Zoom with a view - video with an audio bias

Posted by Gavin Brockis on Wednesday 22 July 2009 at 11:08am
Tags: cameras | equipment | podcasts | sound recordings | video |

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Pro-Audio manufacturer Zoom have us excited with the recent release of their new stablemate for their H4n portable audio recorder, in the form of the Q3 - a similarly high quality portable stereo recorder, but with the major difference of built-in video capture.

Bearing a striking resemblance to the excellent little Flip camera - a fantastically user-friendly device for capturing simple video - but sporting a serious-looking microphone above the lens, the Q3  features the same X/Y stereo microphones as the H4n. This allows the ability to record in true stereo to mp3 at a variety of bitrates, or to uncompressed better-than-CD-quality wav - up to 48kHz sampling rate at 24 bit - alongside mpeg-4 video, and at full 96kHz 24-bit quality in audio-only mode.

Whereas many video cameras suffer from poor sound, the intention here is clearly to put audio first. While the resolution of the camera is limited to 640x480 pixels - ideal for internet delivery, but definitely not to be considered high definition - the audio components and resolution are unquestionably capable of delivering a professional result, if our experience of the H4 is anything to go by. It's very welcome to see a recorder with a more balanced approach to video and audio quality, and at what promises to be a very accessible price.

Given that much of the 'meat' can be contained in the audio part of a presentation, lecture, seminar etc, it seems sensible to trade off a little in video resolution to make significant improvements in sound quality - especially if delivery via the internet, be that by VLE, YouTube or podcast, is anticipated - and we expect to see a lot of these in use throughout the education sector before too long. Perfect for audio and video podcasting and informal video/audio capture in a wide range of conditions, the Q3 could have been (and possibly was) designed with education content creation in mind. For those happy with the video functionality of the Flip, but looking for better sound, it will be very interesting indeed.

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