Rare Hitachi Digital8 camcorder review & test

[inconvenientruth1]

the quality looks damn good for year 2000

[CuteieBeauty]

I have the exact one! I had no idea how rare it was. :O

[LittleJohnEnterprise]

haha my camera has 900x zoom

[MetallicBill]

@LittleJohnEnterprise My JVC 30GB hard disk camcorder has three mode zoom, 25x optical, and 100/800x digital options, it shoots poorly in low light, but it's not bad at all, other then that, and the LED lights built in, not a preferred tech choice

[Lachlant1984]

The sound of the tape drive reminds me of my friend's Toshiba Satellite notebook computer's hard disk when it's on and not reading or writing data.

[MetallicBill]

Are you TRULY, ABSOLUTELY sure it plays back analog? I'm getting nothing from the TRV 140 Sony I just bought, it shows black like the tape was blank, with no audio either. Hitachi is a respectable brand. Their picture tubes reside in the Amdek Color-1 monitors circa 1980!! haha

[vwestlife]

@MetallicBill I know this reply is 4 months late, but for some reason your comment never showed up in my inbox... the Sony TV140 was an entry level Digital8 camcorder, so it does not support analog Video8/Hi8 playback. (Originally all the Digital8 camcorders did, but beginning in 2001, the low-end models did not.)

[MetallicBill]

@vwestlife Whatever was the one I was using, I think it was the TRV140, .... No? I see the earlier 2001 models would support Firewire analog to PC digital files, which is what I'd wanted from the get-go. Very useful for all my archive conversion!

[FCule]

How much did you get it for?

[vwestlife]

@FCule Please watch the whole video before asking questions. You'll find most of them are answered in the video itself!

[FCule]

@vwestlife

calm down. Who watch a 15 min of a old camcorder...

[vwestlife]

@FCule So far, about 650 people did... and your question is answered at 2:05 in the video, so you must have a really short attention span.

[bakonfreek]

damn you, now people might look for this camera!! loljk, ur cool.

[bakonfreek]

is S-Video like the SD verson of HDMI? I know they're not exactaly the same, but are they similar to some extent?

[vwestlife]

@bakonfreek Not really, because HDMI includes both video and audio in the same cable, while S-Video is only video. S-Video provides better picture quality than the yellow composite video jack, but still not as good as the FireWire (DV) connection, because it is only analog.

[MetallicBill]

@vwestlife S stands for Separated, the Y/C of the video signal, Component breaks it down to three signals, so composite and RF are the known worst transmission types

[Lachlant1984]

My God the motor noise is really bad, you say you've heard worse, are you able to provide further details? The picture is certainly quite reasonable, as expected it's much better than a lot of modern digital still cameras that also record video, but My God that noise is annoying, too bad it doesn't have an accessory shoe for an external microphone, now I see how important they are, and I know NOTHING about video cameras except my Flip MinoHD.

[vwestlife]

@Lachlant1984 DrCassette's Sony DCR-PC7E has even worse tape motor noise; see his video "A Grundig receiver gets a shower!" to hear it.

[DrCassette]

@vwestlife

Yes, the PC7's tape noise was epic... too bad that camcorder didn't work properly anymore :(

The VX1000's mechanism is very similar, it also makes a lot of noise, but since the microphone is better insulated from the housing, it 's not that loud on the recordings.

[null140]

haha, your cat at the end :D

[ClactonRadio]

Nice camcorder does look a bit chunky though compared to today's ones but for 36$ it seems worth it.

[WinbookXL3]

like memory card

[vwestlife]

@WinbookXL3 Digital videotape.

[WinbookXL3]

whats digital about it?

[vwestlife]

@WinbookXL3 Digital video recording.

[vdochev]

Do you think if you clean and lubricate the mechanics it would make less noise?

You can get a little tripod for the external mic and I think that it will be great! My camcorder has no external mic input and I hate that!

[vwestlife]

@vdochev Not really, they probably just put the motor too close to the microphone inside the case.

[Knaeckebrotsaege]

14:19 O_o!

lol

[uxwbill]

It's a braver man than I who will consider taking a Dremel near a Li-Ion battery! That tape motor sounds like a hard disk spindle motor with a blown bearing...and maybe Hitachi's designers thought you ought to look like a news reporter with the external mic?

