Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder (Metal Blue)
The Q3 Handy Video Recorder brings Zoom’s renowned audio technology to the camcorder, making it the best sounding video camcorder you’ve ever heard. The Q3 uses the same microphone capsules as our industry-leading H4n Handy Recorder and is perfect for recording anything where great audio and video are a must. From live musical performances and rehearsals, interviews, conferences to video podcasts, journalism, education, recitals, weddings or sports, the Q3’s pristine audio quality takes your videos to another level.Designed with everything you need to make your movies right out of the box, the Q3 includes HandyShare software for editing, and a 2GB SD card for up to 1 hour of video recording time. And the Q3 will also accept up to 32GB SDHC cards for a staggering 16 hours of moviemaking!The Q3 puts a little bit of video and a whole lot of audio together in one quick and easy to use camcorder that lets you produce great movies on the go.
Reviews from Customers
“Simply awesome little tool for quick recordings”
As others have pointed out, rating this low because of poor video is just plain ol’ ignorance. It’s not HD but the sound is what makes most all videos on youtube.. not the perfect lighting! For the price, you can’t find better quality audio in a simpler device. If you want better lighting, add some lights! Record some bands with this and then the flip… Not even comparable. You can’t even watch the flip bands. They’re all distorted. This baby is perfect. No distortion! I even held it up to our PA speakers (with the low setting on) and tried to distort it and couldn’t! I would rate low if this product was competing against an HD recorder (obviously), but it isn’t.. It’s meant to compete against the low end video/audio units like the flip.. and it simply blows those units away. Too much is made of the video aspect as well. My neighbor and I both shot us performing a song on our acoustic (indoors) and went back and looked at the result. You couldn’t tell a difference in video. As for the audio? His Q3 is on order.
Great product!
“Great for musicians on the fly!”
This video/audio camera is all about sound. The video is good enough, not great, and I have no complaint about that… the marketing I saw emphasized that this unit focuses on sound quality, with adequate video for YouTube, etc, and so far I find that to be true.
I am a performing musician and my purpose in getting this was to be able to record performances: live shows, rehearsals, and demos. Typically to get a video with GOOD sound (essential for musicians) you need to find a camera with a mic input (I couldn’t find one for less than $600) and then you need a decent mic to go with it. The Q3 cost $[…], ready to go. I was able to record myself right after getting it, and while I still have much to learn, I was happy enough with the results to post on YouTube. A couple of nights ago I recorded my band at rehearsal. They found it very helpful to see themselves in action (better than practicing with a mirror!) and all commented on how impressive the sound quality was.
Let me mention that most of the negative reviews here are by people who have NEVER used or owned this product! Give me a break!
Regarding the “huge” .mov files that another reviewer commented on: I don’t find that to be an issue at all. I have emailed my “huge” files and they have sent out very quickly.
I agree that the low light performance could be better. And a bunch of other added features could be good, too. But then, it wouldn’t be a $[…] camera anymore, and I probably couldn’t have afforded it just yet! But it is very simple to use, provides good enough quality for YouTube or musician press kit demos, and has excellent, let me repeat–excellent–sound.
Here’s a link to a video of me, on YouTube, that I shot the first time I had ever used the Q3. You can judge for yourself.
“Good utility recorder, if you’re realistic about what you’re buying”
I think the past reviews are pretty slanted towards video enthusiasts and not audio enthusiasts, so I think the low ratings reflect that. That being said, yea, it’s 640X480, but there’s also nobody on the block offering a hi-fi audio recorder with video. If you know the parent company (Samson), then you know it’s an audio company, not a video camera company, and their target audience is musicians who can see the usefulness of recording gigs and rehearsals. I know from experience in many groups that some of the best riffs and song ideas come from impromptu jam sessions that happen between tunes. By having this recorder running through the whole practice, I can now isolate those jams and play back the clip at home to transpose the parts, or I can simply throw the clip on YouTube if I like it as-is. The software it comes with is meant to be user-friendly and isn’t trying to replace an expensive big-box video editor, it’s there to make the editing process easy and quick. As a 19 year musician, I really find myself caring very little about video quality when I want to check out a new artist’s clips on YouTube… and until this point, I’ve just put up with bad sound from standard handheld video recorders. Now I have a good solution to making the audio as hi-fi as possible in a convienient all-in-one solution. Will Zoom come out with an HD version of this? That seems pretty inevitable! But until then, I am very happy with this device and what it’s meant for… high quality audio with decent video quality in a unit under $250.
PS- Does anyone really expect to get their high quality music video shot with a $250 handheld device ANYWAYS? Let’s be realistic! Rent at least 4 or so $2k HD cams and run it through a real mixing board if you want your best bet! In the meantime, I feel this device will work great in getting all of those ‘lo-budget/good audio’ video clips up on YouTube!
See all detials of Zoom Q3 Handy Video Recorder (Metal Blue)
Digital Camcorders 
Leave a comment