C100: A small, cheap self-powered mic for the C100 MKI?

puredrifting

puredrifting

Major Contributor
I was chatting with DVXer SlavikB and he mentioned this mic to me. It's called the Polsen VM-101. You can get it at B&H Photo here for a mere $39.95 https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/sear...InitialSearch=yes&sts=ps&typedValue=Polsen+VM
Why would you want to put a cheap microphone on your C100 MKI? It's simple, weight and size. Canon neglected to build in any in-camera mic like they did on the C100 MKII and the C300 MKII. So if you want to, for instance, mount your C100 MKI on a gimbal like the Letus Helix Jr. or the Ronin-M, or on a slider or crane, where you often cannot use the handle/mic unit because of size and weigh issues, how do you record audio for a scratch track to help you/the editor sync in post? This has been the quandry for quite a while. Of course there are decent, brand name choices like the Røde Video Mic Pro and Pro+, the Sennheiser MKE400 but you are then spending hundreds of dollars, merely to get a scratch track onto your C100 MKI. Seems like a waste. Many have been looking for a cheap , small and light self-powered mic for recording an on camera scratch track but it has been challenging.

Before we go on, hopefully none of you are using these sorts of mics on your C100 unless it is merely for ambient tracks or unless you are sticking the camera right in the face of your talent at about 24" away. Most shots of faces from 24" are not going to be flattering. On camera mics are generally useless for anything but ambient. I've rarely understood those who put a $2,000.00 mic onto their camera mount, what a perfectly good waste of $2,000.00. I just ordered the Polsen VM-101 from B&H Photo and thought I would give it a try. I recently acquired a Letus Helix Jr. gimbal and need a way to record scratch tracks while shooting with it so my clients will be able to easily sync with the quality audio that a sound mixer will be recording. The VM-101 arrived today, I opened the box, knowing that for $39.95, it probably wouldn't be good, undoubtedly wouldn't be professional level, buit I thought it was worth a try.

The Positives
The price - $39.95 for a solution to a problem that has plagued us is better than dropping $200,00 to $350.00 for a name brand self-powered mic, if all you are using it for is to give the editor a scratch track . Remember, mounting a mic on a camera is generally deluding yourself into thinking you might record something with it that sounds passable. That rarely happens, due to those pesky laws of physics.
The Polsen VM-101 comes with a built-in shock mount of sorts, a foam windscreen and a dead cat to cover the foam
It's powered by a single AAA battery
It affixes to your cold shoe where the handle/mic normally attaches
It has a small led battery indicator light above the power switch so you can verfy your battery is powering the mic and hasn't died
The supplied dead cat looks amazingly like one of those troll dolls from the 80s or like an aging Trumpian hair style where is his orange has faded to white
The dead cat actually works somewhat and reduces wind noise and buffeting sounds
It weighs a mere 1.8oz! Perfect for gimbal use where every extra ounce counts.

The Negatives
The build quality is fragile looking and feeling. It seems that if you drop this onto a hardwood floor or concrete, it will shatter
The built-in suspension seems to be a bit too soft as the weight of the mic cable when plugged in makes the mic list to one side in some of the pictures below.
The sound is pretty bad. A lot of hiss, and a mid-range emphasized honky sound

Summary
We'll see if this mic will last long enough to actually be used on a few paying projects. As stated, it sounds pretty bad, which I expected it to. But will it work long enough to record some usable scratch tracks? Stay tuned.


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I got a Sennheiser MKE 400. It's typically $200, but was on a Black Friday Sale on B&H for just $100.

Problem is, it had some terrible noise to it; the mic was defective. So, I mailed it in to Sennheiser under warranty, they mailed it back to me, and it still had the problem. From there, I never bothered with it again, and eventually the warranty expired, so now it collects dust. For $100 it wasn't worth my time to send it in again in hopes that they fix it after they failed the first time. Eventually I got the C100 Mark II which made the mic of even less use to me.

I typically used the Rode Videomic Pro anyway, since the audio quality was better. For wedding prep and some doc scenarios, the on-camera mic is usable and the only practical way of getting good audio in a fast paced environment without a dedicated audio person.

Now-a-days I have three Audio Technica AT-875r mics for on-camera mics. Typically B and C-cam (C100 Mark I's) I'll just use the stero handle mic for scratch, and A-cam I'll have the AT-875r mic on it. The nice thing about the handle mic compared to a battery powered mic is not having to worry about the battery; an extra battery is just one more thing to prep for each and every shoot. If I'm with a second shooter on a doc type shoot, I'll put the second AT-875r on the second cam.

I don't really use the Rode Videomic Pro anymore, and don't miss having to worry about its battery. Sure, the handle setup with an XLR mic is larger, but I got used to it over time and like working with a handle as well as the better audio quality of XRL connections and XLR mics, plus it gives me room to mount an on-camera light and a microphone at the same time.

