Zoom Q2n Zoom Handy Video Recorder

I've been using my unit for nearly a week now, and I have to say, I took to it like a duck to water!I was super impressed with my friend's ability to make and upload high quality videos with great ease on her iPhone, and looked in despair at my old gear, which made the process anything but easy. The technology has improved a lot since my old Canon handheld video camera came out, but I wasn't interested in owning an $800 phone. -To start with, I'm not a cell phone guy, refuse to carry one, and the suggestion that I get a phone but only use it for taking videos... Ugh. It was too overwhelming a field and I didn't really know where to start.So instead I decided to look at what was available in dedicated video equipment, and a musician recommended this device to me. The sound is top, top notch. (Zoom, after all, eh? I already own their famous H4 digital recorder). And, it turns out, the lens and video quality are right up there with the best, even for a device which is a couple of years old now. I looked at some comparison videos testing this unit against previous Zoom models, and the video quality is noticeably superior.The interface is easy enough to figure out and work with, the USB upload feature works flawlessly; I plug it into a Windows 10 computer, select "SD Card transfer" and suddenly a new drive appears on the Windows explorer. The download speeds aren't fantastic, but fast enough. It takes five or ten seconds to move a 50 Mb video clip to my hard drive.I've already used it to shoot a couple of short YouTube bits, and there were no problems at all under regular room lighting conditions. The clips look fine.The only two caveats are that it is definitely designed with music in mind; so the mics sensibly favor the sound scape in front of the lens, and not behind it. For my purposes, using it as a handheld device, when I turn the camera to shoot something while talking with me behind it, the volume of my voice drops by about half. This is a feature, not a bug if you are trying to record a music set, but it's something to be aware of if you're using it in another capacity. To mitigate, you just hold yourself closer to the camera when speaking, and that solves things.The other issue is one which has been pointed out already. The battery life is short. -That's where using a camera phone would offer an advantage. So far, the alkaline batteries it came with have held up through about 45 minutes of up-time, and read at around 50% now. That's pretty good.I picked up for another project one of those laptop power banks (capable of powering a whole laptop for 5-10 hours). It provides USB power through a standard cable and works with the Zoom unit, so if I find myself in a situation where I'm away from my computer and need hours and hours of power, I'll just use that.Regarding the power situation:I consider the power solution for this unit a well designed, well-considered achievement! -USB power means that it doesn't need a regular power plug. I think that's great! The fewer "Wall Warts" in my life, the better, it's one less thing I have to keep track of. You can power it from a laptop or standard phone charger. The unit by itself is all you need when you're packing up to go. I also really appreciate that it takes AA's for on-board power. This means yet another weird, proprietary object that I DON'T have to keep track of.The one drawback with AA's is that they don't hold as much power as a cellphone lithium battery, (though when lithium AA's start becoming available, we can expect to see increased up-times with units like this). -And while an hour and ten minutes on fresh batteries is not an ideal amount of recording time if you're at a show, for studio sessions, it simply means bringing your laptop to the session and plugging into that. Using your laptop as an external power source works and has benefits.All that aside, it would be nice to see double the up-time on a pair of AA's but I can understand the difficulties the engineers must have faced with the materials available. I would also prefer to see the USB cable input flush along the side so that it didn't provide a flex point which might cause future damage over time, but that's a minor detail.So considering the price point, the excellent video quality and the pro-level mic (which you'd pay this much for by itself normally!) I give this device a 4/5.It would be a 5/5 if a phone camera didn't completely beat it in the battery life department.

Used this camera last week outside around dusk, very good picture and awsome sound. Worth the price. Keep in mind you need AC Adapter if you intend to shoot a lot indoors or outdoors, since the 2 AA batteries go down fast. So AC Adapter is a must, so is Dead Cat for microphone outdoors in wind, so you must get the accessory pack to get these needed accessories.

Zoom Q2N is discontinued. I was looking for q2n-4k.Its put on amazon in very misleading way. The camera is only 3 megapixels.Completely dissapointed. This is not what I needed.Already initiated the return.Highly recommend not to buy this. IT IS DISCONTINUED!!!

I bought this from Amazon in July. Before I even turned it on the bottom battery compartment not only fell out, but it fell apart. It seems very cheaply made. I returned it for a refund. I'm a fan of Zoom's stuff, having an H6, multiple microphones, and a hand recorder. I was expecting this level of professional quality, and I this Q2n did not meet the bar. I'm sad. I hope they do a new version with better quality.

Superb Product and a must buy for musicians. Audio is Just best in class and it records crips clear and surround audio of the venue. Video is not the best but not bad when right video mode is set. Providing good lights can get you good video quality. Without any thoughts just go for it. Go Pro Cameras are no where compared in terms of Audio quality with Zoom recorders.

I don't have the newer 4K model but I am more interested in the audio recording feature and it records my acoustic guitar very well. I find it easy to use. The downloadable software called Handyshare, allows for easy cropping of the videos.

Yo la uso para grabar las presentaciones en vivo de mi banda, y el resultado es excelente, sobre todo el sonido. Tiene varios ajustes de ganancia para varias condiciones, y esto permite que siempre grabe de forma correcta. De igual manera tiene varios ajustes de apertura en el vídeo. Lo único es que el lente que tiene un poco de efecto de "ojo de pescado" no es para todas las situaciones si estás grabando para un vídeo más en forma. Recomiendo comprar el kit de accesorios.

une très bonne caméra et un très bon micro dans le même objet c'est plutôt rare malgré qu'il est discontinuer j'ai réussi à l'avoir à bon prix avec le commerçant

Very cool product for recording your rehearsals yet to try it at a gig. The only problem is the SD card that was sent to me was not a micro SD which is required.

Totally rubbish! The batteries although Alkaline last only for half a song! Not worth the money!

Less audio/vid qual than a cheap cell phone.Not worth the $200 + tax, not even close.Sent back.

Good quality and arrived quickly. Just setting it up but seems very easy to do.

Zoom has best microphone quality. Really made for creators. Perfect features for the price.

This is a great item for carrying in your purse as its tiny and has great quality

Costo beneficio increíble un sonido impecable, viniendo de zoom no es sorprendente lo recomiendo para vlogs para entrevistas o para cualquier cosa que se les ocurra