Steve, what are you using to mount the Zoom onto the hot shoe?

Indeed stunning clip and educational to all. Thank you Steve for that! We tested the ZoomH4 (+XLR) and Roland Edirol R-09 (without), prefer R and used it many times on trips with velcron strips on camcorders battery; R has far easier settings and dont get pulled of places by those heavy XLR wiring cables. Seperate sound is ideal also for taking extra ambient sound. Tip if possible always start earlier with voicerecord of rec.#.

Good tip.

Does anyone happen to know if the Canon T1i has external mic support?

I did a quick google and couldn't immediately find anything.

Anyone buy one yet?

I want to work at Zacuto just to play with all the equipment.

Good video and explanations! I have much respect for good audiowork: so many things can go wrong with life sound.

these guys have GEAR....i want :)

PREDATOR --- I call them BULLSHITER all the way,.
Editor, director, producer, predator ----- but go to IMDB -- NONE

Just watched the Vid and found it useful, but was wondering how this device would cope outside in a mild wind, does it come with wind shield and if it does how effective would it be. I suspect that being such a small device the ambient sound outdoors may be an issue!

I just recommended this setup to a friend who is traveling for a documentary (and most likely using a consumer camcorder for much of the shooting). All of the other "local filmmakers" told her that double system audio was a crazy idea and that syncing it would be a nightmare. Perhaps an unwillingness to explore embrace new techniques is why "local filmmakers" stay "local".

Thanks for illustrating this option (and for validating my "crazy" idea).

The Zoom H4n looks like a great solution. I have been using the H4 but this is a definite improvement. However I think if you want more control and have a 2nd person monitoring sound and operating boom then the Edirol R44 is an excellent choice. It gives the functionality of a 4 channel mixer and field recorder in one box and has 4 XLR input. It also gives independent manual switches for controlling each channel. It's bigger but gives that next step up for a bit more money. Great video though and a very nice product.

I've been using a ZoomH4 for over a year now for recording live shows and double sound on my documentaries. Some issues with syncing 24p. I always record .wav 48k. That has helped sync problems. Overall, it's been my favorite piece of equipment. Here's a show I recorded recently. vimeo.com/4896121

the audio quality is undeniable!

realistically, how hard would this process be though for a 1 man operation who is shooting events with hundreds of clips. it seems like a lot of work in post to do synch! and a lot of clapping on the day!

can't deny the advantage of great audio though. very educational. you've seriously made me reconsider my dxa-5d purchase. now it's just a matter of weighing speed over quality.

thanks

Nicely done, very informative. I actually did something similar with a Zoom H2 (which is even cheaper, but no XLR inputs)...I used it with a hard-wired lavaliere mic--the talent put it in her back pocket like a transmitter. Here's an example: vimeo.com/3458417

Michael as what was said good job.
This setup is very easy to do, as we have been doing off camera audio with our FX1's for over 3 years now.

There are so many great affordable ways to capture audio now that there is literally no excuse for a producer to not have great audio content.

We use the Marantz PMD620, Zoom H2, Zoom H4n, and Edirol R44 (which is a 4 track recorder) for our audio capture. Each recorder has it's purpose as the Marantz PMD620 is mainly used for hard wired lav micing or micing a podium using onboard mics for capture. The Zoom H2 is great for use with its onboard mics to capture chamber musicians or vocals. Simply place in the middle of a set of musicians and set to record in 2-Channel or 4-channel mode to capture audio.

The H4n and Edirol R44 are great for more extensive captures where I want 4 channels of recording. The R44 is more extensive, as I use it to run 4 independent audio sources into it, such as board feeds with wireless or hard wired mics etc. The H4n is great for quick setup on a mic stand running 2 hard wired mics into it to mic PA stacks and use the onboard mics to record ambient audio. All of this is recorded to 4 tracks perfectly synced and brought into post for sync with my video, which is easy to do anyway.

BTW a neat trick that I've employed for several years is to setup my recorders to record as needed, then send a wireless feed from the "Line Out" of the recorder, such as R44 or H4n, to my camera for backup sync audio to tape.

Now I can monitor my audio so I know what is being recorded and make any adjustments as needed while recording and have backup sync audio for reference in post.

Take a look at this old setup using the older Zoom H4.
lvptools.blogspot.com/2008/03/here-is-example-of-one-of-my-bare-bones.html

Very useful piece. Thanks for taking the time. We'll implement this with our new D-SLR acquisition. Thanks!

Steve mentioned using a windscreen...I tried a simple foam slip-on, but eventually had a furry ("dead cat") one custom made from Micover (www.micover.com). I told them the dimensions of the mic area and they made it to fit, for about $25. Its been a godsend for outdoor shooting...

Great work Steve, I learned a lot. Thank you

Did you do any test when shooting in 24p? Does the 99.9% rule still apply or can the h4n only be used in 30p?

Anyone have an answer to Paul's question? I would like to figure out how to take sound with the Zoom H4N while shooting 24p.

J.M. Aragón can you weigh in on this? What are your syncing problems, your workflow?