Zoom's Q3HD is the highly speculated and much anticipated successor to the company's first handheld, point-and-shoot camcorder, providing 1080p and 720p HD video to go with the Zoom's remarkable audio capture technology. Designed with musicians in mind, the Q3HD lets you record future-friendly video to go along with a studio-sound courtesy the two condenser mics - the same mics that are found in the company's popular H4n professional field recorder.
The high def video recording of the Q3HD allows you to capture up to 7 hours of 720/30p video on a 32GB card - providing you enough recording space for extremely long events. Play that stunning video back on the 2.4" display, on your analog or HDTV, or on your Mac or PC - and edit with ease using the built-in USB cable and the HandyShare editing software. When you're ready to share with the world, the included YouTube Uploader software helps you do just that quickly and easily.
Other highlights of the Q3HD include 4x digital zoom, audio level controls, and the convenience 'AA' or NiMH battery power. An optional windscreen, along with several additional accessories are available as well. Capture awesome audio and incredible point-and-shoot video with the Q3HD.
The Q3HD captures exceptionally clean video that is compressed with the high quality H.264 video codec. It also has a larger aperture, which lets more light into your movies. And with its 4x digital zoom, the Q3HD gets you closer to the action
With two on-board, studio-quality condenser mics configured in a wide 120° X/Y pattern, the Q3HD gives you true depth and stereo imaging, making your movies sound as if they were recorded on a Hollywood soundstage
The Q3HD also displays audio meters, allowing you to quickly monitor and set your levels. Set the gain to High or Low to record in soft or loud environments. Or use the Q3HD's Auto Level to automatically set the right recording level for any given situation. And now with two settings for Auto Level Gain Control, it's easy to get great sound no matter what you're shooting. For outdoor shoots, it's highly recommended to use an optional windscreen over the mics
Use the included HandyShare software to edit your movies. And you can now add effects like reverb and normalize the audio for consistent levels, making your movies sound even better. Or, bring them into more sophisticated editing software like iMovie or Final Cut for more extensive edits, effects and titles
HandyShare can also be used to upload your videos to YouTube. And because the Q3HD includes an HDMI output, you can watch your movies at home on your HDTV. And the Q3HD's incredible audio will sound amazing on your home theater setup
| Optics | |
|---|---|
| Sensor | 5 Megapixel 1/3.2" CMOS |
| Lens | Fixed Focus |
| Zoom | Digital: 4x |
| Recording | |
|---|---|
| Recording Media | SD/SDHC Up To 32 |
| Recording Time |
SD/SDHC 32GB: 7 hours of 720/30p |
| Video Format |
High Definition MPEG AVC/H.264 1920 x 1080p, 1280 x 720p, 1280 x 720p (30/30/60 fps) Standard Definition WVGA 640 x 480 (30/60 fps) |
| Display | |
|---|---|
| Display Type | LCD |
| Screen Size | 2.4" |
| Touchscreen | No |
| Features | |
|---|---|
| Built-in Mic | Yes |
| Built-in Speaker | Yes |
| Tripod Mount | 1/4" |
| Input/Output Connectors | |
|---|---|
| Inputs | 1x 1/8" (3.5mm) Stereo Mini |
| Outputs |
1x USB 2.0 1x TV Out 1x HDMI A (Full Size) 1x 1/8" (3.5mm) Stereo Mini |
| Microphone Input | No |
| Headphone Jack | Yes |
| General | |
|---|---|
| System Requirements |
Windows
Mac
|
| Battery | 2x AA Batteries |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 2.01 x 0.91 x 5.23" / 51 x 23 x 132.9 mm |
| Weight | 3.70 oz / 105 g |
REVIEW SNAPSHOT®
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Most Liked Positive Review
Effective Secondary Camera
I work as a pro videographer and this looks to be an effective secondary camera.
I heard the audio was great, I already own several zoom products and the audio on this g...Read complete review
I work as a pro videographer and this looks to be an effective secondary camera.
I heard the audio was great, I already own several zoom products and the audio on this guy doesn't disappoint. I find the best uses for this would be for things like weddings, fights and other well lit events. In daylight, the video quality rivals my HMC-70.
The catch on this guy is the auto slow shutter. It has three modes for video. Auto, Night and concert. The concert setting keeps the shutter speed high, to a degree but mostly stays ready to adapt to fast changes in light. This setting delivers a low level of grain at night and can be compensated for with a noise remover like neat image if your picky. Night is not recommended for pro work of any kind. The night mode reduces shutter speed to 10 or less. The footage is bright enough to see a fair amount of detail in the light equivalent of a 10 watt bulb but is extremely grainy and even has vertical lines and smear. The auto is usually going to yield the best result but with this guy,the more light the better. It is not recommended for indoors unless its well lit because of frame rate drop in low light. If your setting has ample light or studio lights, you should be okay, if its anything less than the light given off by say a 60 watt bulb, then your not going to maintain frame rate. An apparent way around this is to drop to 720 60P, but you lose resolution. If you are shooting anything other than 720 with your other cameras, you will see a difference.
