Hitachi to debut two Blu-ray camcorders, and are very pleased with themselves

Marketnews: Hitachi Unveils World's First Blu-ray Camcorders
Hitachi will be introducing two Blu-ray camcorder models in North America this October: one that records to Blu-ray discs and the other a hybrid model, recording to both Blu-ray discs and its built-in 30 GB hard disk drive.

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“Hitachi introduced the world’s first DVD camcorder in 2000, and once again we are very proud to introduce the next generation of high definition recording with the world’s first Blu-ray disc camcorder,” enthused Kevin Nascimben, Product Manager at Hitachi Canada. “These two new Blu-ray camcorders represent the ultimate in full high definition video recording and flexibility. With the ability to record in high definition, standard definition and to five different disc formats plus hard drive, it provides consumers with valuable options and a ‘future-proof’ solution when choosing a camcorder. That a camcorder can have all these features and performance in such a compact, sleek design is pretty cool.”

I dearly love Hitachi and their products and have for years. That said, they've gone completely bonkers with the self-love about this. My friendly neighborhood Hitachi rep has been spamming his dealer e-mail list on a daily basis with video clips from tv spots, and press releases.

Okay, you guys are pumped about this. We get it. I'm happy that you're happy.

Lost in the backslapping is the question: what about Sony? Isn't Blu-ray primarily Sony's baby? There was a time that Sony was the King of the Heap when it came to camcorders. As a result, I'm surprised and mildly puzzled that Sony didn't extend themselves to be the first to market with a Blu-ray Handycam. I'd like to think that Sony had a good reason for having Hitachi hopscotch them and claim bragging rights (for what it's worth, Hitachi camcorders have always been very nice), but at the moment I'm unclear on what it might be.

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