Hitachi DZ-MV380

The first generation of DVD-based camcorders gave poor results, lacked essential features and were both expensive and too large. Thankfully, since then the underlying technology has changed massively - as has the market as a whole.

Every respectable PC now has at least a DVD-ROM drive, if not a DVD burner, and set-top DVD players have replaced many VHS-based VCRs for watching movies. It's now got to the stage that a DVD camcorder is a practical proposition for anyone wanting to turn out DVD home movies, removing the often laborious process of using a PC to transfer your creations to disc.

Hitachi was among the first to explore this concept, and the DZ-MV380 can hold its head up against MiniDV tape-based camcorders when it comes to size, features and performance. At £604, it's also far cheaper than Hitachi's previous range-leader, the £2,200 DZ-MV270, although it remains more expensive than MiniDV equivalents.

The MV270 itself was an improvement over its predecessor, benefitting from better picture quality as well as more features - in particular, the ability to record to DVD-R, not just DVD-RAM. Its size and weight were quite a disadvantage, but Hitachi has rectified this with the MV380, which weighs just 600g including the battery.

Despite its size, the MV380 is sturdy and comfortable to hold. It has an easy-to-use menu system, though most of the everyday controls are conveniently located on the camcorder body. Some controls, however, including manual focus and exposure, are only accessible by folding open a side panel. This switches off the viewfinder, powers up the 2.5in LCD monitor and also exposes a USB 2 socket for transfers to and from a PC - there's no FireWire as on DV camcorders.

Consumer DVD camcorders record to 8cm discs that have an unformatted capacity of 1.4GB per side. This is a distinctly smaller capacity than its full-size 12cm/4.7GB brother, but these discs would obviously make the overall device far too unwieldy. The MV380 uses double-sided DVD-RAM discs or single-sided DVD-Rs - each mounted in a round, reversible caddy that's thankfully smaller than the previous design.

Panasonic and Sony are the only other companies selling DVD camcorders, so demand for 8cm discs is limited, as is availability, and they remain more expensive than 12cm discs. DVD-and-Media (www.dvd-and-media.com) has a competitive selection of 8cm media - ten Maxell discs in caddies cost £124 for DVD-RAM and £72 for DVD-R, including delivery and VAT.

The MV380 records MPEG-2 in three quality modes. Extra-fine (DVD-RAM only) records at variable bit rates of between 3 and 9Mb/sec, giving up to 18 minutes' recording on each side of a disc. The other modes use constant bit rate recording; and fine (6Mb/sec) gives up to 30 minutes per side and standard (3Mb/sec) up to an hour. The two best-quality levels record in the PAL resolution of 704 x 576 pixels, rather than DV's 720 x 576, because the Hitachi uses square pixels. Standard recording is at a reduced horizontal resolution of 352 pixels. Sound throughout is recorded as MPEG-2 audio.

Extra-fine and fine footage looked good on a 29in TV set fed via S-Video, but standard footage wasn't as sharp or clear. Overall, quality was akin to that from an inexpensive DV camcorder. The on-board mics are decent enough when shooting subjects nearby, but very weak at a distance. They picked up little noise from the motors or handling - apart from a ping if the zoom rocker is released sharply.

Rewritable DVD-RAM offers basic on-disc editing options controlled on the camcorder, and rather more using supplied software. Unfortunately, unlike DVD-R, RAM won't work in most set-top players or DVD-ROM drives. However, DVD-R is write-once and can't be edited, needing to be finalised and then removed from its caddy before it can be played in a set-top DVD player or DVD-ROM drive. Finalising takes between eight and 16 minutes.