1/4" Connector On Cameras Please?

[adamr316]

Can I get an amen? Please camera makers put 1/4" TRS connectors on cameras from now on not 1/8". The little connectors are fine on CONSUMER cameras but professional gear is no place for such tiny, unsecure connections. Are there any newer cameras that have them on am I crazy?

 

[Alex H.]

The little connectors are fine on CONSUMER cameras but professional gear is no place for such tiny, unsecure connections.

And if you have a camera with a 1/8" audio input, you have a consumer-grade (or, at best, "pro-sumer") camera.

1/4" is, in a way, just as unstable (read: non-locking) as 1/8". Plus, you're talking about cameras that have terribly cheap, mic-level inputs that are wired for 2-channel, unbalanced signal. The last camera I know of that actually had 1/4" ins was the Sony CCD-V5000 Hi8 camcorder. It was a beast in the "pro-sumer" category as it had tons of manual control, 3 chips, and actual VU meters. No time code, though, and a fixed lens.

Professional gear has XLR inputs for balanced mic- and line- level input.

Edit: Of course, depending on what you're doing, it may not really matter anyway. For ENG and "magazine"-style EFP, yes, you want professional audio in-camera. But if your main gig is narrative (features, docs, indie films), then picture is what matters as far as the camera is concerned. The best sound comes from a dedicated team and gear package.

 

[Noiz2]

1/4" TRS is not a particularly secure connector. What most folks would want is XLR. It locks and is very robust and is a field standard.

Darn Alex beat me to it.

 

[Rick R]

I would concur with Alex. In addition, a 1/4" connector may be even more prone to damage ( to itself or the device) since the barrel protrudes out more than a 1/8" mini.
Are we talking about HPs or audio inputs? For audio inputs, the (Switchcraft mini-XLR) TA series are small, fairly robust and locking.

 

[Razz16mm]

A 1/4" connector is very long and is a bigger hole for contaminant intrusion into your camera. XLR's can be sealed, take up less depth and very little more diameter. 1/8" connectors are used because of the very small footprint and universal availability. If manufacturers would spend the extra few cents, there are high quality locking 1/8" connectors available with threaded shafts on the jacks and screw collars on the plugs.

 

[Richard Crowley]

Yes, XLR connectors could be sealed, but I've never seen one that was. (Except for the covers over them when unused.) XLRs actually extend back as far as 1/4 inch connectors and are physically larger, as well. So for purely space conservation, 1/4 inch phone would be more efficient than XLR. But 1/4 inch are NOT the standard for ANYTHING and would require adapters to/from industry standard connections.

There ARE locking 1/4 inch phone jacks (in the same physical form-factor as panel-mount XLR, see photo below.)



But if you are going to take that much space, just use the industry-standard XLR and get on with your life. 1/4 inch phone is slowly dying in the connector species, replaced by more specific (and generally smaller) connectors.

 

[TheDingo]

What about the mini-XLR connector ?

I used to own a boundary mic that had a mini XLR connector that never gave me any troubles.

 

[Barry_Green]

What about the mini-XLR connector ?

I used to own a boundary mic that had a mini XLR connector that never gave me any troubles.

Red put mini-XLRs on the original Red One, and they were pretty much universally despised. Tiny non-standard connector that meant having to get an adapter cable for every time you wanted to use it...

XLR is the standard, everything has XLR, even a cheapo $199 Zoom H4N recorder has XLRs. Why go with anything else? If you really, really wanted 1/4", how about a combo quarter-inch & XLR port like the Zoom has... at least you'd still have the standard XLR connector too...

 

[Rick R]

Red put mini-XLRs on the original Red One, and they were pretty much universally despised. Tiny non-standard connector that meant having to get an adapter cable for every time you wanted to use it..

The 'new' RED Epic has two 1/8". Go figure. It's non-locking, balanced, (or TS unbalanced). In any case the RED's audio STILL ain't up to Par.. 24 bit or not, a little better than a DSRL maybe.

 

[Richard Crowley]

No video camera will ever have really good audio. The priority is ALWAYS the video and NEVER the audio.
The low-end consumer cameras have only enough to keep the customer happy. No mic input. No headphone monitor, etc.
The middle-range pro-sumer, and "professional" cameras have audio good enough for the 11pm news. If you want any better, you are probably doing double-system.
The high-end cameras just assume you are doing double system and have audio only good enough for a scratch/sync/time-code track. And some have no audio at all.

Of course, there are odd-ball things like the Zoom Q3 models which are essentially little portable audio recorders with a camera.