I also bought an Audio-Technica AT-897 mic more recently, which is like the 875r, but can be powered by a AA battery. Which is great with the C300 Mark II so I can have two wireless mics in the XLR inputs, as well as a decent on-camera mic in the third 1/8" input recording to channels 3 and 4. The 897 mic doesn't have an off button, so unless I'm missing something it drains the battery when not in use if you leave the battery in, which is a pain. I think the Rode NTG 2 has an off button, but I'm not sure. Maybe I'm missing something and someone can fill me in? I don't recall reading any reviews about there not being an off button. I've only used it a few times, but from what I recall it drained the battery when not in use, though I haven't tested it to be sure.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueWcczAp3R0
 
Anyone have experience of using an Zoom H1 as an on camera mic for the C100, maybe with some kind of shock absorber? Lately I've discovered I mostly want ambient sound from the on-camera mic, so stereo would seem to be a better than a shotgun. There are those Rode stereo mics, but the H1 is smaller, and I'd have the higher quality microSD recording to sync up if I really wanted to go crazy.

Anywho, do you think the H1 would give a nicer stereo recording than the built-in mic on the top handle?
 
The C100 pre-amps are better than most low end audio mixers such as the Zoom H4n. I realize the H1 can do a higher bit depth of 24 bits vs the C100's 16 bits, but 16 bits is still quite good and good enough for most scenarios, and I'd still argue that the likely better pre-amps of the C100 will yield you better results than recording to the Zoom H1's MicroSD card.

There were some mics with a built-in recorder made that were made for DSLRs which have poor preamps, but that's not really the case with the C100.

I was using DSLRs and a Zoom H4n, which was rather noisy, then I upgraded to a Tascam DR-40, which was less noisy, and then to a C100, which was the least noisy of those. C300 Mark II is 24 bits which is even better. Next step will be a Sound Devices.

As for the handle stero mic vs the Zoom H1 mic (not the recording capablities), I'd probably lean toward the handle mic, but it's difficult to say without tests. The Zoom H1 is a pretty cheap setup, so it's possible more money was put into the C100 handle mic.
 
Eric Coughlin said:
Now-a-days I have three Audio Technica AT-875r mics for on-camera mics. Typically B and C-cam (C100 Mark I's) I'll just use the stero handle mic for scratch, and A-cam I'll have the AT-875r mic on it. The nice thing about the handle mic compared to a battery powered mic is not having to worry about the battery; an extra battery is just one more thing to prep for each and every shoot. If I'm with a second shooter on a doc type shoot, I'll put the second AT-875r on the second cam.
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Right there with you, I use the AT875r both on camera and sometimes off camera, on a boom when traveling and I need small and light but decent quality. I bought this mic strictly for use on the Letus Helix Jr. with a sound mixer. It sounds terrible but it does allow the C100 to record scratch audio and it weighs 1.8 oz and was super cheap.
 
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The difference between Polson and Azden is that when you hear Polson you think, "Never heard of them," and when you hear Azden, you vomit.
 
Eric Coughlin said:
The difference between Polson and Azden is that when you hear Polson you think, "Never heard of them," and when you hear Azden, you vomit.
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True, they are all going to sound like crap and like I said, the Polsen weighs only 1.8 oz. Both of those Azdens are two or three times as large and weigh three times as much and are still going to sound like crap. I don't see the point. Remember, if you want something that sounds good without using the carry handle to mount a real mic to, I would use the Røde Video Mic Pro. My point isn't to capture good quality sound, it's only to give the editor sync points to sync to the good sound and I am trying to balance a tall, relatively heavy for it camera on a Letus Helix Jr. gimbal. Every ounce counts and being that I am shooting with a gimbal, I will be sometimes using the Canon 10-18 STM IS lens. I checked the Polsen mounted to the handle shoe and even with the dead cat, it wasn't visible at 10mm. Both of these Azdens or even any other good mic like the Røde would be visible in the upper center frame at 10mm.
 
I would prefer a microphone which costs more can be used in B cameras. You may check the Sennheiser MKE 440 It is a stereo shotgun microphone and costs 349 USD. If your polsen gives so much of hiss then syncing would be a problem.
 
I doubt the Polson would be worse than the hollow and cruddy sounding interior scratch mic on the C300 Mark II (which I think works fine as a scratch track), and the Polson is still being plugged into the C100's preamp, so shouldn't be all that noisy in terms of hiss.
 
Eric Coughlin said:
I doubt the Polson would be worse than the hollow and cruddy sounding interior scratch mic on the C300 Mark II (which I think works fine as a scratch track), and the Polson is still being plugged into the C100's preamp, so shouldn't be all that noisy in terms of hiss.
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I have not even recorded with it, just plugged in my headphones and listened. I should record something and then play it back through my Genelecs.
 
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