Godammit I hate the zoom H4's

J Davis

J Davis

Veteran
GodammitIhatethezoomH4'sH4n'sfreakingplastic
jumpoffpieceof#$%^AGCpatchjobworkaround
bitchabout2systemIcan'twaitforarealcmoscamcorder
formfactorwhetheritsscarletorwhateverjust2befreeofAGCgrrrr

working on a betrayal fest collab AA's crapped out on some takes but thank god
they held for his best ones, zoom is not designed for 12hr shoots mountain of drained
rechargeable AA batts whew rant over


edit:
for those coming in late to the thread, normally I shoot with a power cord. Lesson learned
There are some good links to denecke phantom power on pg3
 
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It blows me away how short the life span is on the batts for the H4n...
but I love it as well...
 
Thanks for responding 2 my rant people, dvxuser is great like that !

ZazaCast said:
Save up and get a Sound Devices 702 or 722... you'll never look back.
Click to expand...

I use a sound devices mm1 preamp before hitting the zoom
I luuurve sound devices.

Saving my money for scarlet (which will not need 2 system) so thats why the zoom h4 over a 702/722
but good suggestion, good looking out brother

Normally I shoot tether on long shoots but all freaking cables are driving me batty so I decided to risk a no-tether on the zoom and I brought 12 AA rechargeables,
good solution? .... nope !

BTW : collab is with Hoz. Nice dude. more on that l8r in his thread.
 
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The battery life of the H4n is probably its worst feature. I've had to change batteries every 10 minutes with some units.

What I mean is that it took ~10 minutes for the battery level indicator to go from three bars (full) to one bar. While working on narrative shoots, I never wanted to see how long the life lasted with one bar, so I'm not sure how long it would have worked; too afraid of the unit shutting off during a take.
 
J Davis said:
thats a pretty good idea. What batts do u use? any links?

I was using duracell rechargeable AA
Click to expand...

Rechargeable batteries are never a good idea when it comes to production. Their mAh are too low. I only use energizer Lithium batteries when it comes to anything requiring AA.
 
Seriously - I was going to buy one of these today

Are is this really a problem - not with clapped out recharchables but with normal chuckaways

S
 
i had the batteries run out twice last week at important moments and was shocked to discover that the (long) clips were lost!

very crappy.. watch out for that!
 
Hmmm

So the sensible way to use it is to

roll sound, roll camera

What I like about the rode video mic is it lasts for about 50 hours on a battery at least - so as long as you remember to turn it on in the morning it is fire and forget

And then it goes red before it dies

Are there any alternative to thr H4n

S
 
or can it take some bad boy power source

my SmallHD batts are getting a bit feeble so I might have to bite the bullet and get some sort of reliable brick

S
 
sorry, I can't do throw away batts where it can be avoided.
Which makes me wonder. The Lithiums mentioned above, are they rechargeable?
Maybe not. I gues its crappy rechargeables or shooting tethered for me! :)


BTW - See the little pic in my sig?
Its a festival film I did about the environment and
the last thing I ever did in SD.
Watch for the twist at the very last second
 
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There is an AC adapter that comes with it.

I recommend somebody actually tests how long it takes for the H4n to turn off on you, starting with fresh batteries. My mention of 10 minutes was how long it took for the indicator to get to its last notch. It's possible that the last battery notch (on the LCD) lasts much longer than the others.
 
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