How-to Use a Zoom H4n as an On-Camera DSLR Mic

[FortinFamily18]

Thank you for the video. Please help me understand this... The point of connecting the h4n to the camera was to prevent having to sync the audio and video in post. So, what is the need for the clapper? thank you again!

[Drummerstefen]

what happens if I want to do headphone monitoring can i plug that cable through the micjack at the zoom and plug it into my mic jack on my dslr

[musicforindies]

great video thanks Sam, love those white Genelecs in the background! it's been about a year would you still recommend the Zoom h4n in 2012 ? I'm deciding on it or the DR100-MKii (a little too big) and the Roland R-26(bigger, ugly but a few extras). thanks

[jamendolare]

do you know if the zoom h4n can be used to record a casette conecting a walkman s headphone output to the zoom mic input?? how can i do that??

[geoffdoor]

THAT SOUND SOUNDS SHIT - SERIOUSLY FUCKING RUBBISH THAT MATE - YOU CUNT

[iwantsquareballoons]

@geoffdoor retard

[lotfihdv]

do you still need the Sescom cable if you have magic lantern? I have a regular mic line in cable I can only get good sound from distance if I crankup the output voule max but then I get hiss noise

[Utube6762]

If I understand correctly the cable you used to connect the recorder to the camera eliminated the need to synch the audio and video. If that is true what was the clapper board used for?

[WoodSugars]

Sounds great! Your apt looks way better in hd btw :o]

[zousanai]

Can I use it with Canon?

[TyVlog]

can you make it go louder for like a movie

[TheWindCutter]

Check out the new Wind-Jacket available from TheWindCutter website!

[arturomaseda]

Hi, do you know if this cable will work with Sony's DSLR???

[disyembre]

why do you still have to sync audio in post? you are already recording from the zoom directly connected to the camera right?

[PinetreePr0ductions]

hey!! you're from B&H!!!!!

[weinfin]

For the -25db sescom feature, could we work around by adjusting the level in h4n or the dslr?

[Maxismedia]

Hi. What about the Canon 7d AGC? will be disable, recording like this?

[TechCrack]

Is there an alternative to the cable, I need a cheaper one.?

[SquirrelsLiveInTrees]

i don't understand. what's the point in that cable if you still need to sync the clips? i thought the point of it was that you wouldn't need to take the time to sync them if you had that cable. can you explain this to me please?

[felixpetit]

Is there a way to make this cable longer? I need to set up the zoom about 6 to 8 feet away from the camera. If I get other cables to make it longer from radio shack or something like that will it work ok?

[HiddenDriveways]

@felixpetit Yes, it should work fine. Just keep the length of the cable short. Don't buy an extension longer than 10 feet, and make sure it's a stereo cable. Tell the clerk you need a stereo 3.5mm female to stereo 3.5mm male cable.

[TheEgoWorks]

@felixpetit buy Bluetooth transmitter and receiver it will coast you around $40 the best solution.

[JogBird]

If youre going to toss the audio captured on the SLR anyways, why not use the on board mic, its just as easy to sync with it.

[HiddenDriveways]

@JogBird The reason you would use the Sescom cable is to have the option not to sync the audio in post. You can get a pretty nice sounding recording directly into the camera with the Sescom cable, therefore it saves you the trouble of having to sync.

[FocusGroupPromo]

Your method, I mean, not the Zoom product.

[HiddenDriveways]

@FocusGroupPromo You asked if using a Sescom cable only lets you record in stereo... The Sescom cable will pass whatever audio is coming out of the portable digital recorder into the camera. So, for example, if you've only got a mono microphone plugged into your portable digital recorder, it will pass that mono audio signal into the camera.Whatever is coming out of the headphone jack on the recorder will be passed into the camera, mono or stereo.

[FocusGroupPromo]

@HiddenDriveways

Thanks for the info!

[FocusGroupPromo]

Does this only record in stereo?

[lwill85]

HOw about the Zoom h2?

[HiddenDriveways]

@lwill85 The Zoom H2 should work fine too. That one has its tripod thread at the base, so when you mount it to the camera it will be sticking straight up (which isn't a problem).

[doclair276]

Just to clarify. The Sescom pad cable lowers the Lin level signal to a more DSLR friendly Mic level signal. It is a Line Level ( high voltage) to Mic Level(low voltage) cable. A simple splitter will work but it is technically incorrect and will not provid ethe best audio quality possible. The signal has to match for optimum quality.

[ams914]

Is there a way to use the zoom h4n INSTEAD of your internal mic? I know you can use a mini-to-mini usb between the zoom and the camera but I don't know exactly what that would do. What I'm trying to avoid is having to sync the audio in post, rather just recording the audio straight from the camera using the zoom so that it all comes out as one linked audio/video track when imported from the camera. Do you know if this is possible? I am planning on making my purchase of the zoom h4n soon

[HiddenDriveways]

@ams914 Connecting the H4n to the camera with a USB cable doesn't accomplish anything. In order to use the H4n instead of the internal mic on the camera, you should do what I did in this video. You need a Sescom cable, and you connect it to the headphone output of the H4n, and plug the other end into the mic input on the camera.

[ams914]

@HiddenDriveways Thanks very much, the sescom cable lowers the volume, but what does it do as opposed to just any old mic input cable? Does it basically stabilize the audio?

[HiddenDriveways]

@ams914 All the cable does is lower the volume. It doesn't stabilize the audio or do anything fancy. It's just a simple little cable designed to do one thing and do it well. It's not a mic cable. It's a cable that allows you to connect a line-level signal (the headphone output) to a mic-level input (the mic input on the camera).

[ams914]

@HiddenDriveways Thanks for all your incite, but what is the advantage of a sescom cable over a regular line-to-line mic cable????

[CHANDSOME]

Hey man, one of the criticisms of this setup is being unable to monitor audio with headphones. I'm wondering if you could hook up a splitter to the external mic to at least monitor what's going into it. What are your thoughts on this?

[HiddenDriveways]

@CHANDSOME I only had the cable for a night, so I can't test that out. But someone posted on the dvxuser.com forum that they use a splitter coming out of the headphone jack of the recorder, and that it worked fine for them. The results may vary from recorder to recorder, but I think the chances are that it would work fine. The bigger criticism to worry about is having the mics way back at the camera, instead of closer to the action.

[3tmentoring]

@HiddenDriveways Do you have the link to that DVXuser thread?

[HiddenDriveways]

@3tmentoring I just took a look for it, but I didn't find it. I did end up getting side tracked into reading a bunch of other kinds of threads there, watching Vimeos, and what not.

[johnnybrazil01]

Thanks for the really nice review!