Zoom Q3HD with and without the Zoom H2

Since the acoustic guitar is such a quiet instrument, an external mic is a handy accessory for shooting videos of guitar playing. The Zoom Q3HD has a Line In but no mic input. My solution is to use the headphone output of the Zoom H2 into the Q3HD, using the H2 as a powered mic.

This clip includes samples with the H2 and a series of shots at different distances with the onboard Q3HD mics.

The guitar is a Yamamoto OMY tuned to taropatch F, C F C F A C from low to high.

The "making of" video was shot on a Panasonic Lumix ZS3, with my bad manual settings leading to the poor performance. Blame me, not the Panny.

Edited in Edius Neo 2.5.

For a writeup on this video and other audio, video, and acoustic guitar playing topics, please visit my blog at http://www.homebrewedmusic.com

For the specific entry related to this clip go to http://www.homebrewedmusic.com/2010/12/01/zoom-q3hd-with-and-without-the-zoom...

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• homebrewed music
• Fran Guidry
• zoom q3hd
• zoom h2
• kaleponi
• slack key
• lumix zs3

[dongloy]

does the zoom h2 lets you add reverb? im planning to buy either zoom h1 or h2 but i dont know which one is better. u think h2 is better than h1?

[homebrewedmusic]

@dongloy I prefer the H2 because I like the form factor better. The H2 does not have a reverb function. The H1 has better battery life, but the new H2n also has better battery life. Sorry, I haven't used the H1, so I can't really tell you which is better.

Fran

[magnoliaguitar]

Thank you for this video. I've been researching video/mic solutions and I already have a DV and Zoom H2, when my Sweetwater guy suggested the Q3. This was really helpful. You don't happen to have experience with the non-HD version do you? :)Cheers

[homebrewedmusic]

@magnoliaguitar The only experience I have with the non HD version is the videos I've seen posted. I certainly didn't buy one after that.

Fran

[franguidry]

@arnebarnard That's right. I'm using the headphone/line out of the H2 and we're at line level going into the Q3HD.

Fran

[arnebarnard]

Is the Zoom H2 considered a line source in this case since the Q3HD doesn't have a mic in?

[DukeChiTown]

@magnoliaguitar

Non HD - sound good, low light video, terrible!

[DukeChiTown]

Thanks for the tips! Uploaded my first You Tube

video using the Q3HD a few days ago - shot at 720/30,

gain set to high, just as a test. I was quite pleased

at the picture and audio quality from such a tiny camera.

Nothing rehearsed – just played whatever popped into

my head. Keyboards have a far greater range than guitar.

Just click on my name to view it. Thanks again.

Clarence - Chicago

[BrianKnop]

Thanks. I do think the HD would be a huge improvement considering the regular Q3 looks just like my 4 yr old sony, but the HD looks like the Zi8 in your video, and the Zi8 is a significant improvement over the Sony and regular Q3.

[franguidry]

@BrianKnop I like mine but you definitely should not expect much in the way of low light performance. It may be better than the SD version, I don't know. It needs plenty of light to do its best. Be sure to check what other people are posting as examples of concert clips. The one time I tried the footage was unusable.

Fran

[BrianKnop]

@homebrewedmusic - I run sound at a venue. a band brought by the Q3 non-hd one night, and I had my buddy's Kodak zi-8 that night. the non hd q3 did AWFUL in low light. the picture was similar to what my 5 year old sony digital camera (not meant to be a camcorder) could take in the same venue. I fed the Kodak's mic jack with a condenser mic through the board and it sounded pretty good. seems the Q3HD would be the best of both worlds! I want one!