Equipment Reviews

[Anita.N]

Sony ICD-SX712 Digital Flash Voice Recorder                                                            
http://www.amazon.com                           
$450.00

Excellent Sound, Solid Build, Nicely Portable, Great Price
By IndyTennis on February 27, 2012

I am a journalist who has been using audio recorders since the 1980s and moved from tape to digital in the mid-1990s. For most purposes using a very pocketable recorded like the Olympus WS-320M, which I've used for years and love for its portability and ease of use, is good enough.

In recent years I've had the opportunity to interview historically significant subjects on a one-on-one basis, which led me increasingly to be concerned about the audio quality of the interviews for possible future broadcast use. I've tried a variety of high-quality, low-cost recorders in recent years, most recently the Zoom H1 and now this new Sony ICD-SX712.

I've used both in the field long enough now to say that the Sony is the hands down winner.
I record both manually using the current sampling rate standard of 44.1/16. The sound quality on both are nearly identical, which is to say very good and easily broadcast quality.
The Sony has these advantages over the Zoom H1:
- Considerably less handling noise.
- Better wind noise resistance, although a quality windscreen is a must for both, especially for outside use.
- Pausing the recording is possible with the Sony and not the Zoom. This is perhaps the biggest advantage of the Sony. If a phone call comes in and the person I'm interviewing has to stop our interview for a few seconds, I can simply pause the Sony. With the Zoom I had to stop the recording and then start a whole new file - a very big hassle.
- The Sony is slightly more pocketable, although heavier.
- Much better battery life with the Sony.
- Tougher build quality.
Finally with the Sony, if you are trying to get the ultimate sound quality for archival purposes use the LPCM mode instead of MP3. You can always easily convert the files to MP3 later. Also record manually and set your level where it peaks at about -12db. Using the auto level and other modes presents unwanted transient noise into the recordings.

 5 star rating
    *****

Olympus DS-3500 Professional Dictation Digital Voice Recorder
http://www.bhphotovideo.com
$399.99

Reviewer: martin from United Kingdom
June 28, 2014
ds3500 well made , great quality recordings

I would recommend this item & company

Expensive but it is great quality. Dragon loves it. Seems to have much better accuracy transcribing from this than from the dragon supplied mic. So its well worth the money for me

4 star rating
   ****

Olympus DS 2400 Digital voice recorder
https://dstore.com.au
$723.00

Nice digital recording for transcribing
By Amazon Customer on February 22, 2009

I am a lawyer and have to do a lot of dictation. I have used much more expensive Olympus recorders before, but I tried this one and it works great! I record my dictation and then upload the files over the Internet to the transcribers. It works great.

My only complaint is the button functions on the side of the recorder are not really very intuitive as compared to other recorders I have used, but I got used to it. Also, the software the comes with it is not very intuitive, either, but I have it figured out.

It has excellent recording quality. If you need a digital recorder, I recommend this one. Why spend $250 more for essentially the same thing?

4 star rating
   ****

Panasonic AG-AC90 HD Camcorder with Wide Angle Zoom Lens
http://www.videoguys.com.au
$2444.00

Good Value, March 25, 2014
By Wayne Walker

This review is from: Panasonic AG-AC90 AVCCAM Handheld Camcorder with SSE BUNDLE KIT Includes - .43x Wide Angle Lens, 2.2x Telephoto Lens, 3 Piece Multi-Coated Filter Kit, Extended Life Battery & External Rapid Charger, 8GB SDHC Memory Card, Card Reader, LED Video Light, PRO Panhead Tilt Motion Tripod, Waterproof Carrying Case and SSE Cleaning Cloth (Camera)
I have been shooting with a Canon T2i for some time and was very happy with the camera. I needed a camera that I could run and gun with. The AG-AC90 has turned out to be a great camera for me. The XLR jacks give great sound quality and work well with either my vidpro shotgun mic or my wireless lavalier mic system. The Optical Image Stabilization is also excellent. Hand held shots are very smooth and stable. The battery life is also very good and I can shoot over 5 hours at 30P on a single 64GB SD card. Only issues I've noticed is the zoom and the focus seem to move in small steps instead of being completely smooth. Low light performance is good considering the sensor size. Auto Focus works well in varying light conditions. Over all the camera has a lot of solid features that work well. Great

4 star rating
   ****

Panasonic HMC40KIT Camcorder and Mic Adapter/Holder with 12x Optical Zoom with 2.7-Inch LCD
http://www.amazon.com
$2,095.00

Perfect!!! By Elkbison on November 10, 2009

This camera deserves "6 Stars" on image quality. I am a Realist when it comes to reviewing a product. First: we must consider the items price, $1995.00. In the "Professional Video Camera World", That is tantamount to saying a steal!!! I will not go into features and functions, the description of this Camera is given in detail on the product description portion of this page.

Second: Size and weight, Until very recently, a Pro Video Camera came in two sizes, large and super large. The additional problem here is that the general public became used to seeing these monstrosities at events, and broadcasts. Many Video Camera Professionals still look for these monstrosities simply to appease their clients visual expectations. This is the wrong approach, we should stop breaking our backs with our equipment, and instead educate the public of the technological advances that have benefited this industry. The video quality produced by this camera will please the most discriminating client.

Third: You have all this quality being recorded on SDHC cards (my advise is Class 10 30mbs or better). Recording on SDHC cards will be a liberating experience for people who used tape in the past. The Quality is much better. You cannot record over scenes by accident. It can be recorded on again and again, without loss of quality. It is not affected by altitude like hard drive consumer models. If you are thinking of getting this camera, Just get it.....think later!!!

5 star rating
  *****