We've come to expect flaws in gizmos these days, particularly in first generation products, but judging by CamcorderInfo's review of Hitachi's "world's first Blu-ray camcorder," this thing should be sent straight back to R&D. Truth be told, it's not that often that we see a review this harsh, but we understand the need to be particularly critical when pondering a $1,600 purchase. Nevertheless, the DZ-BD7HA was essentially thrashed from top to bottom save for its stylish design and satisfactory outdoor shooting performance.. Testing revealed abysmal results when it was used in even the brightest of low-light situations, and the lackluster manual controls, omitted optical image stabilization (it opts for electronic IS) and a dreadful auto response system pretty much eliminated any shot at redemption. Honestly, repeatedly hearing about its "terrible image quality" throughout the review would be enough to scare away most, but if you just can't believe things are that bad, hit the read link and judge for yourself.

Over at KES 2007, Samsung has been busy showing off its newest camcorder, a unit that actually records to both mini DVDs or internal flash memory. The VM-DX10 allows users to store footage on a three-inch DVD or on the 4GB of flash memory within, and it also boasts a 2.7-inch touch panel, 3D Noise Reduction Filter, 26x zoom, and Hyper Image Stabilizer. The unit is slated to land in Korea next month in either black or white motifs, and while it sure is tiny, the ₩700,000 ($763) asking price seems a bit steep considering how limited 4GB really is. Check out a few more looks after the break.

[Via MobileWhack]

We've got another one here we've yet to learn a lot about: Hitachi's apparently working on a hybrid DVD / hard drive camcorder that not only records video to DVD and your drive (and even SD), but also records video to DVD from that very same internal drive, making burning DVD videos a PC-less process. Suhweet. Watch out for more info on the DZHS500A soon.