LIGHTING TO GO BUYERS’ GUIDE
COLOURS
Our pick of the best camera-top and portable LED lights illuminating the market
How to: Colour Correction
DEN LENNIE’S BUSINESS BOOTCAMP Expert marketing advice to grow your client base
The ultimate magazine for next generation filmmakers
SPRING 2015 £4.99 @ProMoviemaker
www.promoviemaker.net
BVE 2015 SPECIAL
UNMISSABLE pro reviews on the latest gear from Blackmagic, Canon & Samsung
WIN PRIZES WORTH OVER £3,000! from Zacuto, hipjib and Transporter
GROUP TEST
SOUND MASTERS
Head-to-head test with four of the best recorders
DRONES MILE-HIGH CLUB The sexy and serious sides to aerial photography – come fly with us!
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PLUS
Everything you need to know about video hosting The ultimate audio postproduction masterclass Practical lighting advice for shooting on location
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ACADEMY ONLINE VIDEO HOSTING
HOST YOUR VIDEO
THE HOST WITH THE MOST
Producing your video is one thing, but your client could ask you to arrange the hosting too, so make sure you know the differences between hosting types to ensure the film is seen by the widest audience WORDS LORRAINE GRULA
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o you’ve done your best job, you’ve produced a wonderful video for your client and they’re really pleased with the way it all looks. You might think that all the hard work’s been done, but in fact there is still a crucial stage left to consider that can make or break the production and will certainly determine who might get to see it and its impact. I’m talking here about hosting of course. Where and how your video is hosted could have a major influence on the ultimate success of the whole production, and whether your client feels that it’s done the job they wanted. Where your video is hosted online makes a big difference to a wide variety of things, such as how many people will get a chance to watch your video and whether the video will play on multiple devices. It will determine the resolution and overall video quality, what the video player looks like and how it
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functions, and your ability to use interactive links and/or messages on top of your video. It will also affect the way that search engines index your site and will influence how much traffic your video attracts as well as how well it converts. It’s quite a line-up of considerations I’m sure you’ll agree, and all the more reason why you should pay close attention to your hosting options rather than just leaving things to chance. This feature is designed to give you some food for thought on the many different aspects of online video hosting and what it all means. Before I go any further, however, let me just clarify that there is no one best way to host your video online. There are pros and cons to every method, and different hosting sites serve different purposes for different people. To decide what’s right for you, start by considering your goals.
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ONLINE VIDEO HOSTING
“There are pros and cons to every method, and different hosting sites serve different purposes for different people”
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ACADEMY VIDEO EDITING
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
COLOUR CORRECTING
STAY ON TOP OF YOUR COLOUR!
When you’re editing video footage one of the most important things to be on top of, particularly if you’ve been working in a variety of lighting conditions, is colour WORDS SIMON HALL
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olour correction in the world of film has, in the past, always been a bit of a dark art. With systems costing hundreds of thousands of pounds required to simply tweak the colour in your video, this whole area was very much the domain of feature films and high-end broadcast productions. However, as with non-linear editing, advancing technology now means that the world of colour correction is available to a mass market. Indeed editing systems have incorporated colour correction filters in their software for years.
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Colour correction can sometimes be left behind, but with Blackmagic’s Resolve software it is a much simpler process.
“Free Blackmagic Resolve might be, but it’s still a powerful package” A real change took place in 2009, however, when Blackmagic Design acquired DaVinci Systems and its powerful colour correction software, Resolve. Blackmagic aimed to make the software much more affordable and to ensure that it was available on Mac OS X and Windows as well as Linux. As well as releasing a full version, Blackmagic also released a free Lite version, which could emulate the full paid version minus just one or two features. It was an
exciting move and it’s ensured that the colour grading system favoured by Hollywood studios has now become available to all and sundry. Resolve is now in its eleventh iteration and the Lite version is available on free download from the Blackmagic website. Free it might be, but it’s still a powerful package that should not be underestimated: it’s the software I used to carry out all of the techniques that are shown throughout this feature.
