Hey. My name is Matt Johnson, and this is the new Zoom F3 audio recorder.
Today, I want to review this recorder from the perspective of a wedding filmmaker
and tell you why it is a great ultra simple set it and forget it.
Audio recording option for you.
If you film weddings, documentaries, etc.
also for the sake of ethics, I want you to know that this video
isn't paid or sponsored by Zoom, but it does have a sponsor.
And that is my friends over at Sweetwater.
They were kind enough to send over this F3 for me to be able to make this review.
But to be clear, they have no say in this review, and the first time
they see it is also the first time you see it when it's uploaded to YouTube
starting off.
Let's talk about the biggest reason you would want to consider these Zoom
F3 as an audio recorder, and that reason is that this recorder
is capable of recording 32 bit float audio and in fact
it is only capable of recording 32 bit float audio.
You do not have the option to record audio at any other bitrate.
No. 24 bit, no. 16 bit, etc.
If you aren't sure what 32 bit flow days.
I go far more in-depth about this topic in my test cam
x8 audio recorder review which also has 32 bit float audio.
So we'll link to that review in the corner and down below.
But to summarize.
Imagine never having to deal with audio that is peaked and blown out
or too quiet and hard to hear.
That's the promise of 32 bit float audio.
Anything do you record that is too quiet, you'll be able to bring up
the audio levels without increasing the noise floor
because the dynamic range is so good while simultaneously,
if you have anything that is too loud that would normally be peaking and blown
out with any other audio recorder or you can simply click and drag
down your audio levels and recover all that missing audio.
So 32 bit float is going to be the biggest reason that I would consider
upgrading to the Zoom F3.
If you don't have a recorder with this capability, it's pretty impressive.
Also, incidentally, speaking of the test cam x8, which I just mentioned earlier,
I have another video coming out soon
that will directly compare the X8 and the F3 head to head.
So please consider subscribing if you want to see that video.
Let's now shift gears
and talk about the build quality and other features of this recorder.
Other than that beautiful 32 bit float, the first time that you pick up the F3,
you're going to be struck by just how solid and dense this recorder feels.
It's pretty compact with an outer plastic shell,
but it has a weight and heft to it.
Like if you're wrapping up filming a wedding
and you're carrying your gear out to the parking lot
and somebody tries to mug you and this is the first thing you grab,
you could adequately defend yourself with it
and use it as a rather effective bludgeoning weapon.
Moving on, looks wise.
You can tell that Zoom took a ton of inspiration from their F6
recorder, as the F3 really feels like a cute little shrunken down version of it.
Actually do feel like Zoom could have made this recorder smaller, though, because
whenever you look at the metal rods that they've included on the bottom
that you can then use to strap the F3 to a boom pole.
I can't help but wish that they'd gone with
a detachable alternative without these metal bars.
Zoom could have shaved a good ten to 20% off the size of the F3
and made this recorder even more compact.
Anyways, in terms of other mounting points,
the F3 does have a standard quarter inch screw hole on the back
to attach the recorder to a stand or cage, etc.
Talking other features.
Now flip that three around on the side and you will see a USB-C input
which does support power delivery so you can plug it into AC power
or run it from a USB battery pack, which is great.
It can also be used as a USB computer mic input as well.
And next to the USB port, you will find one of the most incredible
features that anyone that has ever used a Zoom recorder before
will be frankly shocked by.
Am I talking about the micro SD card slot that supports SD cards up
to one terabyte in size?
No, even though that's pretty cool.
I'm talking about this little micro SD card
door cover, which for basically the first time ever
is not made of a super brittle, cheap plastic that is going to break immediately
and is instead made of a flexible, rubberized plastic
that actually feels like it's going to last longer than a week.
If you don't understand why I'm so excited about a memory card door,
try out any of Zoom's other recorders or talk to any of your friends that have one.
And I'm betting you that they will either have a broken SD
card door or battery door on their recorder.
It's like a badge of honor.
If you've had your eyes broken, that's how you know you've really broken
in your recorder. Literally.
Speaking of the battery door, by the way,
unfortunately, this is something that still may break on the F3.
Zoom, you were so close with the SD card door.
Why does this battery card door have to suck the thinnest and flimsy?
This plastic battery door is only rivaled by the thinnest
and flimsy ness of Zoom's f two recorder.
It's bad, so you should be careful any time you're switching batteries,
talking battery life.
Then Zoom claims you'll get over 8 hours of recording time with alkaline batteries.
Whenever I tested the F three using a brand new set of Amazon
rechargeable batteries.
I found that it could record for 6 hours and 47 minutes before the battery died.
