Sony VZ-1 with Tascam DR-60D MKII: good or bad idea?

[DiTBho]

The Sony VZ-1 is the perfect camera for making videos, much appreciated by Youtubers, it has a decent built-in microphone and 3.5-mm Stereo mini jack and a Multi Interface Shoe for connecting an external microphone.

There is a compatibility list created by Sony, microphones known to work with the camera, and I can confirm

• Sony ECM-G1 (expensive, ~150 euro)
• Sony ECM-LV1 (cheap ~ 30 euro)

I tried myself these two, and they fully work!

However ... this beaufutul vlog-camera is known to not work with some third-party microphones. I haven't yet understood whether it's an impedance problem or the mechanics of the connectors or something, the fact is that many complain that, once their external microphone is inserted, the camera no longer records any audio.

"... Sony ZV-1 not picking up audio from external mic ... "
Who? What? 

Sony offers a Microphone Compatibility list.

• Sony ECM-AW4: Fully Compatible
• Sony ECM-CG60: Fully Compatible
• Sony ECM-G1: Fully Compatible <---- I have this
• Sony ECM-GZ1M: Compatible with restrictions -> ZOOM microphone mode is not available
• Sony ECM-LV1: Fully Compatible  <---- I have this
• Sony ECM-S1: Compatible with restrictions -> Set "DIGITAL/ANALOG switch" to "ANALOG", do not receive power supply from the camera
• Sony ECM-W2BT: Compatible with restrictions -> Set "DIGITAL/ANALOG switch" to "ANALOG", do not receive power supply from the camera
• Sony ECM-W3: Compatible with restrictions -> Set "DIGITAL/ANALOG switch" to "ANALOG", do not receive power supply from the camera
• Sony ECM-W3S: Compatible with restrictions -> Set "DIGITAL/ANALOG switch" to "ANALOG". do not receive power supply from the camera
• Sony ECM-XYST1M: Fully Compatible

The Sony ZV-1 has a built-in microphone, doesn't have any XLR mic/line, but the built-in mic can be disabled when you plug an external mic to the TRS mic/line input.

The Tascam DR-60D MKII is a compact 4-track audio recorder that can be mounted directly to the camera and offers various audio inputs

• (channel{1,2}) XLR mic/line inputs can provide phantom power (+24V/+48V, power can be enabled/disabled via software)
• (channel{3,4}) TRS mic/line inputs support +24 dBu input when used as line inputs

I'm thinking of using it because it comes with the XLR lines, which is the professional standard, very expensive > 200 euro, but higher quality!

The DR-60D MKII also offer different outputs to allow the recording of high-resolution audio material in parallel to, but separated from the camera and its video data.

I am thinking about installing the DR-60D MKII under the VZ-1, and via remote control start recording the video and a second copy of the audio on the Tascam.
Obviously, even if the "start" command arrives at the same time, the two devices actually start recording at slightly different times.
A "ciak" signal is needed as the starting point for the rest of the production on { Premiere, FinalCut, ... }

- - - -

What do you think, guys? in this way I would no longer have the limitations on the SONY mic line, and be able to use better XLR microphones 

[Halcyon]

The TASCAM recorders are a great solution. I have an older "field" recorder which I use periodically. As long as you have the ability to sync timecode between the camera and the recorder, editing is a breeze.

[helius]

Sounds like a great excuse to use a clapperboard, right? Do you have staff that can act as clapper loader?

[DiTBho]

Sounds like a great excuse to use a clapperboard, right?
Do you have staff that can act as clapper loader?

Yup 

I'm all alone, but I have one of those wooden - clapperboard - things that makes a decent sound.
And he wrote an algorithm that calculates the exact synchronization time between the camera audio and the external audio.

Code: [Select]

Sony ZV Series History
======================

Model          ReleaseDate      Sensor             Dimensions              Weight
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sony ZV-1-II   May 2023         20.0MP-1″          106.0 x 60.0 x 47.0mm   292g
Sony ZV-E1     March 2023       12.0MP-FullFrame   121.0 x 71.9 x 54.3mm   483g
Sony ZV-1F     October 2022     20.0MP-1″          106.0 x 60.0 x 46.0mm   256g
Sony ZV-E10    July 2021        24.0MP-APS-C       115.0 x 64.0 x 45.0mm   343g
Sony ZV-1      May 2020         20.0MP-1″          105.0 x 60.0 x 44.0mm   294g <------------- my camera

The video stuff of The ZV-1 first serie (2020) is great, and, combined with an Ulanzi macro lens kit is even better than all its successors { ZV-1F, ZV-1-MarcII }.
Just, the audio stuff is not so good. I mean, the built-in mic is decent but not great, and it's omidirectional, whereas I need something more directional. That's why I need an external mic.