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VIDEO EDITING Editing with Resolve Firstly there are a couple of things you need to know about Resolve and colour in general. While Resolve might be a free download and a truly first class colour grading system, it does need a fair amount of hardware power to run smoothly. You need a decent amount of RAM, for example: 8GB is ok but 16GB is better. Secondly, a sizeable graphics card is needed, something with at least 2GB of VRAM. Anything less than these specs and you may find that your machine runs very slowly. As well as computer hardware you also need to think about camera hardware as well, namely what codec the camera records its information in. High-end film cameras such as Arris or indeed Blackmagic’s own Cinema cameras shoot their material in a native Raw format, meaning there is no compression on the images. The files have a high dynamic range, and record colour in what is referred to as a 4:4:4 colour space, meaning there is no loss of colour information in the image. They also have a high bit depth, normally shooting at 12bits per channel. A bit depth determines the number of colours that can be represented at each pixel location, along with the smoothness of subtle colour shading that can be represented across an image gradient, such as a sunset sky, without the image looking like it’s banding. When you compare these cameras against a Canon EOS 5D Mark III there’s a big difference in the video recorded. Firstly the codec it records in is H.264. This is a compressed codec, which means that not every frame is a full frame. Instead it simply records information in master frames (commonly called I Frames) and the frames in between record the differences (B Frames) and also predict what frames will look like (P Frames). Many cameras record video like this as it keeps the data rate down. However, contrast is very much linear, meaning that if you over or underexpose images there will be a loss of detail. The colour sampled is a 4:2:0 colour space, meaning that the image has just one pair of
chroma (colour) channels for every four luma (brightness) channels. Finally the H.264 codec is 8-bit, meaning that smooth areas of colour may band or break up, known as artifacting. So, while any colour grading on video will always improve the look of the raw material, if you’re shooting with compressed formats you might not always get the smooth Hollywood look that you’re after. The slight downside to Raw files is that they will always need grading, and they can be huge, so for many editors and videographers they are unusable unless you invest in serious amounts of storage. These things are always worth bearing in mind at the outset, and you need to be prepared.
“If you’re shooting with compressed formats you might not get the smooth Hollywood look”
Getting started Once Resolve has downloaded, load the software and then make a user profile for your projects. Once this is done double click on the Untitled Project window and Resolve will then launch into the project. Choose a name for this and then save it. Along the bottom of the screen there are four buttons: Media, Edit, Color, and Deliver. If you want to load media into Resolve from scratch simply navigate to the files and drag them into the Media Pool. If, however, you’re coming from an editing system you can do this in the next button. Once the media is loaded click on the Edit button. In the window in the top left hand corner there should be two buttons marked Timelines and Media Pool. To edit from scratch right click in the timeline window and choose ‘Create new sequence’. Then click on Media Pool and you can start editing your clips into the sequence using the Resolve editor. Meanwhile if you’re coming from an editing system you need to export either an XML file (Final Cut Pro or Premiere) or AAF (Avid) out of your chosen system. Once this is done, right click in the timeline window, choose Import AAF/EDL/XML and navigate to your chosen file. On the import option window that will appear choose the option to automatically add clips to the Media Pool. The edit
FROM TOP Open up Resolve and make a user profile. Click on the Untitled Project window and choose a name for this, then save it. Resolve has four buttons along the bottom – Media, Color, Edit and Deliver, and dragging files into the Media Pool will open them up. Click on Edit and you’ll find Timelines and Media Pool.