The way that one turkey was "stalking" the squirrel was hilarious. Did you ever figure out what the last cat was looking at?

[vwestlife]

@uxwbill The indoor cat is obsessed with any kind of light reflections, so I think she was looking at sun reflections on the ceiling.

[m75videos]

coool

[Dell0304]

What is AE?

[vwestlife]

@Dell0304 Auto Exposure.

[Dell0304]

@vwestlife ooooooh.....ok...

[oldmac6]

Great video, The hitachi looks like an Samsung Hi8 camcorder compare to a sony one, realy cheap made. Just a question, i want to know if the DCR-TRV 140 is better than the 103 because i remember read something about the CCD of the 140 is 0.3 MP instead of 0.8 MP like on the 103, can you comfirm that ? Please. One last thing, I realy think that the 140 looks ugly compare to old Hi8 and first D8 sony camcorder, like you're 103, it didn't even had an LCD on the side

[vwestlife]

@oldmac6 The TRV103 and TRV140 both use exactly the same image sensor: 1/4 inch CCD, 460k gross pixels, 290k effective pixels. However, the TRV140 has better image quality, because the video processing was improved, so you get less "rainbow streaking", and widescreen mode looks much less pixellated than the TRV103. And the TRV140 does have an LCD, I just didn't have it open. (In fact the "V" in "TRV" stands for "Vision" and means that it's a model with the LCD.)

[oldmac6]

@vwestlife Thank, for info on the CCD, for the LCD display, i think about the little indicator on the 103 who has a blue backlight. Sorry if i said it wrong. Thank very much and i wait for the review of the 140

[vwestlife]

@oldmac6 The TRV140 also has a little LCD on the outside of the panel telling you the remaining battery life, it just doesn't have a backlight.

[msylvain59]

I remember taking apart a similar camcorder. Some neat special IC specimen inside, apart from that lots of plastics, now I do onto pick up broadcast quality cameras... much better stuff, but harder to find also.

[RWL2011]

16 TO 9! its a ratio, not dimensions...

[vwestlife]

@RWL2011 But I've never heard anyone say it like that. Video professionals always call it either "4 by 3" or "16 by 9". I know that's not correct, but you can say the same thing about when people call the wheels on their car "rims" (the rim is only the outer edge of the wheel, not the entire wheel itself).

[RWL2011]

@vwestlife good point. nice review anyways :-)

[artifactingreality]

build quality looks terrible compared to a canon or similar.

[raymondleeleggs]

Are these Digital 8's  good for shooting feature films on?

[ThisGuyFrritz]

I used to have a Hitachi, which was my first Hi-8 camcorder. It was a VM-H38A. It was working fine, then it needed repairs. Then it worked fine for some years. The zoom and focus stopped working. So, I got a Sony CCD-TRV608 Handycam and sold the Hitachi as it was. The Sony is already outlasting the Hitachi. With my experience with both brands, as well as seeing your video, it makes Sony the better of the 2.

[talldude123]

Nice find vwestlife...you always seem to have a great assortment of electronic goodies!

[bamdadkhan]

please tell me what music you were listening to that starts at 11:40.

[vwestlife]

@bamdadkhan Sorry, I don't know anything about the music in that part of the video. It's just whatever was playing on the radio (on "Jazz 88" WBGO) when I made the video.

[DrCassette]

I also like the Sony Digital8 you've used to record the 1st part of this video. Are you going to make a presentation of it as well? I don't like the way the later Digital8 models look, but appearantly they do have a very good quality.

I recently got myself a Digital8 camcorder too, the model DCR-TRV110, wich seems to be the same as your TRV103 except it has a black part around the blue display (like my Hi8XR) and no inputs for analog video.

[vwestlife]

@DrCassette Yes, I'll do a presentation on the TRV140 once I have some more experience with it. I'd love to own all the Sony Digital8 models, but I can't afford that because many are still selling for up to $300 on eBay!

[DrCassette]

@vwestlife

I once saw an offer for a Digital8 camcorder on the German Ebay. The seller wanted to have almost 700€ for the camcorder! But I think that was once of the craziest camcorders Sony ever made, it even featured a built-in photo printer!

