ZoomQ3
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Zoom's high-fidelity Q3 pocket camcorder ships to America
Hailed as the first and only handheld video recorder to record HD audio, Zoom's Q3 Handy Video recorder is definitely a unique offering amongst the legions of me-toos. After being announced in July and tickling our senses right around a month ago, the Q3 has finally begun to ship en masse to eager consumers. Just in case you've forgotten, this bugger records 24-bit/48 kHz audio via a pair of condenser microphones, gets powered by two AA cells and captures video at 640 x 480 (30fps). There's also a 2.4-inch 320 x 240 LCD and an SDHC card slot, though you'll have to shell out $249 in order to get this kind of technology into your own pocket. Order up, kids!%Gallery-75555%
Zoom Q3 ears-on: it's like 'Stop Making Sense' saw your YouTube lip sync video and liked it
What's this blue monstrosity? A YouTube-happy concert bootlegger's new best friend. The Zoom Q3 (which is distributed by Samson in the States) pairs a decent stereo mic and some in-depth audio controls with a regular crappy pocket video camera sensor -- along with an oversized screen to make room for audio level meters. There are obviously limited situations where this is really necessary (there are plenty of much better dedicated mics for when you don't need the VGA video to go along with it), and all your cutesy Flip mino-toting friends are going to laugh at you, but at least you'll be able to crank up your recording to lossless and capture their cackles with eardrum shattering clarity. Check out a video of the Zoom Q3 shot with another Zoom Q3 after the break and decide for yourself if it's worth the slightly premium $249 pricetag.