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MOVIE MATTERS THE BUSINESS OF FILMMAKING
DE N LE NN IE’S BU SI NE SS BO OT CA MP
MARKETING YOUR MOVIES Master filmmaker Den Lennie is also a ver y astute businessman, with a new book designed to point the way for wannabe videographers. In the first of a new series he talks about the importance of marketing WORDS DEN LENNIE
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THE BUSINESS OF FILMMAKING
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arketing for filmmakers can be very intimidating. I think it must have something to do with being creative; we seem to be more concerned with creating content than creating new business. In simple terms, marketing is simply about putting your message in front of the right customers or potential customers at the right time, so that when they are ready to make a purchase or buying decision, they think of you and call. Marketing is just storytelling, but in that process as a filmmaker or video producer you are offering to help your clients, and prospective clients, to tell their stories. People buy from people and therefore it makes sense that if you are going to buy from someone then you want to have a relationship with them. Well-executed marketing does that. It helps you to build a relationship with the prospective customer, through different means of communicating with that person. Think about it for a second; if you go fishing for salmon you choose the right river. You choose the correct fishing rod, the correct bait and the time of year when the salmon are most likely to be there. There would be no point trying to fish for salmon in a pond full of goldfish. Now I’m no fisherman, but I imagine that the kind of bait used to catch salmon is not the same kind of bait you would use to catch a goldfish. If you take that principle and apply it to your marketplace what do you get? Sales! If you are in a business that sells wedding films then you need to be positioning yourself correctly for that market to be attracted to you. The first thing you need to do is to
identify who the key decision maker is, and I’m pretty certain it’s the bride. Therefore where is the bride likely to be looking when she’s planning her wedding? Notice I said her wedding: if you’re reading this and are married you know exactly what I’m talking about! A wedding day is all about the bride. In fact when I used to shoot weddings I used to joke with the groom that he was the only person in the room who didn’t actually get an official invitation to his own wedding. So in terms of marketing, the bride and the bride’s mother are likely to be key influencers in every decision that’s made. The upshot of this is that if you’re running a wedding film business then it’s the bride and the bride’s mother you need to be connecting with. So where are they likely to be looking when planning a wedding? Well any number of places, but most likely they’ll be looking at wedding magazines, going to wedding fairs and probably asking for recommendations from friends that are already married. (Hint: recommendations and referrals are likely to be one of your biggest sources of business.) Learn to compete I’ve chosen weddings here as an example because it’s a particularly competitive market. If you were to Google the term ‘wedding video production’ in your area it’s likely there will be a number of sites that would show up. This gives you some indication that other competing businesses are already doing some form of marketing online. Now before becoming overly anxious about the competition, just bear in mind that this is a good thing. Lots of competition means there’s likely to be lots of business, and the only decision you need to make is where you are going to pitch yourself and your price point to offer something different.
“If you are in a business that sells wedding films then you need to be positioning yourself correctly for that market to be attracted to you”
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MOVIE MATTERS EXPANDING YOUR BUSINESS
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EXPANDING YOUR BUSINESS
EXPANDING YOUR BUSINESS
A PERFECT PROPOSAL
Not many couples are lucky enough to fall into a business they love, let alone be so successful that they expand with a sister company. We talk to wedding videographers Danny and Julie O’Neill about their burgeoning MintySlippers empire WORDS ZENA TOSCANI
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f you’ve not yet encountered the name MintySlippers it’s surely just a matter of time, because the company is now firmly established as one of the top wedding video houses in the country. The rise of the business is a fascinating story that demonstrates that it’s so often the way you approach a business that’s more important than the depth of your technical know-how. Danny and Julie O’Neill never set out to shoot films and therefore hadn’t even studied in the field. By trade, at the time, they were actually an IT manager and facilities manager respectively. “We fell into it totally by chance,” Danny says. “Our good friends asked us to film their wedding with our little Sony DCR-HC14E and a borrowed tripod, and things just grew from there.” The couple didn’t have ambitious plans for postproduction either, but when Danny’s brother suggested they take a look at
Sony Vegas they downloaded the 30-day trial and discovered a newfound love for the software. This film became one of their first demos and even though looking back now Danny still can’t fathom how they managed to get bookings based on it, they did and ultimately these just kept on rolling in. Spending the days in their day jobs, nights in the edit and weekends out shooting, week in week out became quite difficult to sustain and exhaustion was creeping in. “Our day jobs were becoming more of a chore than a joy,” Julie says. “But at the weekends we were welcomed into the best day of people’s lives.” Making new friends and enjoying a break from the corporate world gave the couple a glimpse into a better life. They had to decide whether to keep MintySlippers going as a contribution to their retirement or really go for it. Fortunately for brides and grooms everywhere, they
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GEAR AERIAL VIDEOGRAPHY
FLYING HIGH
COME FLY WITH ME
Even just a year or so ago they were seen by some filmmakers as a bit of a sideshow, but now drones have come of age and are seemingly everywhere. Is this a bandwagon you should be looking to step aboard? WORDS TERRY HOPE PICTURES VARIOUS
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he world of filmmaking is so fast moving that if you take your eyes off it for a few moments then something else will be centre stage. Drones are the perfect example: just a little while ago many filmmakers saw them as being of fringe interest at best, something incredibly niche using flying frames that looked like something an aeroplane enthusiast might fly at weekends. You would have to be going around with your eyes shut not to have noticed the growth of interest in drones over the past year or so. Publicity ranges from the controversial, in the form of the spiralling use by the military of spy and attack drones; the bizarre, such as Amazon suggesting that they
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LEFT The Phantom ‘fly out of the box’ drones are good entry-level models, and you can work your way up the models as you gain confidence and experience.
