Hitachi announced its latest Blu-Ray camcorder recently called the GZ-BD10HA. The Blu-Ray disc hybrid camcorder can record onto the next generation format HD Blu-Ray disc. The camera uses a newly developed seven megapixel CMOS image sensor to capture rich and vibrant video in full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution. The camcorder can record up to four hours and 20 minutes full HD video or eight hours and 40 minutes of video at 1440 x 1080 resolution on a built-in 30 GB HDD.

In addition to the 30 GB HDD, the camera also features an SDHC card slot for added memory capacity for storing video and still shots. The camcorder has a dubbing function that allows the HD video to be transferred -- with the push of a button -- from either the HDD or the SDHC card to the camcorders internal Blu-Ray drive without the need of a computer.

Another new feature the camcorder is face detection, which automatically focuses on faces in a shot to provide color accuracy and clarity. The camcorder also uses a newly developed Hitachi 8cm BD/DVD drive that is compact, offers low-power consumption, silent operation, and allows for an overall reduction in volume when the drive is in operation. The Hitachi DC-BD10HA camcorder will retail for $1099 with availability in Japan on August 9th and availability in North America in September.

Via Hitachi