Record Trigger for Zoom Recorders

[Joshua Milligan]

Howdy friends. I have been running a Sony A7SII as a B-cam to my FS7, but my next project will require me to use my A7SII as the main camera as I will be on a documentary shoot in Pakistan. Kinda hard to blend in with an FS7 there. Anyway, I have my A7SII caged and am running a Zoom H5 recorder for the audio. I am using the shotgun mic capsule with two Sony wireless mics to give me three channels of audio. My problem is remembering to press record on the Zoom.

Even though I have a cable plugged into the camera from the Zoom, I still need to record the audio into the Zoom separately so that my audio channels aren't mixed. Being a one-man-band, it's going to be hard to remember to press record on both the camera and the Zoom every time I shoot a clip, especially over in a semi-hostel environment where I have so many other things to worry about. I am wanting to see if it's possible to somehow get the A7SII to trigger a recording on my Zoom when I record my clips. This would eliminate my need to constantly remember to press record twice and would help me spend more time focusing on the task at hand. Does anyone have a solution for this?

 

[IronFilm]

I would not bother with the Zoom, and instead get the Sony XLR-K2M to record it into the camera itself from the Wireless. (or use a Saramonic UwMic9 or similar, which can receive two RX at once, and pass as stereo to the a7S)

Of course this means you'd still be missing the shotgun reference audio... for that I recommend just use a Shure VP83F (which has a built in recorder) and let it run forever. Don't bother stopping and starting it, sync it later in post. Tascam DR-10SG is another to consider that does the same thing (on camera shotgun with a built in recorder).

Using a Tascam DR-10L (or Tascam DR-10C if you can get it in your country, damn Zaxcom.... !!) on the talent might be another option to consider as well (as you'll be running and gunning pretty hard I imagine as a one man band in a hostile environment, so losing the ability to constantly monitor your wireless feeds might not be such a big deal). Or at least bring along just one for when you might want a third person lav upped.