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AERIAL VIDEOGRAPHY
might make parcel deliveries by drones; and finally the tantalising thought that as drones become more featurepacked and affordable they might have commercial uses that filmmakers, amongst others, could harness. We’re well down the road towards drones becoming a mainstream piece of kit, and they’re freely available at a range of price points, ensuring that a wide circle of filmmakers can get involved. The trend towards HD video enabled cameras shrinking down in size – think micro models such as the GoPro and CSCs in the shape of the 4K-capable Sony A7S and the Panasonic GH4 – has meant that there is less payload for drones to have to carry. There are also now some really quite advanced drones, such as DJI’s Phantom 2 Quadcopters, that are available ready to fly out of the box for well under £1000, and these models are capable of giving a filmmaker an entry point into a fascinating and potentially lucrative aerial market.
Why look at drones? So, why should a filmmaker even be taking an interest in what a drone might have to offer? Well, they’re opening the door to a new range of possibilities, and although clients might not exactly have been queuing up to book aerial shoots up to now, the fact is that they are thinking more about the opportunities in this area now that they realise it’s practical. At the lowest end of the scale, think estate agents, and how it might present a different and more pleasing viewpoint if the pictures of the properties they had for sale were taken from a slightly elevated position. A segment in a wedding video that shows the bridal party entering or exiting the church taken from above could have eye-catching potential, as could footage of a train racing through the countryside or a shot of blissfully unaware wildlife. The benefit of drones extends way beyond such scenarios, however, and into the world of feature films, where they have already had a massive impact, for reasons both economic and logistical. Whereas once a conventional helicopter shot would have cost a fortune, for example, now a drone can provide a straightforward aerial view for a fraction of the money. There’s less planning involved and even quite low budget products can now think about including footage of this kind. But drones can do so much more than simply be a cheaper alternative to the time honoured ways of doing things: they offer their own set of virtues, and can do things that a helicopter or an aeroplane couldn’t hope to match. For example, a drone can hover low above the head of an actor, providing a new perspective to a scene, while a helicopter attempting the same thing would quite literally sweep that person off their feet. There is also now a new type of shot, the lengthy continuous pan, where a drone lifts off smoothly and completes a pre-rehearsed manoeuvre, sweeping across the ground at speed, following actors and perhaps even flying through a window or a door on its travels. This is a fresh horizon: these kinds of shots were never possible before, and a new generation of filmmaker is now excitedly looking at the options that have opened up and is exploiting the newfound potential to the full. Alex Hardy, the founder of Vulcan, a company that specialises in the development and manufacture of
“We’re well down the road towards drones becoming a mainstream piece of kit, and they’re available at a range of price points”
IMAGES Heavy lift drones can take kit as bulky as a Red Epic into the air, but you need to satisfy the CAA you’re competent and you’ll also have very limited flying time.
MAKE SURE YOU’RE INSURED Given the potential dangers that arise when you’re flying a drone in a professional capacity it’s crucial to be insured, and Aaduki claims to be the only photography and video insurance provider to offer cover for those working in this area. The company’s policies cover the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, all risk, in flight or in transit, plus they can extend the cover to include Public Liability, Employers’ Liability and any cameras that are being used. Cover can also be extended to outside of the UK if required. All Aaduki’s policies comply with CAA regulation as well as EC 785 – 2004, the EU regulation governing the use of drones. The company is also the recognised insurance provider for SUAS the Society for Unmanned Aerial Systems. For more information call 01837 658880 Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm. www.aaduki.com
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GEAR CAMERA TESTS
HANDS-ON WITH THE LATEST GEAR
NEW KIT ON THE BLOCK There have been some really interesting launches in the video market recently, so we thought we’d get three new models in from Samsung, Canon and Blackmagic to see what our panel of experts think
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he world of filmmaking never stands still, and there are always new products coming to market that move things on, delivering new options to the profession. The CSC market is now challenging conventional HDSLRs, capable of not just delivering awesome quality but also
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offering 4K footage as well. And Blackmagic continues to innovate, its latest URSA model extending the tradition of the company for producing groundbreaking models at a reasonable price. We decided to get three of the latest models in from Samsung, Blackmagic and Canon, and
Taken out into the field: the Canon EOS 7D Mark II, the Blackmagic URSA and the Samsung NX1 are tested by real-life videographers.
to hand them out to working videographers, to get their personal feedback and to find out if any of these young upstarts are likely to displace the gear they’re already using. The results are fascinating and there’s plenty of food for thought over the next 12 pages!
