I carry around a Canon PowerShot in my bag so I'll have something handy in case we see something interesting. The pictures the Canon takes are fine for general use, plus it shoots good-enough home movie video, but the sound sucks.
This Zoom would be a great camera to use for posting little serendipitous videos to YouTube where your sound quality IS important.
The Product Description definitely has some good points...
"...The Q3 has two condenser mics on-board, engineered in the same X/Y pattern that gives recording pros the best stereo recording possible... The Q3's X/Y microphones are directional, so you can "focus" the mics on your sound source like an "audio zoom" function. Use the onboard audio meters to set the gain to Low, High or Auto so you can record in very loud or very soft environments. Or use the Q3's Auto Record Level function to automatically set the appropriate recording levels for the situation! Shoot your video with the confidence that the Q3 is capturing great audio at the absolute best level possible."
Seems like a good little, affordable camcorder for boat folk, depending upon your needs... I know that it's not for everybody but take a look
