Topic: New Zoom Q3HD - Video recorder complete with wierd "cage" for the mics

[landshark]

FYI.


http://samsontech.com/products/productpage.cfm?prodID=2062

Pretty cool - someone's putting some effort into the mics for a video camera.   

[Ozpeter]

Having a fixed focus, fixed zoom lens makes this an audio recorder that does video rather than the other way round.  Still, it seems to be one-of-a-kind and doubtless it will fit the bill nicely for some.  B&H has it for $299 (from Novemeber).

[rastasean]

I'm glad it is $300 because its not exactly cheap for just a toy for some people. This goes inline with the post about camera phones at shows that we read a week or two ago.

I'm also a little disappointed in portable audio makers. This sub sub professional recorder has HDMI out but you can't find a portable recorder with digi in unless you spend some bills. Obviously digital audio makers and video makers like sony, edirol, tascam, and zoom are willing to spend some money on making devices like this video camera but don't want to include digi in on many less expensive digital audio recorders.

[su6oxone]

Cool idea, but I'm not diggin' the mics on the top... ugh.  They should have just gone with something simple, like the mics on the M10 or R-09HR.

[Kevin T]

And suffer the loss of stereo field

[TimeBandit]

With Line In now - a fine Option to connect with Chris Church´s Stuff 

[RTD]

It can be turned sideways also, but what kind of stupid stereo should this be?

[NOLAfishwater]

is sideways only for playback.

[sunjan]

Reviews for this unit are beginning to pop up, but the features are crude at best.
Apparently, gain settings for the internal mics are "high/low/auto"

http://www.podcastingnews.com/content/2010/12/zoom-q3hd-video-recorder/

[Ozpeter]

Apparently, gain settings for the internal mics are "high/low/auto

Not that much different from the Zoom H2 (where only medium and low sensitivity are worth using).  But having said that, with well chosen values (as in the H2) it can actually be not that much of a problem when recording many types of audio.

[Church-Audio]

Bet I can fit a pair of ca-14 mics inside that cage

[Kevin T]

The audio is already much better than video ..... why bother
Anyone see a design opportunity... no >400 audio with great video & no low cost video with great audio builtin

[krsb]

It is nice to see a manufacturer thinking about audio when thinking video.
Audio really seems to be an afterthought on so many cams in this price range + DSLRs that shoot video etc.

cb