Tag Archives: zoom h1

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Thanks to Steve for coming out and strumming a few chords as an audio test of these two Ultra Portable Audio recorders. Unfortunately I screwed up big time. It was late, I was in a rush and just pulled everything out of the box and started recording. I sorta rushed with the lighting too, but that cheap 3 Piece lighting kit definitely came in handy - found here: http://cheesycam.com/new-800w-barndoor-softboxes-3pcs-lighting/

The Zoom H1 recorder right out of the box is set to it's highest recording level, while the Tascam DR-08 audio recorder was set to a much lower compressed version. I didn't find out until I got home which doesn't make this a fair fight. Still the Tascam DR-08 sounds pretty amazing with the audio compressed much lower than the Zoom H1. I'll be doing this test again but next time getting the settings better matched. Didn't want this simple test to go to waste, so I'll just post it up as an example of why using a portable audio recorder over the 'in camera Microphone' is always the better choice.

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Like I had mentioned, the Tascam DR-08 was due in today's mail bag. Here it is in all it's plastic glory. Not that plastic is totally bad, even the Zoom H1 has it's share of plastic for the build. I haven't placed them side by side yet, but the Tascam appears to be in similar size and function. Will do a nice little test later tonight for audio quality and then run through the pros and cons of each item that I can think of.

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2 more Zoom H1 Digital Portable Audio Recorders finally arrived from my pre-order. Wow, seems like that took forever, but I don't feel bad since even the top retailers are still showing 'out of stock' on this item. So in short, the pre-order still worked. Now i'm just waiting for my Redhead Windscreen for the Zoom H1 to drop in any day now for some wind tests examples.

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One more day and the Tascam DR-08 should drop in for a nice side by side review against the Zoom H1. Since the H1 is already slightly cheaper it has an advantage, but i'm curious to see if Tascam can get more market share in the DSLR Ultra-Portable Audio recorder game.

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Tascam DR-08 on Sale

The Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Recorder is designed to target the same audience as the Zoom H1 Handy Portable Digital Recorder. In fact many of the audio specs and recording features are dead on to the function of the Zoom H1 recorder. Even though the Tascam DR-08 was announced and released earlier than the Zoom H1, I doubt it ever really 'took off' as quickly with DSLR video shooters for a few reasons. Zoom already had a huge foot in the door from the H4n multi track recorder. DSLR users spread word of this inexpensive quality recorder and it quickly became the standard. Besides the lack of marketing into DSLR video the Higher pricing possibly played a rold in holding Tascam back from exploding as quickly as Samson's Zoom.

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The recent announcement of the Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Recorder
was almost invisible to the DSLR market. The estimated street price of $200 or higher for something so tiny and less functional than the Zoom H4n didn't make much sense to DSLR shooters. The reason this article is being posted now is the recent drop in pricing over at Amazon. This Tascam DR-08 Portable Digital Recorder is now available for $135.00 getting the pricing closer to it's Zoom H1 competitor.

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Besides the slim profile which would make this a more suitable 'in pocket' audio recorder to replace wireless setups, there's also more flexibility to the microphone positions than that of the Zoom H1 giving it the ability to lay flat on the table and still target your subject. The Tascam does require more batteries than the Zoom H1, but i'm more interested in the build quality and relative size comparison against the Zoom H1. For $200+ dollars the pricing on this portable audio recorder would be a huge deal breaker. Now that pricing is coming in at the new $135.00, just slightly over the Zoom H1's $99.00 dollars, i'm curious if the extra $35 dollars is worth the upgrade. If you're interested too, I'll have the Tascam DR-08 vs Zoom H1 Portable Audio Recorder side by side comparison later this week.

Here's the link to purchase: Buy Tascam DR-08 Portable Audio Recorder on Sale

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Just checked and the seller says 4 in stock ready to ship. Very reasonable shipping prices you'd expect to pay on any other website. Looks legit and only 4 left. Just thought i'd share. Here's the link to the 4 Zoom H1's in stock.

[Update]
First link sold out quick, found another seller and called them direct. Just got off the phone with them, and they have 10 that just arrived. This one has Free Shipping. Here's that other link with 10 that just came in, ready to ship.

BTW, for those who pre-ordered from the earlier article, I just received notice mine had shipped. Woohoo! Finally getting the last two Zoom's to complete my audio set.

Thank you for your order. We are happy to tell you that your order has been shipped and it on its way to you.
Order Details:
OrderID: ******
Item: Zoom H1 H 1 Handy Flash Audio Recorder **PRE-ORDER**
Item Number: 22063087****
Quantity: 2

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Yet another video where I try to cram as much gear tests into one quick take. Here i'm using the Zoom H1 recorder with Audio-Technica ATR3350 powered Lav mic talking about the Yongnuo RF-602 Flash Triggers. Hey, I might as well get it out of the way since I haven't said much about them after I received the Yongnuo's a few weeks ago.

The ATR3350 lav mic from Audio-Technica does perform very well for something that's only $20 dollars shipped. The Zoom H1 no doubt is an excellent audio recorder that can be thrown into a pocket and carried around by the speaker. The Zoom H1 levels were set to 60, which may not be the most optimal setting, but hopefully gives you an idea of it working in combination with the ATR3350 Lav. The Audio Technica Lav mic records in Mono, but if you're already a Rode Videomic user, that's nothing new. I duplicated the audio channels to both left and right, but as you can tell, it sounds very flat and quite differently than recording in real stereo like the X/Y mic config of the Zoom H1.

