maximpactphotography

Be careful to secure the electric cables so that no tension is placed on them!

Ledgo 600 LED light panel

I like to be able to easily detach the carrying strap using the plastic snap buckles, for rig placement- or leaving it attached for use as a field mixer

shows the headphone out cable (above), and USB AC adapter cable (below)

I’ve been using this unit alone so far, not integrating with the Zoom H4N using the latter as an XY stereo microphone input, and with the Canon 5D Mark III camera which has a headphone jack. This jack has been used as a camera-out jack to connect to the DR-60’s CAMERA IN jack, allowing very intuitive and excellent review of the mixed audio files sent to the 5D3 from each take while reviewing the corresponding video clips. 

This feature, internal adjustable audio slating and the highly sensitive pre-amps have already made the Tascam my primary recorder for documentary and narrative film production (EFP). 

The large number of buttons make diving into menus much less frequent. A very important issue is the ability of this unit to independently assign phantom power to microphones- so that I can revert to a preferred setup of a powered Rode NTG-2 shotgun while mixing with other mics which do not need phantom power or might even be damaged by it.

The XLR inputs are locking type and access to the SD media card is very easy- both upgrades from the Zoom H4N.

Yet another much-appreciated feature is the automatic revert-to-MIX monitoring when switching from listening to the camera’s files to resuming recording- a real timesaver, as you don’t end up having to possibly redo the take because the DR-60 was still on CAMERA IN monitoring!!!

I do wish that the buttons were backlit for low light, but consider that a minor issue.

For conservation of battery power, I obtained an AC adapter easily (driving directly to the warehouse in Carson, CA) and it appears to function very well so far.

I would usually default to the H4N for field location scouting, recording at lecture settings and routine note-taking / EFP simply because of its XY microphones. Either may be used for travel because of their compact, lightweight form factors.

The images included show the DR-60 on a RedRock Micro Cinema rig with Canon 5D3, 135mm f/2 L lens, Rode NTG-2 shotgun and Audio Technica 88W wireless lav microphones; the wireless receiver is on the camera’s hot shoe. My atrium definitely needs to be cleaned up-soon….