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CAMERA TESTS
Blackmagic URSA Blackmagic has been one of the key names in the affordable end of the video market for some time now, and its latest URSA model is proving irresistible to those entering the market from still photography WORDS ROB NIXON
AS WITH ANY PIECE OF filmmaking kit, some will be the perfect fit for an individual, while others might find it difficult to get on with. Put another way, despite the waves that the Blackmagic URSA has been creating in the filmmaking business since its launch last year, it’s not the do-all camera for every occasion: rather it excels in some areas, while it’s clearly not designed for others. I started shooting a fair few years back on DVCAM, and then moved onto Sony EX1s and DSLRs. I currently own a C100 and it’s been a fantastic piece of kit. I work in London where, due to traffic and parking restrictions, I’m regularly travelling to jobs on the crowded Underground. I shoot in small offices, studios and people’s homes. I shoot at night, in nightclubs, at fashion shows and at events, and I also do a lot of observational documentary work, following a subject from room to room, running up a flight of stairs to get a good angle
Intuitive, easy to set up and with a sturdy build, the 4K-shooting Blackmagic URSA isn’t cheap at £4089 but it certainly packs a punch in the right hands.
“It’s not the do-all camera for every occasion: rather it excels in some areas, while it’s clearly not designed for others”
and squeezing into cars to shoot moving driving shots. I often carry my lights, lenses, audio kit, tripod and camera to a shoot on my own. So before getting my hands on the URSA I expected it would possibly not be a good fit for me. I cannot stress how important it is with buying any camera, that you step away from looking at sample promo footage on YouTube, all of which is compressed or shot by professional cinematographers, often using lenses, extra kit or locations that are unobtainable for your average punter. Quite simply, you need to keep an open mind as far as possible and to actually try out a camera for yourself without preconceptions. In the hands With all this in mind my first impressions of the URSA were very positive. Instead of the usual white polystyrene packaging it’s protected by a hard black rubber casing, which is very useful for transporting the camera around in. And, with a little bit of research, I’m sure you could find a Peli Case, or something similar, which this will fit into, and this would allow the whole ensemble to be carried safely on location.
SPECIFICATION Contact: www.blackmagicdesign. com Price: £4089 Effective sensor size: 21.12x11.88mm (Super 35) Effective resolution: 3840x2160, 4000x2160 Raw Shooting resolutions: 3840x2160, 1920x1080, 4000x2160 Raw Frame rates: 30fps in Raw, 80fps in Raw 3:1, 80fps in ProRes HD or ProRes UHD Dynamic range: 12 stops Focus: Focus button turns on peaking, autofocus available using compatible lenses Iris control: Iris button automatically adjusts the lens iris settings on compatible lenses so no pixel is clipped in film mode. Scene average autoexposure in video mode. Lens mount: EF, PL or B4 Mount Screen dimensions: 1x10.1in TFT Camera controls: 2x 5in integrated touchscreen menus on either side of the camera body Microphone: Integrated stereo microphone SDI video output: 1x 12G-SDI 10bit 4:2:2. 1x 3G-SDI down converted for external monitoring SDI video input: 1 x 12G-SDI SDI audio output: 2 channel Remote control: 1x 2.5mm LANC for Rec Start/Stop, plus Iris and Focus control using compatible lenses External power input: 1x 4-pin XLR port for external power or battery use Optional accessories: Shoulder Kit with 15mm Light Weight Support and Rosettes/Vlock Battery Plate/ PL Mount Shim Kit
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GEAR SOUND RECORDERS TEST
HIGH FIDELITY
SOUNDS PROFESSIONAL So, you have your camera, your lenses and your lights, now all you need is a means of capturing high-quality audio. We test four handheld recording products to find out if they can do a professional job WORDS TOM FLINT
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n most situations involving moving images, the audio element can sometimes be regarded as almost secondary. Nevertheless, a good audio recording makes for a more professional end package and, if useable recording can be made during filming, a lot of time and energy will be saved in the dubbing suite. Most DSLRs record surprisingly good audio given that they come with just a tiny built-in mic and virtually no settings options, but there’s no doubt that a better result can be achieved using a dedicated audio recorder that’s been specifically designed for the job. Not only will its on-board mics – usually a matched pair of condenser capsules similar to those used by studio engineers – capture a wider range of frequencies, they will do so less noisily and more evenly.
