Snack-sized, solid state HD video is cheap and affordable these days. Sure, a handheld video recorder like the Flip HD or Kodak Zi6 may not rival your real camcorder, but they’re dirt cheap, fit in your pocket, and with good lighting can put out really nice footage. There’s just one problem – the sound is often utterly dreadful. (I picked up a Zi6 this week because its audio is pretty reasonable, but it’s not stereo and I wouldn’t use it in an audio-critical situation.)

Hmmm… if only your favorite HD video handheld and something like the awesome Zoom H4n could combine…

It seems Samson/Zoom heard your wish. The Q3 has the stereo mic from the H4n – a really great-sounding mic for field recording, one that almost magically seems to make things sound good in tough situations. But it adds to that native MPEG-4 video recording. Pop in a 32GB SDHC card and the device promises up to 16 hours. (Or bring a few cards – they’re removable.) And you get high-quality stereo audio, something that even fairly pricey camcorders almost always lack. (Heck, even the supposed prosumer or even “pro” models are often downright awful in the sound department.)

Another unique feature: while most camcorders are limited to lossy audio, you can actually record full 44.1/48kHz PCM WAV. In fact, I could actually see carrying one of these to a gig alongside your pro camera; you can use the 640×480 picture as a reference and have an additional sound source.

There has to be a catch, right? Well, for starters this doesn’t give you HD video. Granted, the Zi6 and Flip HD are only 720p, and the sensors aren’t the best, but having that extra resolution can be forgiving and gives you a 16:9 aspect ratio to boot, plus lovely 60 fps. On the other hand, sensor quality and optics matter more than specs on paper; I’d settle for 640×480 picture if the video quality is good – and I can tell you right now, you’re unlikely to beat the Q3 on sound quality. (That said, a Q3 HD seems inevitable at some point.) Also, unlike an H4n, this doesn’t have a mic input jack, so you can’t easily switch over to a lavalier mic. Combined, that should mean if you’ve bought an H4n and a video camera, there’s no reason for buyers’ remorse. But this still has some use – and suggests some good stuff coming to us soon, too.

Availability: September (at least, so says @samsontech via Twitter – and in Q3, ironically enough). Pricing: Zoom says expect a US$250 street price.

Details from Samson:
Q3 – Handy Video Recorder

Via Darren Landrum.

Brad Linder is a blogger, freelance journalist, and producer for National Public Radio. If anyone loves mobile recorders, he sure does. He writes in with a great overview of what was happening in mobile recorders at the AES show here in New York, with plenty of detailed information on his blog.

Our friend David Battino writes from O’Reilly Digital Media site to share the massive reader response they got to the Zoom H2 recorder. (The H2 is a smaller version of the H4, which made a guest appearance of sorts on Morning Edition this week.)

Mark Nelson didn’t manage to make this his fifth portable flash recorder review in Hawaii, but he made up for it in depth. His review of the Zoom H2 is almost 5,000 words and contains surround-sound links galore as well as some nifty audio examples.

What’s especially cool was that it became a collaborative review after I asked readers what features they wanted us to test when the H2 finally shipped. They piled on with questions, driving my blog to #1 on the whole O’Reilly Network. At last count, I had close to 300 comments. One reader even wrote a Mac plugin to convert the H2’s quad recordings to 5.1.

So, there you have it: mobile recording geekery can have mass appeal!

Review

Pre-discussion

As readers look for the ideal mobile recording device, we’ve had ongoing, vibrant discussion about the Zoom H4. Its built-in stereo mic pair, real XLR jacks, and low price are big pluses — enough so that at least some are willing to overlook fidgety mic level settings. But one major problem could be a deal-breaker: an audible buzz in recordings.

Fortunately, it seems there’s a fix: if you don’t want to have to plug in the AC adapter all the time (which would defeat the purpose of a mobile recorder), make your own DIY battery pack. Zoom forums and RC car enthusiasts to the rescue!

Brad Linder, whom I met today at the NYC Jelly coworking session out in Brooklyn, is a blogger (Weblogs, Inc.) and NPR freelancer. Needless to say, NPR’s audio requirements will be higher than the typical amateur podcaster. Brad extensively documents his DIY RC battery pack.

Building an external battery pack for portable electronic devices [Brad Linder's Digital Home]

Good stuff, and now that I’ve just gotten my own H4, I’ll be trying this out myself.

A couple of other questions come to mind, though: have others had trouble using external mics (which is part of the point of getting an H4)? And, power gurus, I wonder if a LiPoly battery (Polymer Lithium Ion), as used in cell phones and sold via vendors like SparkFun Electronics, could do the trick? They’re not cheap, but the slim design is a big improvement over the Ghostbuster-esque design above. Thoughts?

Previously:
Zoom H4 Mobile Recording: Useful for Movie Production?

Zoom H2 Portable Flash Recorder Coming Soon; Mic Design Delay (with loads of comments from Zoom owners and folks who went with competitive devices like the Edirol mobile recorder)