Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

for its money its actually PERFECT ..Great Sound ..normal skills of the video but for its money you can enjoy a very nice soundcorder with a normal camera..Easy to use also..Very nice for documentaries,home movies,Short films,Music films,Travel and every kind of events

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

The first thing I did after the Q3 arrived was to take my grandkids to a children's museum. The lighting was varied and there were tons of kids there to add difficulty to sound recording. I shot about 21 various clips under a variety of conditions. I was pleased with the results even in low lighting. Perhaps others define low light as candle lighting or club lighting. This was all indoor daylight without any lighting assist from me. As for the sound......it was fabulous. Even with all the other kid noise my grandkids voices were loud on playback. Must be the directional mics. And I was really pleased with the image stabilization. All in all......great purchase. I will be using the Q3 for indoor and outdoor recordings and loading them to YouTube.

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

Zoom famous for effects units and high quality portable audio recorders has now very effectively,released a small handycam with excellent stereo recording and good video - providing you have plenty of light.
The unit comes with a swag of optional extras and is such great value for money - no musician or actor should be without one. It is ridiculously easy to use - I was using it straight out of the box, without even reading the instructions - as the command system is basically the same as a mobile phone - and once you have found the best settings and are familiar with it, you can achieve great results.
One negative is if you are recording yourself there is no forward screen to monitor the 'action'
Not really a big deal if you take the time to set your positioning up.Designed to easily download to the net for youtube etc...comes complete with the nessesary attachments.
A pocket dynamo recorder at a basement bargain price - I'm very glad I bought it.

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

I use the Zoom for all my important recordings. It has great sound and video. I love it because it's easy to use and I can easily transfer the recording to my computer. A great buy!

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

I am a musician and had planned to use this to share some of our performances with friends & family in other parts of the country. Sound quality is OK but that's about it. Battery life, indoor use ( dark ) & video quality poor ( almost unacceptable ) Overall a stupid decision on my part to purchase this thing. Don't know if I'll even use it again. Maybe I got a lemon or something, they can't all be that bad.

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

For any recording from casual to very important event, this Audio Recorder (Video included) will do it. Yes, it is also a Video Recorder, but the primary beauty of this little wonder is the stereo mics in the top. They are engineered the same way that other very high-end microphones are in more expensive recorders. The Video function is not bad, and is on par with the normal resolution Flip, yet also better than a normal phone recorder. The USB dongle is attached to the bottom of it and is very easy to hook up on a desktop to access the files, PC or Mac.

About the audio: the unit is DIRECTIONAL, meaning that the sound will actually sound like the direction that you're pointing it, so as you move, it sounds like you're moving. Highly sensitive and realistic. Also, there is an auto level buffer that does not allow the unit to "peak" or get fuzzy audio. There is a tripod mount hole in the bottom, and also little rubber feet on the bottom for setting on a table to avoid vibration noise.

Have had this at music and concert events. NICE. In fact, a friend just sat down and recorded a song in my office one day, and his record manager liked it so much that he said he should use that as his demo - no editing! It was that clean.

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

My son has taken an interest in film and wants to produce small films for YouTube and Faceboook. After making Honor Roll we decided he should be rewarded with the Zoom Q3. Our decision was made by reviews I read and how well the unit would fit his desire for filming. The audio recording blew us away, and is perfect for our young producer in training. It is extremely easy to use and allowed him to post his videos to the web in a flash. The only thing to improve the product would be to offer a wider panoramic view.

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

I use this product to record and take videos of my band. The recordings are clean and clear and the videos are great. The size is perfect plus it runs on batteries as well as a power adapter.
I would buy this product again. There is also a HD version of the Q3.

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

I use this device to record music lessons, music classes, sports practices and games. The sound quality is excellent, and the video footage is smooth and of sufficient quality for classroom review and [@]Website posts. The menu is clear and easy to navigate. The only negative I have discovered is the device's inability to pause during a recording session. The scene navigation is quick enough, however, to make that negative a small consideration.

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

I'm a drummer and I also teach privately, I purchased the Q3 for two reasons, to record myself playing alone or with a band and I record my students during their lesson. This is a great tool for improving your skills by seeing yourself (the video is average) and hearing yourself (the audio is excellent). The Q3 is very simple to use, I was recording and uploading it to my PC in no time at all. However there are a few things that I don't like, it doesn't come with a power cord, the AA batteries last less than 5 minutes (really) so the cord is a must have, shame on Samson for not supplying one. Second issue is that it doesn't work with windows media player, you'll see the video but NO audio, you have to use quick time. I'm running windows 7 ultimate and was told that it should work but no go. Other than that it's a great product, I use it constantly.

