Field Recorder

Anything from a pocket handheld up to a multi-track unit living in a bag on a strap. The point is recording sound independently of the camera, which buys better preamps, phantom power for XLR microphones, and audio that keeps running when the camera stops or overheats. Higher-end units accept timecode so syncing is automatic; below that you clap once at the top of a take and let the editor line up the waveforms. The recurring failures are unglamorous. Levels get set once and nobody checks them again, cards fill up during an interview, and batteries die while the camera records nothing usable.