The Zoom Q2N-4K Recorder - Video or Audio or Both?

I have experimented with a lot of video cameras over the past year - to use as web cameras or to use as portable video recorders or as action cameras for various projects.

I actually gave a short review of several that I have tried as web cameras - you can read that here if you missed it earlier.

I wanted to go into a little more depth on the Zoom Q2N-4K Recorder.

The Zoom Q2N-4K as a Web Camera

I found it disappointing as a web camera combining the problem of grainy images that were a little distorted when shifted to a 1080p web camera image with limited control or settings to optimize the picture within the settings that I needed to use this as a web camera. When compared to my GoPro cameras (5, 7, or 9)- it just looked awful.

The Zoom Q2N-4K as an Action Camera

Let me just be blunt - if you want a portable action camera, do not waste your time on the ZoomQ2N. It will capture the audio beautifully but it is not really meant to be an action camera.

As a dear friend of mine says - right tool, right job. And the Zoom Q2N is not the right tool for hiking, cycling, etc. The mounting for such things is do-able but the lens really does need a shroud or you get a lot of sun glare, which can mess up the video or image quality.

A Few Other Notes on the Zoom Q2N-4K

On a side note - the Zoom Q2N has a very healthy appetite for batteries - so you either need to have a lot of spares or a battery pack handy if you want to shoot for any length of time. If you are shooting in a stable location, you can even run the camera off of DC power using a micro-USB cable to a wall power supply.

You do need to pay attention to the microdisk cards you use with this camera. The website (Zoomcorp.com) has a list of compatible cards - make sure you pay attention to this and use only an approved compatible card type or you could lose that special thing you wanted to capture.

The Zoom Q2N-4K Sweet Spot

The Zoom Q2N-4K was really designed for musicians - the audio recorder is amazing and built by a company that has designed some of the best audio recorded around. I have used several different versions of these over the years for recording podcasts, live shows, musical performances, etc. I would never consider doing any sort of audio or video show without one of the Zoom Audio recorders as part of my workflow and equipment package.

You can then combine a SENSATIONAL audio recorder with a pretty fair video recorder to capture your rehearsals, performances and live streams. This is super helpful if you are doing:

• Music
• Comedy or standup
• A simple vodcast or interview setup where you have a set stage

The key to successful video recording for the Zoom Q2N-4K is to have:

• A set stage area - with uniform lighting
• Use the 4K resolution recording where possible
• Select the "scene" setting that is as accurate as possible for your setup- avoid using Auto if you can so you get a consistent recording. Unfortunately Auto tends to give flicker or too many shifts and tweaks automatically in the recording so it can look unstable (reactions to shadows, too much movement, and change)
• Use wall power if you are recording more than a very short video to ensure that there is no odd energy conservation to change to settings to conserve battery, or worse - to stop recording when you think you are recording,

The Zoom Q2N-4K also has a tripod stand mount on the bottom - I do recommend using a tripod so you can set the camera up in a great spot and let it be stable,

If you have any overhead flickering lights or glare, make sure you use the lens shroud - it comes standard with the camera but unfortunately is stupidly easy to lose and for it to fall off. I recommend having at least one spare - Zoom failed utterly on the mounting design for the lens shroud.

Final Thoughts

So the ZoomQ2N-4K is not used as often as many of my cameras - but I love having it along as a backup rescue video camera on an interview or music shoot - and am completely comfortable using the audio recorder as a small and easy recording device. I am a big fan of redundancy as well - so this camera is one that I am happy to have as a backup video and audio recorder on a multiple camera shoot - giving a different "set it up and leave it along" perspective. It lets me use my other cameras for close ups and tighter shots.