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Please help - I need a microphone...

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(@graboid54)
Posts: 1
New Member
Topic starter
 

Good day all. Thanks in advance for helping. I need a microphone for two purposes.

1) To conduct sit-down interviews
2) To hear people outside.

I really have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to microphones, so please let me know what I need to buy for a mini-DV camera (specifically a Canon Elura 100), whether it be an audio adapter or anything else.

I'm thinking a wireless lav mic, but once again I have no idea how they work. Looking at http://www.zzounds.com/item--NDYUHF3LTO , for example, it looks like the audio is sent to a receiver, but then how do I get the audio onto the videocamera?

Any help or suggestios would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks

 
Posted : 03/04/2008 9:47 pm
(@certified-instigator)
Posts: 2951
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Unfortunately, the Elura 100 doesn't have a mic input so
there is no way to record audio into your camera except
with the built in mic. You will need to get a camera with
a mic input or buy an audio recorder.

A wireless lav mic is too restrictive for anything other than
the interviews you want to do. Getting a good shotgun mic
will allow you to do both.

You want a good condenser (externally powered) mic with
a ?lobar? pick up pattern to put on your boom pole. Lobar
pick up means the mic focuses its audio pick up to a narrow
area. This is why you want to use a boom pole to get the
mic as close the the actor as possible - you?ll get clean
dialogue tracks with less ambient noise.

?URL? http://www.sennheiserusa.com/newsite/?/URL?
Sennheiser is the mic most used by professional sound
recordists. They are expensive and worth it. Check out
the ME-66 and the ME-67. The MKH60 is the best if
you can afford it.

?url? http://www.audio-technica.com/?/url?
Audio-Technica is cheaper. Check out the AT835B. It?s
a workable mic, a little muddy and not as directional as
it should be. The AT835ST is a good mic for the price,
but it, too, sounds a bit muddy - the vocals don?t sound
crisp enough for me.

?url? http://www.azdencorp.com/?/url?
I?ve never used Azden mic?s. They?re inexpensive and
I don?t hear too many good things about them, but if
that's all you can afford it's MUCH better than using
the camera mic.

A good mic is an investment. It will last longer than your
camera - why skimp? A great place to check prices and
purchase is B&H Photo?url? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/?/url?

The further away the mic is from the actors, the higher
the volume needs to be. The higher the volume, the more
?noise? you get. Your goal is to have a very high signal to
noise ratio - more signal (the dialogue) less noise (the
background). Even a very good, expensive Sennheiser mounted
on the camera will pick up a lot of background ambiance
because it?s far away from the actors.

So you need a boom pole. This can be as simple as a painters
pole with a microphone shock mount on it - or a 3 or 4 section
, expandable Carbon Fiber, Graphite Fiber or Aluminum boom
pole. The lighter the pole the better. Expandable is also very
convenient. A pole that?s a fixed six or eight feet (painters pole)
can pose problems if you?re shooting in a small space like a
bathroom or small apartment or if the boom operator needs to
be twelve to fifteen feet away to be out the the lights.

=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

 
Posted : 03/04/2008 10:19 pm
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