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Mic for video recording


leica1215

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  • 3 months later...

Hi:  For years, I've been using a relatively inexpensive Beachtek box.  www.beachtek.com   Records independently metered  & adjustable 2-channel audio (using XLR jacks), right to the video file.   I don't know much about audio technology, other than to say the audio sounds great!  No need to sync external audio in post. Usually, I have a wireless lav on one channel for a primary subject, and a shotgun mic on the other to capture ambient sound.  Very flexible system; tech support is stellar.

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To go to a better, off-camera mike you need several pieces of gear.  First of all, the SL takes audio input from a microphone through a special slot that requires an audio adapter cable AA-scl4.  The cable presents two interfaces, one for a mike unbalanced input through a standard 3.5mm plug and one for a headset also with 3.5 mm plug.  The headset can hear the playback from material that you have recorded on the SL but does not serve as a monitor while you are recording. This cable plus a battery-powered external small shotgun mike, for example mounted above the viewfinder, is the minimal system.  But it may not be good enough, as the SL's preamps are not very powerful, and its mike sensitivity control has just five levels.  So the next gadget in the chain is a mixer.  I tried a Beachtek passive (no power) mixer that I had used with a video camera about 10+ years ago with some nice sounding but still inexpensive condenser studio mikes (they need AA batteries) with XLR shielded, balanced cables to the Beachtek, and a short unbalanced cable to the AA-SCL4.  That worked, but the signal was still weak, and the result not as clean as I remembered it.  Still, the mixer clamps to the bottom of the camera, so the result is not too conspicuous.  (The current Beachtek is about cigarette pack in size, mine is about twice that.)  The receiver for a wireless mike (hand-held or lavaliere) can also plug into such a mixer, as it usually has an XLR plug.  

 

At dfarkas' suggestion, I went to the next step, a powered preamp (SoundDevicesi MixPre-D) about the same size as my old Beachtek, also taking two XLR inputs or a 3.5mm unbalanced stereo, with level controls, VU meters, and more.  It offers headset monitoring, also with level control, and delivers its output to the AA-SCL4.  Now I have lovely clean sound and an easy, inconspicuous one-person setup.  The next step is to try the better image quality and longer recording runs that external recording over HDMI (you need another cable) gives you.  In this case the preamps come with the recording device, and the nicest recording devices have a monitor as well.  The LeicaStoreMiami (free plug, but I have no connection) has a section of its website listing a set of these components that seem to be complete and well thought-out, and that is what he has been using.  B&H has lots of variations, and some explanatory material to help you see how they might fit together.

 

There is a competition now going on between top of the line mirrorless cameras to offer video capability.  I have a tiny bit of experience with Olympus's, Fuji's and Leica's efforts, and the SL is doing a credible job, especially for a first serious entry.

 

scott

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Terrifying.  How will it look when you have a soundman with boom mike alongside, and an art director or producer tagging along looking over your shoulder?  No gyro stabilizer yet?

Terrifying? I guess you don't hang out around actual cinema operations much. It looks about normal, except that the camera is a bit less imposing in the equipment mess than it is with an Arri or other professional video camera. There are often three to four people operating the camera and sound, never mind director, producer, etc etc.

 

As a home video rig, it's a little daunting but I suspect anyone getting to this level of rig is doing something more than just shooting young Bobby at the baseball park... :D

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My personal experience is limited to film school grade equipment, usually internally captured HD, with sound recorded externally and synchronized with a clapper -- three-man crews.  There are a lot of videos on the web purporting to show how you can get wonderful video with your new mirrorless cam, but the camera is in the shot most of the time, so you wonder who took the actual video.  My favorite is one with a young girl vlogger who goes everywhere with an iPhone facing her on a selfie stick, a video reviewer with his new E-M1 mark ii, and their friend, who shows up with a full one person rig in downtown London.  Since the first two are visible in most of the Vimeo stream, I presume the guy with the full rig actually captured the action, although they may have kept the sound from the other two people.  No focus-pullers for these folks.

 

My immediate project is closer to Bobby at the ballpark.  I've shot traditional Japanese martial arts, with full armor, and get still images that I find very intriguing.  But the participants want something different -- who won the fight, and what was the cool move that did it?  That takes video, and the cries that you make affect the score, so sound matters as well.  I think I can do it with what I described, and one helper pointing a cardioid mike. connected with a 3m cable.  I have three ways to get there -- Olympus m5.2 (IBIS!!), Fuji X-T2, and SL

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