H4 vs H4N

[DavidBeier]

I've been looking for an audio option with my 60D and I recently heard of someone offering a zoom H4 for pretty cheap (little over $100). I know everyone swears by the H4N but I don't know if I can afford $300 at this point. Thus far, I've been having to bust out my HVX200 and use it as a B-cam just so I can plug in my boom.

How does the H4 compare to the H4N? On another thread, I heard someone mention that with the H4N, one can not only record to the SD card but the audio can simultaneously be run into the camera to be recorded on the clips without the need to sync files. Can the H4 do this as well as it would save me a lot of time.

 

[deltoidjohn]

I've used both and the main difference is that with the H4 everything is buried in difficult to navigate menu's - I only had a borrowed H4 for a few weeks but in that time I never memorised how to adjust the audio input level and would spend a couple of minutes digging through confusing menu's every time I needed to change it.

I'm sure there are other differences but nothing else that really effects me. They both delivered fairly good audio quality which is clearer than on any camera's on-board audio that I've used.