnifying pixels above 25x, so rather than a bigger image, you’re seeing bigger pixels. This digital effect leads to a steep decline in image quality, such that at 1200x, you’re left with a dancing morass of illegible junk. We recommend capping digital zoom at 100x if you must use it at all – or reserving anything over 100x for your psychedelic YouTube shorts.
Focus (4.0)
Manual focus is controlled via the touch pad on the left side of the lens barrel and engaged by pressing the Focus button in the LCD cavity. When the camcorder is in manual focus mode, a Focus indicator appears at the upper left corner of the display, but it disappears in auto focus mode. Pressing on the left or right sides of the touch pad moves through the focal plane. As with joystick-based focus controls, the DZ-HS300A’s touch pad does not allow you to slow down as you approach the focal plane of your subject. Dials and rings do allow you to adjust focus at different speeds and are thus much better suited to fast and accurate manual focus control. A horizontal bar above the Focus indicator on the LCD shows your rough location within the camcorder’s focal range, but it offers no numerical information regarding your distance to the focal plane.
Exposure & Aperture (4.0)
The Hitachi DZ-HS300A includes only a manual “exposure correction” option, which is akin to exposure compensation. This control is easy to engage via a dedicated button in the LCD cavity, but your options are limited to 12 unspecified EV steps (EV steps are an aggregate measure of shutter speed and aperture). That’s as much control over exposure that many novice shooters need, but it makes for a very limited range of manual adjustability over exposure. To put things in perspective, Panasonic camcorders, even at the low end, offer independent control over iris, shutter speed and gain, with over 20 iris settings alone. The absence of more than basic EV control is not unusual on entry-level camcorders, but we take notice of any model that goes beyond the basics.
Shutter Speed (0.0)
The DZ-HS300A offers no manual shutter speed control – something that is common on entry-level camcorders from every manufacturer other than Panasonic. The AE recording modes include Sports mode, which automatically increases shutter speed, and Low Light mode, which allows the shutter speed to drop below 1/60.
White Balance (5.75)
The DZ-HS300A serves up standard platter of white balance presets: Auto, Set (manual), Outdoor, Indoor 1 (incandescent and halogen), and Indoor 2 (fluorescent). To access the white balance settings, press the Menu button, select the White Balance option, and select the desired preset using the touch pad. When the Set option is selected, the menu display is replaced by a live view with a superimposed white balance icon. Pressing the Play/Set button in the center of the touch pad locks in your manual white balance, and pressing the Exit button returns you to recording mode. We found manual white balance to deliver good color balance, and it was generally much more accurate than the presets.
Gain (0.0)
In common with most entry-level camcorder, the Hitachi DZ-HS300A offers no manual control over gain.
Other Manual Controls (0.0)
The DZ-HS300A offers no additional manual controls.
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