Canon 60d Rode Videomic Options

[GSE]

Hi all,

I've got a 60d on the way, so I don't have a whole lot of first hand experience with audio on the camera. Some people say the manual audio only works with the internal mic, but I'm sure that's not true. Hence why people suggest the rode videomic pro so you can use the +20db on the mic and step down the gain on the 60d.


Is the +20db on the videomic pro a must to remove hiss, even with the gain on the camera turned down? I've seen a lot of videos with the standard rode videomic with the 60d and they have a lot of hiss, I don't know if that's because they had the gain turned up on the camera, or what.


Also does something like the zoom h1 work well as a preamp? I've seen people suggest that the standard rode videomic connected into the zoom h1, and then the zoom h1 connected into the camera can work well. If this is true then that would be great, as down the line I'll be using a rode ntg3 recording onto something like a zoom h1. So if I could get a zoom h1 now and essentially use it as a cheap preamp for the rode videomic audio going into the 60d then it would work out well.

So that's about it, just wondering what your thoughts are...


thanks

 

[Donald Ong]

Hi all,
Some people say the manual audio only works with the internal mic

Fortunately for us, that's nonsense.

Is the +20db on the videomic pro a must to remove hiss, even with the gain on the camera turned down? I've seen a lot of videos with the standard rode videomic with the 60d and they have a lot of hiss, I don't know if that's because they had the gain turned up on the camera, or what.

What the +20db does is it makes your sound source louder, hence requiring less gain to bring it up to audible levels, hence, you can afford to lower the gain. For example, with +20db, you may be getting audible levels with Gain at 1. Without the +20db, Your levels will be way to low at the same gain level and you won't be able to hear anything. Hence, to achieve the same levels, you have to up the gain. This means that with the +20db, you can afford to use lower gain values, which will result in less noise.

Also does something like the zoom h1 work well as a preamp? I've seen people suggest that the standard rode videomic connected into the zoom h1, and then the zoom h1 connected into the camera can work well. If this is true then that would be great, as down the line I'll be using a rode ntg3 recording onto something like a zoom h1. So if I could get a zoom h1 now and essentially use it as a cheap preamp for the rode videomic audio going into the 60d then it would work out well.

I've not tried that so i can't comment.


But I do love my rode videomicpro. Really good quality audio. One thing though, the construction is a tad flimsy. I had a switch break before and I had to send it in (probably just a bad copy). Also, the hotshoe mount tends to loosen over time, though it's nothing a screwdriver can't solve.

 

[GSE]

Thanks Donald.

The Videomic Pro does seem like the easiest way to get good quality audio into the camera. At least the audio quality isn't on the same level as the construction. =P

At this stage I can't decide. If the zoom h1 can work as a preamp for the videomic into the 60d then I probably would get that, but I haven't really seen anyone discuss if this works well.

 

[Alex H.]

The Zoom H1 isn't going to do you any favors, especially with a mic like the NTG-3. It doesn't have XLR inputs, it doesn't offer phantom power, and it has pretty poor pre-amps on the 1/8" input. With the VideoMic, it may be a slight improvement but is essentially a lateral move.

Personally, I'm not a fan of recording in-camera audio with a DSLR, but if you must and you're planning on using an NTG-3 there are much better options. The Sound Devices MixPre-D is a mixer that actually has a mic-level out designed specifically for feeding DSLR cameras. Plus, with a mixer you could also feed an external recorder for better recording.

 

[GSE]

The Zoom H1 isn't going to do you any favors, especially with a mic like the NTG-3. It doesn't have XLR inputs, it doesn't offer phantom power, and it has pretty poor pre-amps on the 1/8" input. With the VideoMic, it may be a slight improvement but is essentially a lateral move.

Personally, I'm not a fan of recording in-camera audio with a DSLR, but if you must and you're planning on using an NTG-3 there are much better options. The Sound Devices MixPre-D is a mixer that actually has a mic-level out designed specifically for feeding DSLR cameras. Plus, with a mixer you could also feed an external recorder for better recording.

Thanks Alex.

I won't be using a NTG-3 for a while. I'm just wanting some decent audio going directly into the camera for the moment and will invest in better separate sound recording later on. So I wonder if there are any low cost preamps that could work with the videomic to deliver audio quality better than the videomic pro, otherwise I'll just get the videomic pro.