Combined with better headphone? I'm still undecided between

• Akg k240 MKII <----- currently in use
• Sony MDR-7506 (upgrade?)

The Tascam DR-60D MKII should also help me with the podcast microphone 

[DiTBho]

The TASCAM recorders are a great solution. I have an older "field" recorder which I use periodically. As long as you have the ability to sync timecode between the camera and the recorder, editing is a breeze.

Thanks for this feedback 

I will video-edit on FinalCut Apple Silicon. I'm about to buy an Apple Book Air again (my previous laptop was stolen).

I worked out a trick.

The DR-60D MKII can be controlled by an infrared remote stick, while the ZV-1 by an bluetooth remote pod-stick.
I can send the "start" command and have them start recording together, but each device has its own startup times for writing to the internal SD card.
So, as - sync timecode - I have a simple circuit that makes four fixed frequency tones, and I wrote a GNU/Linux algorithm that, given two wav audio streams taken from two different microphones, uses complex resonators (Goertzel algorithm) to search for those four tones as known pattern (that's physically the sync timecode), and when it finds them, calculates the time-difference from the start of each stream.

That's what I can give to the Final Cut project to sync the two streams.

I haven't tried it yet, and I haven't bought the DR-60D yet, but I think it should help me synchronize the two streams.

We will see 

[GLouie]

Dual system (camera and audio recorder) is the professional method, always. If your editing is fairly simple, I do not see the need for timecode or a clapper. Just record audio on the camera as usual as well as the Tascam, and clap your hands in the picture at the start of each scene. It is easy to synch audio with video in Final Cut by looking at the sound waveform displays of both and zooming in.

If edits are complex, this gets unmanageable, so then you would deal with timecode.

[Halcyon]

Sounds like a great excuse to use a clapperboard, right? Do you have staff that can act as clapper loader?

There's a much easier way, just depends whether the recorder supports it. If you can feed HDMI into the recorder, you can derive the timecode from that, or some cameras/recorders have a SMPTE timecode out/in socket which is just a plain clock signal.

Otherwise yes, the clapper method works well in a pinch.

[DiTBho]

If you can feed HDMI into the recorder, you can derive the timecode from that, or some cameras/recorders have a SMPTE timecode out/in socket which is just a plain clock signal.

The Sony VZ-1 has (mini)HMDI output, but the Tascam DR-60D MKII doesn't have HDMI input.

[DiTBho]

It's been ordered, let's see how it goes.
Umm, now I need a new trepod 

[DiTBho]

Not the perfect choice, and bit more expensive, but as possible alternative, the Tascam DR-701 has hdmi-in and offers timecode sync.
Watch here

[Halcyon]

I think you'll appreciate being able to drag and drop your video and audio content into your editor and just have it sync, without having to do it yourself. Just check what audio formats it uses and whether it's suitable for your needs. A lot of recorders will use BWF (Broadcast Wave) format, which is essentially the same as a regular .WAV file but with extensions (such as timecode), but you have the limitation of 4GB per file, so long recordings will be split into multiple files, although this will happen anyway if your recorder uses FAT32 to store data.

[DiTBho]

I think you'll appreciate being able to drag and drop your video and audio content into your editor and just have it sync, without having to do it yourself. Just check what audio formats it uses and whether it's suitable for your needs

With FInalcut? 

[DiTBho]

Just check what audio formats it uses and whether it's suitable for your needs. A lot of recorders will use BWF (Broadcast Wave) format, which is essentially the same as a regular .WAV file but with extensions (such as timecode), but you have the limitation of 4GB per file, so long recordings will be split into multiple files, although this will happen anyway if your recorder uses FAT32 to store data.

Yup, the "Broadcast Wave Format" is listed in the Tascam DR-60D MKII Audio file compatibility

• WAV: 44.1/48/96 kHz, 16/24-bit
• BWF: 44.1/48/96kHz, 16/24-bit <-----

Number of channels
I think will record no more than 15-20min of audio.
So, it should be fine