Hitachi's DZ-BD10H Blu-ray camcorder packs 30GB hard drive, records to SDHC card

Hitachi today announced the release of the DZ-BD10H Blu-ray camcorder, capable of recording Full HD (1920x1080) onto its 30GB hard disk, an SDHC card or a recordable Blu-ray disc.

The DZ-BD10H is the successor to the 18-month-old DZ-BD9H, adding the ability to record video to an SDHC card and shaving off 20% of the size and around 30% of the weight - bringing it to a respectable 79 x 87 x 140mm shell weighing 500g.

Unfortunately, the 60GB storage capacity of the 9H has been halved in the process - you'll be able to record 8.5 hours of Full HD (1920x1080) at the lowest bitrate of 7.5Mbps, and half that at the highest bitrate of 15Mbps.

The beauty of the BD10H is that once the internal hard drive is full, you've got plenty of options - insert a recordable Blu-ray disc or an SDHC card to keep rolling in Full HD, or use a DVD to record standard definition in an emergency.

• Records 1920x1080 resolution to Blu-ray or SDHC
• Records 720x480 to DVD
• 1/2.7" CMOS sensor
• 30GB hard drive capacity
• AVC/H.264 format
• HDMI output
• Face detection
• SD/SDHC slot