I too would like to have many, many certain camcorders (i. e. the Sony DCR-TRV60, TRV900, TRV950...), but I too can't afford them. But I guess one sad thing would be if somebody had all these camcorders, he would never have the time to use them all :)

[oldmac6]

@DrCassette I agree with you and i also think that vwestlife got lucky to be in the US because, ebay is a way cheaper than in france or germany, i realy think that. I don't realy know if it's true but i'm quite sure. And D8 camcorder are realy expensive, but a realy don't know why because event if is a good camcorder, isn't HD camera or something, so the sellers are really thieves.

[vwestlife]

@oldmac6 Most Digital8 camcorders sell for around $150 to $300 on eBay here. I just got lucky on this one, because most people probably don't even know that Hitachi made Digital8 camcorders. And also on the Sony DCR-TRV140 I used to make the first part of the video, because the seller said the battery wasn't holding a charge, and because it's a low-end model which doesn't play analog Hi8 tapes (which is the whole reason many people buy Digital8 camcorders, to transfer Hi8 video to their PC).

[vwestlife]

@DrCassette I like having different camcorders, because each one has certain things it's good at, or special features, or even silly things I enjoy, like how it feels when you hold it and the kind of sounds it makes when you use it. (That's actually why I'm selling my DCR-PC100 MiniDV camcorder right now -- it has excellent video and audio quality, but the tall shape makes it uncomfortable to hold, and the vertical zoom button is almost impossible to use smoothly, so I don't enjoy using it.)

[DrCassette]

@vwestlife

It's pretty much the same way with me - every camcorder has a couple of special features or a special look that I really like. And of course things I don't like. My expensive Sony HDR-SR11 camcorder was an attempt to get all the features I like in one camcorder - but unfortunately it's still missing some things, for example the viewfinder is pretty much useless (doesn't pull out, and has no proper eyepiece). So guess what - I'm already searching for a new camcorder :D

[DrCassette]

@vwestlife

However, my camcorder collection is getting smaller and smaller, I just recently sold a bunch of camcorders amongst some other stuff. I just don't have the time to use them all as much as I would like to. I had a lot of stuff (especially audio equipment) that ended up having problems because it was never being used. And of course, it's nice to have the money, because that enables me to get other, more expensive items (such as the VX1000).

[vwestlife]

@DrCassette I've been selling a lot of things too... generally if I don't use something for more than 6 months and it has no sentimental value to me, then I either sell it or give it away. But unfortunately when I was younger I used to collect and keep everything, and now most of that stuff is worthless junk I can't even give away, like old 386 and 486 computers and CRT monitors.

[NJRoadfan]

@vwestlife You know, I could go for one of those 486s right about now....

[uxwbill]

@vwestlife Pity you're not closer. I'd give some of that a home, especially any good working monochrome VGA monitors you might have...!

[linuxlove4004]

nice cats

[DrCassette]

Very interesting! I think I saw one of these Hitachis on the German Ebay some time ago.

The Sonys really seem to be a better choice. Especially the sound is terrible compared to the Sonys, and it's not only the loud tape noise. But at least you can still fix that with an external mictrophone. The Hitachi camcorder does look very interesting though, however, it is noticable that the Hitachi designers had a good look at the Sony camcorders before :)

[giammyzanna]

I prefer Sony digital8 cameras...it looks like a hi8 recording. How many animals you have in your backyard?

[vwestlife]

@giammyzanna I've seen up to 20 wild turkeys at a time. There's also a fox that comes around sometimes.

[1walkgirl]

maybe a rebrandet sony?

:-)

[vwestlife]

@1walkgirl I thought so at first, but no, the tape mechanism sounds different, and the controls and displays are different, so it's not just a rebadged Sony.

[GanEdenAustralia]

Tape noise is bad isn't it. You could get a bracket for the ext mic.

[ChiefLeftenant]

10:35 was that a FLIR?

[vwestlife]

@ChiefLeftenant No, that's a 1984 Sharp Newvicon tube color video camera. I've done two videos using it recently.

[GanEdenAustralia]

Looks nice. Looks like a Sony doesn't it, plus D8 is a Sony invention. Will those batteries fit your Sony cams?

Show us some outside footage with this?

[fortyfiveplayer]

Can you do line-in recording with this one? I know the hi-end Sony models could.

[vwestlife]

@fortyfiveplayer Yes, you can record from the A/V inputs to tape.