I wasn't too happy with the straight drop of mono audio in this video. There's no ambient sound, and almost sounds like a voice over. Well, that also means the LAV was working well by focusing on the speaker. I possibly could have done this video better with a shotgun microphone alone, but if we were in a very noisy environment where you need to be discreet like a wedding, the LAV mic may work best. It's possible to mix the audio from the Camera along with the LAV mic audio, but the IS motor on my 24-105mm lens comes in like a loud grinding noise. I probably should have used a shotgun microphone as a second microphone + Zoom H1 w/ ATR3350 Lav mic and mixed it all together to make things sound more natural.

Sorry guys, that was a real quick rough test before I had to head out to (currently in) Maui, Hawaii. I'm out here on vacation, but also to test some other gear where the scenery is much nicer.

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click image to purchase Audio-Technica ATR3350

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YongNuo Combo Wireless Remote Shutter + Wireless Flash Trigger

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click image to find shoe mounts

Ok, someone asked about mounting the Zoom H1 on your camera's hot shoe. This is cool, it's a compact setup, but I highly suggest that you first grab a $12.00 dollar L Bracket or two which will not only move the Zoom's Mic a few inches away from the camera noise, but give you an extra handle for stabilization, and an additional 2 shoe accessory mounts. Here's the T2i with a handle next to the Zoom H1.

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Below: Here's an image shared by Chuckarama using two L brackets and a Flash Bracket

Now that you're all setup, I peeked around some of the camera websites and boy these adapters aren't cheap. They go for as little as $20.00 dollars to as much as $200 dollars for articulating arm types. Me being the frugal shopper, I jump on over to my normal wheel and deal spot - eBay. Low and behold! There's a hundred different types starting from as low as $1.00 dollar. Even heavy metal crafted gear. Hate to say it, but most of the designs look like the ones sold from the big boys, and possibly could be.

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Above: Pro-Type Shoe Mount - This is the one I like most

This is a good article to share, make sure to link back to this. It's going to save a few bucks for a whole bunch of people and that adds up to a lot of dollars. So here's the link, jump on over and find yourself a good Shoe mount for your Zoom H1 or H4n.

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find-price-button variety of shoe mounts

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Above: Canon T2i + Battery Grip + Sima L Bracket next to Zoom H1 Portable Audio Recorder

I'm not going to try and do audio tests, I think we know what the Zoom products are already capable of. We're already sold on audio, no need for further tests. I will note on my videos if I ever have it in use though, so you can see what the results would be. If you haven't already purchased a Zoom H1 Portable Audio recorder, i'm sure you're just looking for other deal breakers or deal makers such as the size, switches, button functions, build quality, etc. Here's sorta a sneek peek around the gear from my first unboxing. I've dropped my Zoom H4n and wasn't too worried about it. It survived quite well. This Zoom H1 item feels really really hollow and fragile, so it's not something i'm looking forward to ever drop. It's all mixed feelings right now, but the true selling point is it's $99 dollars. If it were $150 dollars i'd be more on the fence. I'm a fan of the lightweight, but not the plastic build. I'm a fan of the easy to access buttons, but not a fan that you can't lock those controls. Still it's something I suggest every DSLR shooter carry if you don't already have a portable audio recorder. In fact, with the Audio-Technica LAV mic, I think it will be a perfect fit to replace many situations where you would be using a Wireless type setup.

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Extremely random. The video below just shows the new 3pcs lighting kit from this article http://cheesycam.com/new-800w-barndoor-softboxes-3pcs-lighting/ was used to record the Zoom H1 video.

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Well I wanted to do a cool little Zoom H1 Portable Audio Recorder video review, but looks like bhphotovideo.com beat me to it. I'll just post theirs instead since they touched on a lot of what I wanted to talk about. One of the things they point out is the use of the LAV microphone. Everyone's been talking about using this method since this unit is so small and portable, you can save some big bucks from buying a wireless mic kit. They even found a way to jamb this thing into a Microphone Shock Mount.

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click image for Zoom H1 kit

I'll still do my own little video review, but i'll talk about some things I don't like about it. My intent was not to use the built in microphones on the Zoom H1, but if you're planning to, get the foam windscreen which is part of a separate Zoom Kit (above). It's nice that the Zoom H1 leaves everything out to control many functions like WAV or MP3 settings, but these buttons are completely exposed. Using it as a body pack, I fear these buttons will be easily pressed. They should have placed these switches under a cover like the Rode VideoMic. There is a 'Hold' feature, but that only works to disable the playback buttons, not the other feature buttons.

The unit is also mainly plastic. It's nice because it shaves some weight, but feels real fragile. Not something I'd throw in my bag without a hard case, or at least the case shown in the Zoom H1 kit above. Even the microphone covers are chrome plated plastic. DSLR's as of now have terrible audio compared to the Samson recorders. For the audio quality of the Samson Zoom H1, the features this little gadget has, and the low low price point of $99 bucks + Free Shipping, it's a must have item for any DSLR shooter. The only thing we need to narrow down now is what's the best 'bang for the buck' LAV mic to use. My search continues for the cheapest and best LAV mic to use.....

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