Product: Q3HD
Company: Zoom
Category: camcorder
Source: Amazon
Price: around $300 plus accessories
Rating: Good
Being able to record video is important for the modern
hypnosis practitioner for a number of reasons. First off, marketing: You want
to be able to film short advertisement and instructional videos, put them on
YouTube, and embed them in your website. Second, security: A lot of
practitioners today record every session for security purposes, so that there
is a record of what happened. Finally, fun: If you do any street hypnosis,
stage shows, or educational talks, you want to be able to record what happened.
For all of these purposes, the Zoom Q3HD video recorder fits
the bill as an excellent, affordable camcorder.
The Zoom brand is built for musicians, so the optics, while
okay, are not the main focus of the Q3. It's really the microphones and audio
recording quality that make the Q3 HD shine, both for the intended market
(musicians) and our market (hypnotists).
Ask any street hypnotist what the biggest complaint about
their videos is and they'll all say, "People want to be able to hear what
I'm saying." That's why the Zoom camcorder is ideal for hypnotists.
It's small and portable, just a bit bigger than your smart
phone. It's unobtrusive in an audience or office, and it's easy slip out and
use for street hypnosis. (The one disadvantage for street work is that it
doesn't look like a camcorder, so you don't get the effect of having a camera
crew following you around, which can enhance your credibility and make
volunteers more compliant.)
The Q3HD runs on batteries or AC power. Unfortunately, the
AC adapter is not part of the standard issue; it comes with the accessory pack,
though it can be purchased separately on eBay for about $10.
The camcorder comes with 128 mb of onboard memory and 2-Gig
SD card to insert in the memory card slot. Both are really jokes when you
consider how big video files are, though the 2-Gig card contains the necessary
software. The unit will accept up to a 32-Gig card, which will hold between 7
and 17 hours of video, depending on what quality you pick. You'll probably want
a multi-terabyte external hard drive to store your video, especially if you are
recording client sessions.
(Note that your state may have laws about filming clients.
You should always get consent before filming. Be sure to practice ethically and
legally.)
Video files can be transferred to permanent storage in
several ways, including a removable card or a USB connection. The videos are in
QuickTime format, so you will probably want to download AVC (Any VideoConverter), a free video format converter.
So, if you are a bootstrapping hypnotist who wants the
advantages that video can give you, the Zoom Q3HD is an affordable way to enter
the world of video.
Full Disclosure: The Zoom company did not provide me with a product to review.
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