This device has a nifty feature that allows it to shut off the camera allowing longer battery life for use as a sound gathering device. The auto level is pretty effective as well. There are 3 settings on the mic gain, Low, High, and auto. This is kind of an offset from Zooms traditional setting, but still useful. At talking voice levels (about 75dB) the throw on low gain is about 6 feet, the high gain has a more of a throw, around 15 feet in a quiet room, but just like the high gain in other zoom devices, it tends to have that hiss we all lament. This can be compensated for with the usual methods. This guy is best used for ambient sound gathering, or close in applications. If you have to use the zoom...your too far away. The auto setting is okay, but it seems like its more like another name for high. It tends to try to keep your audio right around the -8 or -12 dB. This may just be because I have been more in quiet settings as opposed to concerts. I have not had the chance to try it at a concert to be fair. (it should be noted, the ranges I'm listing are if you want to maintain a level of around -12dB, it will pick up at lower levels and distances, but you will have to do a little post work. Luckily the mics have a GREAT signal to noise ratio.)
The digital zoom function is a no no for pro work, but is pretty decent and low artifacting for the camera type.
Now for what your waiting for...battery life and record time. If your shooting PCM and 1080, you get about 90 minutes of record time. If you switch to aac, you get 100 minutes on an 8GB card. At 720 30P with PCM you get 143 minutes or so, and at SD you get 193 minutes. I recommend using PCM for best audio, this is a given for audio people as aac is kinda lossy. If you really really need to stretch, you can shoot with lowest quality video and aac you can squeeze a little over 4 hours out of an 8 gig card.
Battery life is fairly horrid...you can get a half hour to 45 minutes if your lucky, all variables play in here, but for continuous recording plan on no more than a half hour if you want to push it. Anything more than that, an AC adapter is handy. This may depend on battery type as well, have to experiment on your own for that one.
Case noise is generally low...but still present unfortunately.
Hope this was useful.
(average data rate for 1080P is about 2 MBPS which is standard for AVCHD)
VS
Most Liked Negative Review
I fell for it...
I knew I'd been had the second I held it in my hand. Feels like a toy. Nothing at all like the H4n. The video is not HD and there is little to no...Read complete review
I knew I'd been had the second I held it in my hand. Feels like a toy. Nothing at all like the H4n. The video is not HD and there is little to no difference in the settings. Sound quality is good for a toy. They say the mics are the same as the H4n but they don't look the same, you can't turn them or touch them and they look plastiky and fakish. The keypad is small and hard to control and I always hit the rec button in the center when attempting to zoom or adjust the sound level. I bought 4 of these for field research purposes and quickly realized that battery life is around 35 mins. I had to purchase batteries in bulk and batteries are not cheap. I am a little upset.
Reviewed by 28 customers
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Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
I am a private piano teacher, and the instantaneous ability to have the students hear and see exactly what they have just played is amazing! With their own ears and eyes they can detect what I have in the past tried to describe or reproduce by playing it back to them myself, but they have always assumed that I was exaggerating! The quality of sound is wonderful - it exceeds my expectations. Be sure to buy the ac adapter, however, as this thing EATS alkaline batteries.
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Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
video is better than than expected, and better than the Zi10 PlayTouch. Interface is not bad. Audio is excellent, nice deep reproduction and good soundstage replication. Only negative I can think of is that the case could feel a little more professional (but its still good), and the battery life is bad, so you have to use the power adapter (included on mine), which has a quite short cord. We use it for recording interviews.
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Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
works only with 1 of my 3 sandisk extreme 30mb/s sd cards. but works on my other cheap sd cards.
video quality is satisfactory. audio works best when near the source.
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Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
Great sound and video
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Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
great audio. video was marginal. I expected better from HD
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Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
I recorded my stage performance, and the audio is exactly like it sounded in the venue. It is unbelievable. I tried recording audio on my cell phone before, but those recorders alter the sound of the voice. This thing is incredible. And it records videos too. I think this product has a specific market for musicians/bands/singers. If you are one of those, this product works great.
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Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
Just bought this yesterday and I have to say that i'm very impressed with what it can do..I'm a DJ so I was looking for a camcorder with a line in to record audio directly from the mixer while recording video. I tested it yesterday, the sound quality is just amazing so as the video. i also own zoom H2 and that too is an amazing recorder. I'm writing this review to thank the Zoom people for making such amazing products.
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Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
Purchased the Q3HD specifically for low-light recording of live concerts. It performed amazingly well, considering that some online reviews implied that the HD video quality was of poorer quality than, let's say, the Flip MiniHD III (which I also have). Using the video settings at 1080/30 fps the image was clear and the colors true. Unlike the Flip MiniHD where the 720p HD footage had a pink caste to it, and the audio was just overwhelmed in a concert setting. The audio of the Q3HD is second to none for the price, setup is extremely easy, and it works with a standard 1/4 inch tripod mount. The cons for this item: unable to charge battery within the unit; no stabilization; AC adapter, windscreen, and mini tripod need to be purchased separately. Also, when a recording reaches 4GB in size a new file is created, so heads up -- your recording didn't stop, it just started a new file for you. I'm very happy with this purchase and would certainly recommend it.