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What’s more, products that have XLR inputs (and deliver 48 volts of phantom power) can connect with directional boom mics, which are pretty much essential for most film work. The ideal place for the camera is rarely ideal for the microphone, so being able to independently position the recording device is a huge advantage. Stand-alone recorders also make it possible to set recording levels more accurately and offer a wide choice of bit and sample rates. In this comparison test we’re looking at two products (the Zoom H5 and the Tascam DR-44WL) that have the kind of features of interest to serious filmmakers; a slightly more general-purpose audio recorder in the Olympus LS-14; and from Rode the iXY, which works with Apple mobile devices.
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SOUND RECORDERS TEST
ZOOM H5 Street price: £229
www.zoomcorp.co.uk
Highly Recommended ★★★★★
delicate mic capsules have no WHEN ZOOM DESIGNED ITS protection whatsoever. H4n handheld recorder, mainly The body of the recorder with musicians and home studio is robust and covered with a enthusiasts in mind, the company rubberised coating that reduces couldn’t have guessed that it would handling noise and improves grip. become the industry standard All the transport controls and sound recording device for budget input arming buttons are on the filmmaking. It just happened to top surface, while inputs, outputs offer the right features for the and their associated controls are right price. found on the sides. Underneath is The H5 is quite different from the battery compartment, speaker the H4n, but still retains all the and mounting thread. key features a filmmaker is likely The two mic and two XLR to require. Most importantly, it input signals can be recorded includes two phantom powered simultaneously, XLR sockets, all at 24-bit, for connecting 48KHz, although shock-mounted “The H5 retains if the recorder directional boom all the key is set to Stereo mics. It also has rather than a pair of mics features a Multitrack, 96KHz built in, but filmmaker is is achievable. unlike those of the H4n they are likely to require” There’s no internal memory, cradled in mini but SD or SDHC shockmounts to cards are accepted and a 2GB card reduce the effect of ear-thudding is supplied. vibrations reaching recordings. The streamline H5 offers This is a benefit when the recorder everything that’s vital for audio is mounted on a camera hotshoe, recording. It’s necessary to wade but they’re not as good a solution through quite a few menus to make as a boom mic that’s physically some of the recording settings, isolated from the recorder’s but once they’re set the H5 is controls and can be precisely extremely easy to use. positioned. The mics can, however, handle extremely high SPLs (sound SPECIFICATION pressure levels), making them Bit and sample settings: Up to ideal for recording rock videos and 24-bit/96KHz anything else loud. The most interesting thing Inputs: 2x phantom powered XLRs about the mics is their attachment and line-in to a metal block mount that can be Memory 0ptions: SD cards up to unclipped from the recorder and 2GB, SDHC up to 32GB replaced with other mic modules. Display: 27x37mm This great idea comes from Zoom’s Dimensions: 67x187x42mm H6, for which Zoom made three Weight: 270g (318g with batteries) mic options, including a directional shotgun mic and XY module. HOW IT RATES What’s more, all are compatible with the H5. Testing the supplied XYH-5 mic module alongside the venerable H6, fitted with the XYH-6 module, revealed that the two were very similar, providing a satisfying balance of lower warmth and upper frequency clarity. The level controls for the mics and XLR inputs are rotary dials, which are better than buttons for setting levels quickly. Incredibly sturdy metal bars protect all the dials, but for some reason the
Features Optimised for recording Performance Great sound Handling Solid build, simple functions Value for money The price is right
7/10 9/10 9/10 9/10
With rotary dials for quick level setting, sturdy metal bars and a rubberised coating for protection, the Zoom H5 Handy Recorder should be ready for anything.
PRO MOVIEMAKER RATING: 8.5/10 Not quite perfect, but close enough Pros: Exchangeable mic options Cons: No mic guard
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