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

Love the sound Quality, Hate the poor video Quality, especially in low light. Best for Bands and Musicians, but if you want to show yourself make sure the lights are bright.

I'm a DJ and Shoot clips of our events and the Vids come out very dark

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

For recording loud performances this is perfect!!!

*I'm 47 years old... I would have killed for one of these in the 80's!!

Band practice, live gigs, making video's for youtube, etc... anything loud that would clip even the best of "hand held" recorders.

I have a $900.00 Canon Camcorder (3 years old) the sound on this will blow that away. I actually use this for audio (mp3 only feature) and my camcorder for video (upload both and sync "WOW")... if you have a good friend that'll move around with the camcorder and keep this stationary... PROMO QUALITY VIDS ARE YOURS!!!

The absolute worst thing about this? Batteries last as long as a glass of beer...

DO NOT PURCHASE WITHOUT THE POWER CHORD!!

* recommend a card of 8 gigs at minimum(16 gig is best)

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

I bought this to have a way to record music sessions in my home. I was using P.C. based software that was less than I expected. I researched this recorder and watched the on-line demos so I thought I'd give it a try. All I can say is that it is a supurb sound recording device. I play guitar and write songs so I wanted a way to see how they would look on video and this really does the job! The videos I get out of this are great and the stereo sound quality of my guitars wheter amped or acoustic is like live performances. And It's so easy to use and then download these to my P.C. I'm really impressed with this unit!!

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

Mainly use it to post videos to you tube. The sound is the main reason you should buy this, you can record music videos and post them to the net and they sound amazing. Video,though not HD, is perfectly adequate. It is very easy to use and I was making good videos within minutes. I use Sony Vegas Movie software to do edits and the combo is fantastic. It would get five stars if it had an audio line in, but it is still great value.

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

I use this camera to video my students during their voice lessons. I have to make sure that the microphone is on "High" ("Auto" works pretty well, too), or else they're not able to hear the audio (which is kind of the point) - and the camera's only about 6 feet away from them.
BUT, each student has their own SD card and there is no file transfer time. In all, I'm very satisfied with this camera.
One thing to note - all the descriptions state that the camera takes 2 AAA batteries - it's 2 AA batteries (which makes life much easier). One set of batteries lasts about 2 hours (pretty standard), so if you're going to use the camera a lot, or for a long time, I recommend getting the AC adapter.

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

I would more accurately rate this at 3 1/2 stars but that's not an option. I use the camera to shoot in-home music videos of me playing my guitar and singing that I can upload to myspace and youtube. It is a very handy piece of equipment for this. It has good quality microphones and up to 24 bit stereo recording. The selection of different audio resolutions is pretty satisfying. The quality of the videos is good for web uploading. The large one-touch button on the back is a lot better than the small finicky buttons on my digital camera for quick, simple reach-around start-recording, stop-recording. My main complaint is that the sound recording levels aren't flexible enough. You have either low, high or auto. The low and high switches are too extreme for my purposes and using the auto function caused my video to start off loud but then quiet down, giving an uneven recording. Using low was too low and using high caused distortion. It would be better to have a graduated slider option as well as the auto function. Another complaint is that the necessary AC adaptor is not included. C'mon guys, throw in that cheapo adaptor! We're paying a lot of money for these things. If you are shooting indoors, plan on getting some good supplemental lighting. I had to use a 150 watt floodlight or the video would've been too dark to view- even with two 75 watt light bulbs already lighting the room, but that's to be expected when using a video cam. I thought the software included was kind of cheapo also, but I did like the easy method of trimming beginnings and endings. It would've been nice to have some other effects included with the software- a bare minimum of a brightness control and possibly a volume control for the audio. Overall it's a good product for quick decent recording and web uploading if you don't expect professional quality videos.

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

The video is not very good in low light. But, in daylight and good light it is pretty good. And, the audio is great for recording music and bands.. not the best for just voice especially with background noise. Still, all in all, it is a good recorder and worth 4 stars.

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

I was on holidays on NYC whitout a camera. As an addicted in sound I decided to buy Q3 and I have no regrets. Amazing sound and enough quality in video to small screens. And the possibility of recording only sound is one of the best things in it.

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

If you are a musician or producer who wants decent video with your high quality audio, this product is for you. 44.1/24 bit with your video, 2 good quality small condensers in X/Y, 96/24 bit audio-only, easy to use.

My only complaints are that the LCD screen is on the opposite side from the camera, making self-placement difficult, and the battery life is not great.

Comments about Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder:

I have used the ZOOM VIDEO HANDY Q3 and liked very much due to its quality sound and video. Very easy to use. Recommend for those who need to conduct interviews to prove allegations of research, as is my case.