A good sound is made by man, not iron. You can have very expensive equipment, but do not have a result. I do not doubt your professionalism at all. Moreover, I am sure that you would get the result and on the recorder ZOOM H1
Man, I was going to stay out of this, but….
pedramyz - When working on a limited budget it is always tempting to use the cheapest solutions you may find. However, the
cheapest solution is, many times, not a
good solution. To me, at least, the option given by Ulysses65 is like hammering in nails with a wrench; it may work, but it ain't gonna be pretty.
Your project will only look as good as it sounds, because
"Sound is half of the experience"
If your film looks terrible but has great sound, people might just think it's your aesthetic.
If your film looks great and has bad sound, people will think you're an amateur.
Sound is the first indicator to the industry that you know what you're doing.
Production sound is an art in and of itself, as are all the other aspects of sound-for-picture.
First, AcousticAl is a knowledgeable member of this forum, and his words should be heeded. So let's back up for a minute.
Production sound is the art of picking up clean, clear, intelligible dialog. A Zoom H1 or H1n IS NOT going to get you clean, clear, intelligible dialog for many of the reasons AcousticAl pointed out.
Basic production sound requires a lobar or hypercardioid mic on the end of a boom pole. The sound is recorded into an audio recording device or directly to camera. The whole "secret" of solid production sound is a properly aimed mic. The mic should be above and slightly in front of the actor(s) and aimed at the notch at the base of the actors throat. This is the job of the boom-op and is one of the most difficult jobs on the set. The boom-op must constantly adjust the aim of the mic as the actors move around. Put a camera on the end of a boom pole and try to keep it aimed at the notch at the base of the actors throat without any visual references and you now have an idea of how difficult the job of the boom-op can be.
You only have the ability to influence two of your audiences five senses - sight and sound. Use both to their fullest. More otherwise technically worthy projects are rejected because of poor sound. "Sound is
half of the experience", remember?
My first suggestion to anyone involved in creating shorts or features is to retain someone competent to swing the boomed mic. "Oh! But I can't afford to hire someone!" I hear you cry. Well, there are plenty of folks just like you, starting out and in need of experience. Find him/her. It is paramount that you have someone on set whose sole job is production sound.
Before buying something investigate renting. I don't understand the obsession with owning every piece of gear needed to shoot a project; as a mentor of mine told me - if you don't use it every day you don't need to own it. With the exception of microphones most budget level (prosumer) production sound audio gear is obsolete in 18 months or so. So why buy a piece of gear that will be outmoded in less than two years when you can rent something far superior.
This is also when a knowledge of film history can be helpful. In the late 1920s/early 1930s mics were very heavy, and very noisy when handled. So the solution was "plant" mics. Perhaps you have noticed that the actors of that era were very static (did not move around much) while speaking so that they would not stray far from the plant mic. The plant mic would be placed in a flower arrangement, a telephone, a statue or on a stand just off camera.
Notice the very large plant mic on the lower right…
After the shoot is complete and the preliminary edit(s) completed it's time to do some audio post. Ideally you eliminate every sound with the exception of the dialog from the production audio. (This is where recording room tone during production is an immense help.) You then perform Foley, edit in all of the sound effects, drop in the score and source music, and then it's time to mix.
If you are truly interested in getting the sound of your project as best as you can on a micro-budget start a new thread and ask specific questions; Acoustic Al and I would be more than happy to give some basic instruction.