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Hitachi has announced the new, full HD-capable DZ-BD10H camcorder for the Japanese market. This camcorder touts a built-in Blu-ray recorder as one of its major selling factors.  But in addition, it also comes equipped with a 7-megapixel 1/2.7 CMOS sensor complemented by a 10x optical zoom. It has a 2.7-inch LCD screen, a 30GB hard drive, HDMI output, face detection functionality and a much needed SD/SDHC slot for storage expansion.

When recording video, users can select from the following five modes of the DZ-BD10H; HX (1920 x 1080) at 15Mbps, HF at 11Mbps, HS at 7.5Mbps, SX at 9Mbps and the LF at 6Mpbs. We also learned that the DZ-BD10H is a the successor of the DZ-BD9H camcorder which was released early this year.

The DZ-BD10H will set you back around $1,480, no word yet on whether or not Hitachi plans to release this camcorder for the international market.

Via [Akihabara News]

Canon will soon be releasing two new AVCHD camcorders, the iVIS HF11 and iVIS HG21. Touting 3.31-megapixel CCD sensors, both cameras allow video recording in 5 different modes; MXP at 24Mbps, FXP at 17Mbps, XP+ at 12Mbps, SP at 7Mbps and LP at 5Mpbs. In addition, both cameras also come with a 2.7-inch LCD screen, SDHC media card support, DIGIC DV II technology, 12x optical zoom lens and a 1920x1080 full HD resolution.

What sets these two camcorders apart is the the inclusion of a 120GB HDD in the HG21, while only 32GB of built-in flash memory is loaded in the HF11. The HF11 is a follow-up to the Canon HF10 camcorder released earlier this year.

The iVIS HF11 and HG21 will be released in Japan sometime in August for an expected price of around $1,600.

Product [Canon] Product [Canon] Via [Akihabara News]

On the lookout for a new hi-def camcorder? Then you might want to take a look at Samsung’s latest release, dubbed the SC-HMX20 Full HD camcorder. It’s got a 6.4-megapixel CMOS sensor, 10x zoom and also functions as an 8-megapixel still camera, capable of capturing photos in super slow motion at 300 frames per second. As it belongs to Samsung’s HMX20 line, you can expect it to be of top-notch quality.

The Samsung Full HD camcorder also features a 2.7-inch touchscreen LCD so you can easily navigate through the menus and photos, and it accepts SDHC cards through a built-in card slot in addition to the 8GB of internal memory. Just 2.4 seconds is all it takes to activate the camera, and battery life is improved thanks to the use of flash memory. The package will include a cradle with a built-in charging port, USB and of course a TV-out cable so you can view all your photos and videos in high definition glory. It’s a little bit on the heavy side, at 456 grams, but rest assured that the Samsung Full HD camcorder is well worth its weight.

The price? Just 899,000 South Korean Won or about $850 USD for you, my dear.

Read [Samsung]

AgfaPhoto has announced its newest camcorder product, the tiny DV5000Z. Measuring only 4.7 inches x 2.75 inches and weighing only about 0.44-pounds, the DV 5000Z is loaded with big features despite its small size.

The DV5000Z record videos in 16:9 format with a 1280 x 720 pixel resolution. The camcorder supports MPEG-4 recording with H.264 compression. It can record up to 4 hours and 20 minutes of high-definition video on an 8GB SDHC memory card. The DV5000Z also features other goodies such as 16-bit stereo sound, 3x optical zoom and 2.5-inch rotating LCD, built-in video lamp that serves as a flash, and a carry pouch. For live voice-over, the DV5000Z is compatible with external mic as well.

The Agfa DV-5000Z will be available by end of April in Russia for around $393. No word yet on a possible U.S. release though.

Via [I4U]

Blu-ray disc burning on computers gets even better and easier with the launch of Roxio’s Toast 9 Titanium software. Toast 9 lets users record HD content from their HD camcorders and HD programming from TiVo DVRs and Elgato’s EyeTV devices to Blu-ray Disc. For users who haven’t adapted the Blu-ray technology yet, Roxio Toast 9 also allows burning HD videos and slide shows on standard DVDs.

Roxio’s Toast 9 Titanium also comes with a Streamer application that can be used for streaming video content stored on Mac computers to an iPhone or iPod touch via Wi-Fi connection. It even works with any other connected Mac or PC as well.

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