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Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
is really surprised with the outcome of the recording and the sound of it, the quality is unsurpassed and make a lot of time if you have a band and want your friends to see you playing on the web. I recommend this product as it offers fame in the palm of your hand.
Thanks!
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Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
Sound quality is good and video is satisfactory and the package at the price is excellent.
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Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
I had no prior experience with such fine equipment, but I wanted to get something that will allow me to record sport interviews. This little thing of beauty does just that and I simply love it!
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Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
The best thing about this unit is the way it adjust to loud audio. I've tried many camcorders to record bands and all distort. This might at the first "blast" but then remains at a great level. I now use a Cannon 3D cam (only on 2D) as main camera, and have this one setup for side shots and for the audio. The HD is nothing as good as the Cannon, but, for flipping back and forth for scenes, works great. Easy to use, lite, can put about anywhere. Love the large screen with the VU meters. I got a 30 gig card to go with it. It does love to eat the 2 AA battery's though. They last about 1 hr. No distortion, good video, For [$] can't go wrong.
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Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
OK, let me put this in perspective: I'm one of those people who HATES to read manuals. I ordered the Q3HD and got it the day before I NEEDED to use it on an important shoot to record 2-system audio with my Canon DSLR. I had seen on the website that it had a 1/8 stereo mini jack to "record from an external mic" but all of the documentation refers to a "line in" and I wanted to record the mic-level output from my wireless lav. So I called B&H: "Will the Q3HD record mic-level or just line level?" "Hmmm, let me check-- looks like just line level, you'll need something with a preamp, like a mixer." So I panic, and run to a local music store to buy the H1 which has mic/line level in.Now I have both.
Bottom line: I read the manual, and Samson doesn't explain diddly about what Q3HD does with external inputs, but it will record a mic level input just like the H1.
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Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
I think that these video recorder it´s great because it has good video and audio performance for a great price.
Of course that you don´t have to expect a professional audio or video recorder, but for the price it´s more than satisfactory.
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Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
I already owned the Zoom H2 audio recorder, which I absolutely love love love. I'm a musician and a field journalist, so these Zoom products are perfect for collecting high quality audio in the field or recording music at a live concert. As soon as I heard Zoom was coming out with an HD Video camera version of their popular audio field recorders, I knew I had to have it.
The audio is absolutely stunning, naturally. However, be sure to order a windscreen if you plan on shooting outside as wind noise is very loud with this device. At the time I ordered, the accessory kits for the Zoom Q3HD were out of stock, so I just bought a Zoom H2 windscreen for a few dollars and it fit and worked just fine.
The video quality is pretty impressive, however it is best to shoot as steady as possible as there isn't really any image stabilization and the image can easily become jerky and choppy. The more you practice, the easier it gets to shoot steady shots. Avoid walking, running, etc. with this device too, best to use on stable shots, slow pans, etc. Tripod is best, of course.
Battery life is rather bad, have to admit. Double AA batteries are convenient to replace, but don't last as long. I recommend purchasing some NiMH rechargeable batteries, as well as an AC adaptor (can charge rechargeable batteries in the unit with the adaptor). I found that the rechargeable NiMH batteries lasted longer than regular Alkaline non-rechargeable type.
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Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
The short version- if I didn't destroy the box trying to get the thing out, I would return it.
If you have used the Zoom H4, the sound quality is as good. But the video on it looks significantly worse than an iPhone.
Lousy in low light.
I gave it 2 stars instead of one because a similar quality audio recorder would have been about $200, so it's not a total waste of money. WOuld definitely return it if I could, though.
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Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
I ordered this for mainly for youtube upload and practice. It requires lots of light, so I only record during daytime. I record with line-in using 35mm one end and dual xlr y calbe and happy with the result for using youtube. I wish zoom incorporate the remote control, it could be really nice the way I mount it up high, but it's only thing descent budget recorder in the market now in my opinion. Video & sound quality for youtube purpose is excellent.
Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
I used this recorder at my son's recital in a major music school in NYC....the lighting in the room was low, and sound quality was very important to him. We were extremely happy with the resulting recording, both visual and audio.....really great!
My only complaint is that there is no rechargeable battery system for this camera....you could go through a lot of double A's.
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Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
I am really happy that Zoom has seen the need for HD video. Don't know what to do with my non HD Q3 other than leave it on the shelf.
I use the Q3HD to shoot video at rock and roll concerts. I like the easy of use of the features and the of course the great audio. The Q3HD lacks video clarity especially when using the limited zoom in feature.
Comments about Zoom Q3HD Handy Video Recorder:
I knew I'd been had the second I held it in my hand. Feels like a toy. Nothing at all like the H4n. The video is not HD and there is little to no difference in the settings. Sound quality is good for a toy. They say the mics are the same as the H4n but they don't look the same, you can't turn them or touch them and they look plastiky and fakish. The keypad is small and hard to control and I always hit the rec button in the center when attempting to zoom or adjust the sound level. I bought 4 of these for field research purposes and quickly realized that battery life is around 35 mins. I had to purchase batteries in bulk and batteries are not cheap. I am a little upset.
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