I realize that this is less than Zoom
claims, but for this test, I had to use a shotgun microphone
that required phantom power from the F three,
meaning that the microphone helped drain the battery faster.
If you're plugging into a DJ
soundboard though, or another microphone that does not require phantom power,
I'm betting you can expect battery life closer to the 8 hours that Zoom claims.
Looking at the back of the recorder now, you will see that there is a line out port
in case you want to go directly from the F3 into your camera.
And you also have a headphone jack to monitor your audio,
which even though this is a 32 bit flight recorder,
I still recommend always checking your audio levels of headphones
to make sure that your audio is recording properly.
On the right side of the audio recorder, you have the power button,
which I'm pleased to tell
you will power on this recorder in approximately 3 seconds.
So if you need to record quickly, you can get started fast.
In addition you'll also find a combo record and hold switch on the side.
Simply slide up on the switch to start recording and slide the switch down
to engage the hold and disable all of the buttons on the recorder.
Below the switch,
you will see a cover that protects a gaping hole in the side of the F3,
which is where you can insert a Bluetooth control module
which will enable Bluetooth control.
The recorder using Zoom's F3 control app.
Unfortunately, my Bluetooth adapter is still on backorder,
so I'm not able to cover that in this review.
But if the Bluetooth controller performs
similarly to the Zoom F6, which uses the exact same adapter,
you'll be able to start and stop recording and change your audio levels.
But you unfortunately will not be able to wirelessly monitor your audio
via Bluetooth.
Lastly, in regards
to the build of this recorder on the top, you have two locking Xolo inputs,
which, judging from the size of the F 32 inputs
seem to be about the maximum that it would have been able to handle anyways.
Fortunately, these inputs do accept both line and mic level audio,
but unfortunately these are not combo excellent and quarter
inch inputs like you would see on the test cam x8 for example.
So if you need to plug quarter-inch cables into this recorder,
which if you fill weddings, I guarantee you're going to need to do.
You are going to need to purchase excellent quarter inch adapter cables
which currently run about ten bucks.
So the price isn't a big deal,
but this is one more cable you're going to need to keep track
of in your gear bag before may have to be shipped.
I was a little upset and confused about why they did not opt to include combo
explorer and quarter-inch input jacks with this recorder
because I love the versatility of combo jacks,
but now that I've held the S3 in my hand and looked at it,
it really doesn't look like there's actually enough size
and depth in this recorder to handle quarter inch inputs.
They're significant longer than X.Org.
I'm wondering then that if Zoom wants to add them,
they would have needed to increase the size of this recorder.
And because they
wanted to keep it compact, they opted to not include a quarter inch.
Just the theory, though,
they might have also just been being cheap, build quality out of the way.
Now, I said at the start of this review that the F3 is an ultra simple
set it and forget it recorder, and that has made no more
apparent than when you turn this recorder on and start using it.
So let's not look at the menu and talk about
how Zoom has dramatically simplified the recording process.
It all starts when
you power on the F3 because you will be immediately presented
with a scrolling waveform that shows you that the recorder is receiving a signal.
This should already be the first indicator to you that Zoom has
rethought how you would traditionally use an audio recorder
and stripped out a lot of the unnecessary things
that you do not need to worry about because you now have the benefit of 32
bit float audio recording in the past with other recorders.
You would have to press the record button once to start the recorder
accepting inputs.
So that way you could then dial in those inputs to the proper
gain levels before you press record again to begin recording.
Because the F3 has the benefit of 32 bit fuller audio though,
you don't actually have to worry about setting your audio levels
on the recorder to the exact level they need to be.
In fact, nowhere in the menus will you find a setting that will
actually tell you the decibel level that you were recording with the F3.
I realize this sounds crazy for an audio recorder,
but if you look at the waveform guide on the front of the recorder,
it's very abstract with no numbers.
In addition, while there is a red light to indicate that the recorder is recording,
there is not a separate red light that indicates the recorder
audio levels are peaking.
Incidentally, if you're worrying about the audio quality
that you can get from this recorder as an audio test,
I've actually been recording the audio for this entire video.
Using a data s mike too plugged in via Zealot, the Zoom three.
So this entire video is an audio quality test.
Of course, I want you to keep in mind that any audio recorder is only going
to sound as good as the microphone that you're using with it.
Having 32 bit float audio is amazing, but if you pair it with really crappy
microphones, your audio is still going to sound terrible.
So make sure you're using good mics.
Lastly, let's really drive home the simplicity of this recorder.
Here on the front, you have a magnifying glass button
that will allow you to zoom in and out on the waveform on the screen.
