External Microphone for Video

[Schittra]

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Do you use external microphone with SL? I found it needs the adapter. I haven’t tried the microphone of SL before. How good or bad is it? Do you use external microphone or just on camera microphone? Thank you.

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[LocalHero1953]

I use a Rode Videomic Pro, like many others. The sound quality is good, and the mount removes the sound of your handling the camera. I have no idea why Leica included their special mic port and not a standard audio port - the adapter hangs down and, over time, must wear the cable connections, and is a snagging risk. It's just daft design.

Edited April 11, 2020 by LocalHero1953

[MarkP]

Rode Stereo VideoMic Pro Rycote.
More here...

 

 

However it's polar pattern makes it better for ambient and general recording rather than for interview or more directional sound pickup.  Perfect for my requirements not that I shoot much video at all. Explained here:

https://postperspective.com/review-rode-mics-stereo-videomic-pro-rycote/

Edited April 11, 2020 by MarkP

[BernardC]

I use the SL audio adapter and different external microphones, depending on the environment. One of my favourite mics these days is a tiny Olympus stereo mic. The same microphone was sold by Leica as an M240 accessory. It is very good for ambiance and live music, less-so for dialogue. I use a windjammer on it.

You can avoid buying the microphone adapter if you use an HDMI video recorder (Atomos, BlackMagic, Odysee, etc.) with a mic input.

You can also use a standalone audio recorder (Zoom, Tascam, Olympus, etc.) and synchronize in your video editor. Most current video editors will synchronize sound tracks using your camera's built-in microphone as a guide. You just need to tell the recorder which sound file corresponds to your video file (easy to do if your camera and recorder are set to the same date/time).

The camera's built-in microphone isn't very useful, other than as a guide track. That is true of every camera, not just Leica.