- 18x optical zoom lens; 500x digital zoom with Advanced Stable Pix electronic image stabilization
- 2.5-inch color LCD monitor; 113K pixel color viewfinder
- USB 2.0 compatible; Secure Digital (SD) memory card slot; Quick Mode menu
- Powered by DZ-BP14SW rechargeable Lithium-ion battery (included with AC adapter/charger)
- Compact DVD Camcorder and 1 MP digital still camera records to 3-inch DVD-R and DVD-RAM discs
Product Description
The DZMV550A camcorder represents a revolution to create home movies. Record directly to DVD-R, finalize and remove the disc from the camcorder and play it on any standard DVD player. Added is the new “Quick Mode” menu design for easy operation. No need for fast-forwarding and rewinding with direct access to recorded scenes. These cameras feature high quality optics with multi-coated lens elements for optimal image contrast and color accuracy.Note from the Manufa… More >>
Remanufactured Hitachi DZMV550A DVD Camcorder w/18x Optical Zoom
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I own this camera and recently decided to just trash the darn thing. What a huge waste of money and a huge disappointment. My first problem with the camera is that it ONLY works with Maxell disks. I realize NOW that these are “recommended” by the manufacturer, but this was not made clear to me when I purchased it, and it surprising how many stores don’t carry the Maxell brand. For the few years since I’ve had this camera, we are constantly losing disks mid-use and getting error messages. Recently there was another error message and the darn thing won’t even open. I can’t tell you how much has been lost. And, even if you didn’t have all of the hard drive problems that seem to be common to the camera, I find the DVD loading mechanism unnecessarily tricky to load. So, my recommendation is–avoid this camera. I saw a good review of it and purchased it, and it has been nothing but trouble. And from what i’ve read on other message boards, I am definitely not alone!
Rating: 1 / 5
Huge Problems finalizing and using the disks, even using the recommended Maxell brand. I just spent $200 on video capture hardware, so I could get my video off the dvd-r. Manufacturer did not tell me about dvd-ram disk, as being the only way of using the dvd right out of the camera. As you probably know, the video capture hardware will convert my video into an analog signal and then back into digital, drastically reducing the video quality. I can’t believe that this company would be so irresponsible with people’s precious time and memories. Do not buy this camera.
Rating: 1 / 5
Decided to buy the DZMV580A just before my wife’s birthday so we had great quality movies during our 8 day Mexican Riviera Cruise. Regretfully, I have had to twice exchange my camera for a new one (Thanks to Circuit City’s 14 day exchange policy.)
Had two problems: The first camera failed to finalize two irreplacable discs citing disc errors in Memorex (1 disc) and Maxell DVD-Rs (1 disc.) Two other Memorex discs wouldn’t work in the camera even though initialized OK supposedly. For both the finalizing and initializing, I did just as the manual says and used the charger and power adapter and not the battery.
Circuit City said had to be a camera problem so gave me a new one. That on just went back last night after I found my Christmas video going in and out of focus, even though my wife was sitting in one spot taking pictures of our grand daughter decorating our Christmas tree in the same location. The new camera we picked up seems to have overcome that auto focus problem.
But for solution to the Finalizing issue; RECOMMEND STRONGLY THAT NOBODY REPEAT NOBODY FINALIZE A DVD-R ON THEIR HITACHI 550A OR 580A OR ON A PANASONIC V50 OR V70 UNTIL THE IMAGE IS TRANSFERRED TO YOUR COMPUTER HARD DISK. DON’T COUNT ON BEING ABLE TO FINALIZE THE DISK AND MOVE THE IMAGES TO YOUR COMPUTER BY THE DVD IN YOUR CAMERA.
THERE HAS TO BE A FIRMWARE OR HARDWARE PROBLEM IN THE CAMERA.
Other than that, I am continuing to fight out of sync audio with video recorded on a DVD-R. Seems like the sound starts recording immediately when a scene starts, but the video is delayed, and the video when it starts up is exactly the same point as the audio which recorded a couple of seconds sooner. Take a picture of somebody talking and see what I mean.
Chuck
Rating: 3 / 5
We ordered one from QVC last September 30th. I just started to use it in December 25th 2005. I have been having trouble with buying -RW and -R discs. It came with Maxwell -R and one -RW. I purchased -RW Sony and it would not read any of the three discs. I Purchased -R Memorix and out of 10 discs it was able to read and format only 6 in the package. I suggest to be careful when buying discs and opening carefully. Check with the stores return policy. Other than this concern the camera functions well. Amazon has a better price than QVC also.
Rating: 4 / 5
I bought this camera with high hopes as it was recommended by Consumer Reports. I have had very mixed results. Using the camera is easy. No problems there. However, as soon as I am done with a disc the problems begin. First of all, I have had 4 out of 12 discs not finalize correctly. This causes the DVD to NOT be copyable. Basically, if my DVD ever scratches or gets lost, my video is gone forever. Big problem.
I just videotaped my daughter’s first birthday. Got 27 minutes into it, when the DVD gave me an error message and the disc is officially done. I can’t ever get this video back.
In summary, if you are willing to lose your most precious memories every so often, and don’t mind not having a back up copy..this camera is great. Otherwise, you might want to shop with some other vendor.
Rating: 2 / 5