Camcorders

Zoom Case

H2 Zoom Recorder Reviewed on My New Hub

The H2 Recorder isn't the best recorder on the market but it's competing with pro models selling for three times as much. And even though its smaller in size (2.5 x 4.3 x 1.3 inches) the H2 Zoom has twice the number of onboard microphones as the others. There's a couple reasons why lots of them are being sold.

Pricetag:

It's list price was a little over $300 when it came out and places have been selling it for well under $200 lately and sometimes even cheaper.

These are a few of my favorite things:

• Best all-around bang for your buck
• Unique 360 degree 4 mic capsule feature
• It's both small in the hand and in the price!

Two features not worth bragging about:

• Screen is a little small.
• Found the limiter/compressor a little sluggish.

One of the most useful features for me with this Zoom Recorder is that it records both MP3 and WAV formats… and in several different  resolutions. But when you do want to record top quality audio for an important project it's there @ 24-bit/96kHz. For a rehearsal you can use an mp3 setting so it's nice to have the option and save some memory if you want to.

The Zoom Recorder will be of interest to:
1. Seminars and conference goers.
2. Media at electronic news gatherings
3. Blog Podcasters
4. Fans at musical performances
5. Songwriters
6. Band rehearsals
7. Drama groups

The H2 Zoom's front screen grill is very cool looking, reminding me of an old classic studio condenser microphone from the 40's or 50's. There's plenty of the expected features most people are looking for and a few that are unexpected and even not very useful... unless you're a musician like me, in which case you'll also love the handy guitar tuner and metronome that are built-in.

It can be hard to edit on the small screen...  but you can just plug it into your computer via the USB and edit away.

The unique W-XY microphone pick-up patterns work like this: a front 90 degree cardioid, a rear 120 cardioid and a360 degree polar pattern.

Now that's the Zoom Recorder's unique multi microphone feature we're talking about, the 4 mics that can produce various kinds of surround sound recordings. A good example of how you could use the Zoom Recorder to record a 3 piece band rehearsal would be to simply put the recorder in the middle facing the drums and behind it to either side would be the guitar amp and the bass amp, giving you a surround sound recording.

To complete this H series of small hand held recorders are Zoom's H1 which is the little brother with less features and a lower price tag and the big brother of the three being the H4 Zoom digital recorder.
I'm confident that this little digital recorder will give you the results you need and more.

About the Author

Learn more about the H2 Zoom Digital Recorder at my new Hubpage

What is a good beginning photojournalist lens?

I might be for too much at the moment, but I'm looking for a good, cheap ($500 or less) lens for my Canon Rebel XT to start out as a freelance journalist.

I've done photography casually before and am still learning a lot about how everything works, so I'm not particularly well-versed in actually using the terminology. However, these are my main complaints:
- My lens never seems to be able to pick up much light. I've been trying to find f/2.8 lenses, but they all seem very expensive.
- A lot of "photojournalist" lenses seem to measure 18-50 mm, yet when I took photos at a publication before, my constant problem was that I couldn't get close enough. Should I switch to a zoom lens then? In which case, should I get a wide-angle and a zoom lens? The problem is that getting both with f/2.8 would make it expensive, so should I only get one of that quality or both?

Thank you for the help.

I'll suggest a different take on this. While the best choice for PJ work would be a 24-70 F2.8L and a 70-200 F2.8L IS, this combo would set you back around $2500. I have both of these lenses and will normally use them, but on the occasional instance where I want to travel very light and not carry anything but my camera and one lens, I will use the Tamron 28-200 xr di F3.8-5.6. You can pick this lens up for $299 and it has a 30 rebate now. It's not that fast, so you'll need a flash (Use the rest of your budget to pick up a 430EX flash), but it's a pretty sharp lens all things considered. Here's a sample gallery from a trip where I used only that lens:

http://www.olphoto.net/gallery/2431997/1/127504663

Lowepro Toploader Pro Camera Bag Demo