H2 ZOOM DIGITAL RECORDER

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Pqtrick
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H2 ZOOM DIGITAL RECORDER

Post by Pqtrick »

I am thinking of acquiring a H2 Zoom digital recorder. It will have an obvious use for recording background sound and for voice overs.
Anyone using one? If you align the sound track when editing, does it run in sync – or lip sync?
Microphones. I am looking at a RODE stereo video microphone or a SENNHEISER MKE 400 which is mono. I suppose it is horses for courses and the depth of your pocket – any technical comments?
ned c
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Re: H2 ZOOM DIGITAL RECORDER

Post by ned c »

I have an H2 Zoom and it gives excellent quality recordings. I have not used it to back up or as a double system sound recorder but I do recall Tom reporting that it lost synch over a period of time.
nedc
tom hardwick
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Re: H2 ZOOM DIGITAL RECORDER

Post by tom hardwick »

My H2 makes lovely audio recordings but as I mentioned in Positive Image, it doesn't hold sync with my camcorder - unlike my three MiniDisc recorders.
Ian Woodward
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Re: H2 ZOOM DIGITAL RECORDER

Post by Ian Woodward »

Tom, you mention your "three MinDisc recorders".

I've been thinking lately about buying an audio recorder for use with video projects.

What reasonably-priced model do you recommend?

And when you say MiniDisc, are these the DVC type used for camcorders?

Ian Woodward
tom hardwick
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Re: H2 ZOOM DIGITAL RECORDER

Post by tom hardwick »

I'm pretty sure you can't get new MiniDisc recorders any more Ian, though I could be wrong. There's often recording models available on ebay though, and they're available at good prices.

I don't know what you mean when you say, 'are these the DVC type used for camcorders?'

tom.
Ian Woodward
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Re: H2 ZOOM DIGITAL RECORDER

Post by Ian Woodward »

I mean are these audio-only recorders which use MiniDV cassetes?

Ian
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Dave Watterson
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Re: H2 ZOOM DIGITAL RECORDER

Post by Dave Watterson »

Hi Ian

I think the clue is in the gadget name: Minidisk.

Those use 3-inch discs to record onto - like old-fashioned computer "floppy discs" - but the speed control systems in them are excellent. They sold well in Japan but not so well elsewhere. The main problem was that few companies would make commercial music recordings available in that format.

Whether you go the eBay Minidisk route (like Tom I treasure my one) or the solid state route - most video editors make it easy to stretch or shrink a soundtrack to keep things in sync. Solid state machines are only fractionally less precise than Minidisks.

Dave
tom hardwick
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Re: H2 ZOOM DIGITAL RECORDER

Post by tom hardwick »

A MiniDisc recorder records to little CD-R discs in a caddy. It came on song just as the compact cassette was dying. You can read all about them here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MiniDisc
Ian Woodward
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Re: H2 ZOOM DIGITAL RECORDER

Post by Ian Woodward »

Thanks for that, Tom.

I'll read this in depth later today.

But do the tea leaves in the caddy spoil the recordings in any way?

Ian
markk
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Re: H2 ZOOM DIGITAL RECORDER

Post by markk »

this is my 1st post - new member...hello everyone.

I have a zoom 2 recorder.....and I think the sound quality is stunning for the price.

It also once completely saved the day on some wedding speeches I was filming!

I have not had an issue with lip syncing as far as I can tell? That suprises me? Over what sort of period do you guys get lip syncing issues.....that seems odd to me.

I don't use the zoom 2 as a camera mic as such...I have the sen Me66 for that....but for recording V/O now and again...I think you would find the Zoom2 a great little mic.

hope that helps
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Dave Watterson
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Re: H2 ZOOM DIGITAL RECORDER

Post by Dave Watterson »

Welcome, Mark!

It is always good to get news from people who have used a piece of kit. Often the specs and reviews are of little help in understanding what it is like to try to work with a new device.

I guess you drop the sound from the digital recorder onto a spare soundtrack timeline and edit that so that you hear "camera sound" or "zoom sound" according to whichever has the best recording. What kind of editor do you use? Could you "stretch" or "squeeze" the zoom track if necessary - perhaps run it at 99% speed or 101% speed on your editor?

On odd occasions when I have used different sound sources the soundtrack clips are short and can easily be cut into snippets. Each snippet can dragged into the correct place ... so even if there were any drift from camera speed it would not be noticeable.

I take heart from Robert Rodriguez's book Rebel Without a Crew - he made his first feature shooting very brief scenes with a film camera for the visuals, then grabbing a tape-recorder and making the actor/s repeat the scene for the sound. It worked!

Dave
Pqtrick
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Re: H2 ZOOM DIGITAL RECORDER

Post by Pqtrick »

H2 Zoom. I am intending to get one soon. I posted a question about this in September. My experience with using one of these is when I was editing an event. I was dragged into recording a chorale concert some time ago. A collegue placed an H2 Zoom on the front of the stage and left it running. It ran in sync OK, for sometime. But occasionaly it lost it. It was necessary to realign the sound track back to the picture from time to time.

I want to use mine for recording 'wild sound' but I imagine they hold the sync OK for short sequences. You can always cut out a few frames in an editor if you wish.

Welcome aboard!
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billyfromConsett
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Re: H2 ZOOM DIGITAL RECORDER

Post by billyfromConsett »

I've recently been using a Panasonic TM700 camcorder with a Sennheiser ME64 mic to do voice-overs, but the files dropped into the PC obviously contain a useless video track as part of it.

But the Zoom looks a good option to capture high quality sound. Tom, Ned or Mark - do you record voice overs with unit's own stereo mic or with an external job?
tom hardwick
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Re: H2 ZOOM DIGITAL RECORDER

Post by tom hardwick »

The Zoom H2 is a perfect machine for recording voice-overs Billy. If you've got access to your June 2008 FVM, turn to page 15 and the photo top left will show you how I use the H2 with a Sennheiser mono mic for recording anything and everything.

This combo forms a high quality, directional, silent and very portable recording studio. I run the H2 off rechargeable AA cells and a 2 gig card records for hours at the highest quality setting. You can monitor at the same time with cans of course.

tom.
ned c
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Re: H2 ZOOM DIGITAL RECORDER

Post by ned c »

I have used my H2 Zoom as a "wild" recorder for background sound; I have also recorded meetings with it, just lying on a table, I have recorded v/o using an external mic. I set it up to record .wav files as these will drop easily into any time line if required. I recorded the whole of the presentation on the Panasonic AVCHD cam at NAB. Very useful

ned c
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