Zoom mounting options

J Davis

J Davis

Veteran
How are you all mounting the zoom? Or is everyone planing on a carry bag/sling?

Based on Zacuto's video (LINK) I came up with this

$10 Audio Technica Flash Shoe Mount B&H LINK
$15 Giottos Mini Ballhead B&H LINK

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Saw another way (B&H LINK) but Zoom may be too low and interfere with the controls.

B&H closed today so will try it tomorrow.



EDIT:
Its monday and I just took my GH1 to B&H, the Audio Technica Shoe Mount does not fit in the GH1 shoe socket
so I came up with another solution for same price. See post 11
 
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I rigged a mount to my mixer bag, and noticed one thing that you should take into account when mounting the zoom-
The record/ stop/ Fast forward buttons on the face are quite easy to press accidentally, and the lights are impossible to see in bright light. A couple of times I hit a button and stopped recording by accident, just from moving around. The screen is still visible in bright light, but not the red recording light around the buttons.
 
please report back with the best/cheapest solution for mounting a Zoom to the GH1 if you figure it out, I am definitely thinking about picking one of these up and my primary use for it would be mounted to the top of my cam.
 
AFAIK, there's improved sound on the H4N. At least that's what I gathered from my research. And I agree with the above post about the H4N, or any other audio recorder, being with your sound guy. That way the levels could be adjusted when necessary. I also think a device like that would make the camera awkward to handle, but maybe that's just me.
 
Yes, well this is for the times that you are wandering around the city and don't have, need, or want a sound guy. And for the times that you have a sound guy, obviously he would have it. But you still will need a way to mount the audio device for when you are just fooling around and flying solo. You can't tell me you don't every plan on shooting fun stuff as it comes and documenting life? Or even just doing test shots?

And final thing, if you have an ACTUAL sound guy, he will have something much better than the zoom. For most people this is just their personal thing for when they can't use something better. Or they are saving up still (like me).
 
paulgandersman said:
also does anyone know if you can mount the (much cheaper) zoom H4 onto the GH1? and what would be some of the drawbacks of getting this as opposed to the H4n?

http://www.amazon.com/Zoom-ZOO-H4-H...8&s=musical-instruments&qid=1245642462&sr=8-3
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I also went with the much cheaper H4 instead of the H4n ($220+tx instead of $350+tx). My reasoning is that for serious situations my shotgun goes to preamp so my audio is going in at line level. The quality would be the same between H4 and H4n.

For run&gun stuff the reviews for H4 in built mics are good so I decided to save on the money.
 
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So when I was at B&H I found that the Audio Technica shoe mount I mentioned in post 1 doesn't fit in the GH1 shoe.
Its slightly too big and I didn't want to force it so the parts I got were

$22.95 Rycote Hot Shoe Adapter LINK
$5.95 Bogen Female 3/8 to Male 1/4 LINK

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I also tested with the Giottos mini ball head but the Zoom felt too high up.
The above mentioned parts means the Zoom is low and manageable but you can see and still access all GH1 controls.
Hope this helps you all, glad I can finally give a little info back to the community.
 
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So I finally had a close look at my Zoom H4 (never played with H4 or H4n before) and I've noticed a problem. The unit has no shockmount, therefore the handling noise is pretty bad.

I still think its a good piece of kit for recording line level audio off a mixer in a two system setup where it is nowhere near the cam. Most of what I do is with actors and it will be fine for this.

But as for an on camera sound substitute in run&gun situations in its current form it is pretty bad. You would get better results from a Rode video mic going in camera. Sure you get auto gain but handling noise is worse. I am surprised no one here has mentioned it before, has anyone got a solution to this?
 
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The Roland 09HR doesn't have a mount on the unit...it is on the removable leather cover. I also bought a foam wind screen that fits when the leather cover is on the mic. It's not a shock mount but it is probably a little closer than a direct H4N to hotshoe mount.
 
Entity said:
Yes, well this is for the times that you are wandering around the city and don't have, need, or want a sound guy. And for the times that you have a sound guy, obviously he would have it. But you still will need a way to mount the audio device for when you are just fooling around and flying solo. You can't tell me you don't every plan on shooting fun stuff as it comes and documenting life? Or even just doing test shots?

And final thing, if you have an ACTUAL sound guy, he will have something much better than the zoom. For most people this is just their personal thing for when they can't use something better. Or they are saving up still (like me).
Click to expand...

For those situations you mention, I was planning on going with the built-in mic at first to see how it is, then potentially getting the Panasonic or a Rode mic to mount to it instead. Attaching the H4N would just seem too clunky to me for those situations. If the reports come in that it works really well mounted to the camera, then maybe that will change.
 
Mike@AF said:
For those situations you mention, I was planning on going with the built-in mic at first to see how it is, then potentially getting the Panasonic or a Rode mic to mount to it instead. Attaching the H4N would just seem too clunky to me for those situations. If the reports come in that it works really well mounted to the camera, then maybe that will change.
Click to expand...

The GH1 built in mic is part of the pop up flash unit. It points directly upwards towards your nostrils when the flash unit is down. When the flash is raised the mic points backwards towards your throat.

Pana wants you to record your every breath, pant and gasp while you shoot whomever you are pointing the camera at.
 
paulgandersman said:
J Davis, does the H4 have a screw hole to mount it like the H4n?
Click to expand...

It comes with a hard plastic shell case and velcro straps all together in the box. The unit fits pretty securely in it with zoom's velcro bit it doesn't look as professional as the H4n. There is a 1/4 20 hole in the hard shell case and the hole is positioned in the middle underneath.

If you go to my first post there is a link to a zacuto video on vimeo. The video shows the H4n mounted on top of a 5DM2. The H4 sits in exactly the same position.

come to think of it ... I wonder if the Zacuto unit has a shock mount ...

EDIT
I'm calling Zacuto now ...
 
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Waiting for Zacuto to call me back. In the meantime I've been messing around with other run & gun solutions. Nothing I like as it feels a bit cumbersome.
This is a NTG2 with shockmount and a samigon flash bracket out the side to hold the zoom h4. Cable gets in my face, and I'm stuck with Zoom's preamps, I don't like it. Hoping Zacuto mount has shockie.

I don't normally do event work but as luck would have it I agreed to do a job in a few weeks. At this rate I will borrow another cam.
 

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