What's crazy is Zoom says that using this magnifying glass
to zoom in and out on the waveform will change the amplification
level of the audio that's coming into the recorder,
meaning that if you have a really quiet audio signal coming in,
maybe from a sound bar that isn't turned up very loud,
or maybe somebody is whispering into a microphone.
The waveform signal will look really small,
so you can then zoom in on the waveform to make it louder and amplify the audio.
You do not have any control over a specific decibel level, though,
Instead, all you're doing is looking at an abstraction of your audio
level as a waveform.
I told you it's crazy,
but you have to remember that the F three is recording a 32 bit for audio file,
meaning that
it doesn't really matter the exact audio level that you're recording
because you can always bring these audio levels
up and down as much as you need to make your audio sound good.
And in case
you're wondering, there's not a backup audio track recording feature either.
You're only recording one audio file that is 32 bit float.
So you really don't need a backup track.
So as you can see, everything about the F three is dramatically simplified
and it means that instead of you needing to dial in all of your audio
levels manually, you can just get the F three roughly in the ballpark.
Heck, get the F three in the parking lot of the ballpark,
get it in the same neighborhood as the ballpark.
Baseball analogies aside
to record with the F3, you literally turn it on.
Press a few buttons to zoom in and out of the waveform until it looks good
and then slide upon the record switch and you're good.
That's all I did to record this video, and I think the audio sounds pretty good.
I hope it does in a check whenever I'm editing.
This is such a set it and forget it product.
And I really do think that for especially new wedding
filmmakers or filmmakers that have struggled
with recording good audio because they've messed up their settings,
Zoom has really made a nearly foolproof system with the F3.
So should you buy it?
Well, as I've already said, I think the pros are numerous for the F3.
You're getting 32 bit float recording in a very compact package.
Zoom is also dramatically simplified the recording process,
meaning that you can get it set up and recording very quickly.
I can't help but feel, though, that there are some filmmakers out there
that may be turned off by the level of simplicity
that the F3 gives you personally, as someone that's really used
to seeing audio meters that are hitting a target of -12 decibels,
which means that I know the recorder is recording at the correct level.
It is a little daunting to only have an abstract waveform to look at.
So if that's you and you want more data and you want more information
about your recording, than the F3 can give you.
I don't think this is the recorder for you.
Likewise, if you're a filmmaker that commonly finds themselves
needing to record more than two inputs of audio,
the F3 is also not for you because it literally only has two Excel R inputs.
For most weddings,
I think the two inputs are enough, but I have run into edge case weddings
where I needed more than two inputs, so I'd keep that in mind.
Also, if you're a filmmaker that really wants a recorder with Excel
R and quarter inch Combo Jacks, the F3 isn't for you either.
Concrete answer for you then.
If you are a new filmmaker who wants a relatively
affordable and dead simple audio recorder, I think the Zoom have
three is a great choice and only 349 bucks at the time of making this video.
This is one of the cheapest ways to get a 32 bit float audio recorder
with Excel R inputs and I think that it will serve you well for many weddings,
but as you gain more experience, fill more weddings and build out your kit
if you want something more advanced with more features.
That's when I would look into a recorder like the test came. X8.
Speaking of the test cam.
X8 By the way,
I've already made a review of that
recorder that I will link to in the corner and in the video description,
and I am working on that other video that will be out soon
that is going to directly compare the F3 in the S8.
So if you're wanting an in-depth head to head video that breaks down
the features and capabilities of both of these recorders, please
consider subscribing because that video will be arriving very soon.
And when it does arrive I willing to do it in the corner and down below with that.
Thank you so much for watching this review of the Zoom F3
and thank you again to my friends at Sweetwater for sponsoring this video.
If you do decide to pick up the F3,
I've linked to Sweetwater down in the description
if you want to buy it from them before you go.
Now, if you are a wedding filmmaker,
I would like to leave you with one more thing.
If you upload your wedding films to YouTube, which I assume
you probably do, considering you're watching me on YouTube right now.
I have created a guide called YouTube Tips for Wedding Filmmakers.
It's completely free and it will walk you through
some practical things that you can do to dramatically increase
the amount of views lakes and bookings you get from couples on YouTube.
You can download this guide for free at the link down below.
Thanks so much for watching and have a great day
Whenever I
tested the F3 using my cheap and approximately two year old Amazon
rechargeable batteries, I found that the F Three's battery recorded four
before finally dying.
I do want you to be aware though, that you make it different recording times.
If you use non rechargeable alkaline batteries and I would
hopefully expect to get longer battery life if you use lithium batteries.