Elevated Visual
Member
Been out of the loop, surprised, FS7 shipping tomorrow. Figured out most of my needed accessaries tonight. Got forum overload going brain dead. Any suggestions for microphone that fits good with the mount?
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I use the old Sony 1-542-296 which was the original shotgun mic on all the old Sony SD broadcast cameras. It was designed as a camera mic and has very low handling and wind noise (I just use a foamy) , good off axis rejection, the perfect size 6-7", and surprisingly good sound. Plus its dirt cheap. You can find them used or get its successor the AT 875 at only $150 which I think has a slightly tighter pattern. Don't discount this little workhorse . It was good enough for broadcast for years and ha come quite well in comparison tests. I've got one somewhere I think by Dan Brockett. Ill post if I can find it . Uses phantom power.
Stan,
I would suggest you go to a quality shop and test different mics since it is such a critical part of the production. I have slowly upgraded my shotguns over the years and have two that put me in the pocket for all of my on camera and boom work.
My work horse on the camera is: Sennheiser MKH 60 P48. Great in tough outside conditions
My boom and interview mic is? Schoeps CMT 5 U, the best shotgun I have ever used. But it is not good in outside wet conditions for that I use the Sennheiser. Just back from a convention where I had a studio set up in a booth with loads of background noise and the Schoeps just shined. Off axis is great and the sound well it is hard to beat.
I think it really comes down to your budget and your ear. There are loads of great mics. Hope you find one that works for you in your budget.
Doug,
The Sony's UWP-D11 sound very interesting. Also having a lot invested in my Lectro wireless system, the thought of no wires is very inviting.
Thanks Doug, went with your go to EC-680. Good to hear the auto settings work for run and gun which is what the FS7 will be pulling full duty. We have the Schoeps CMT 5 I use on our larger set cams. If it has half its focus I be happy. Over all I'm impressed with Sonys Einstein to knuckle head approach to sound integration. By the way Great example UWP d11 system we have had it for a week using on the Sony A7s. It has extensive settings to satisfy the sound crew for studio work. But when I'm in a live event situation interviews , pulling focus with people coming in and out of the Frame sound is the last thing on my mind. All week the auto mode has not let me down, I suspect it won't for you either.I own a number of different shotgun microphones (Sennheiser, Audio Technica, etc.) that I could use on the FS7, but the two I think work best with my Sony cameras are my Sony microphones. I use a ECM-680 when I actually want to pickup usable dialog when shooting handheld. It feels very well-balanced on the FS7 and you're not going to find anything to beat the sound quality. I was shooting on the sidelines last sunday at the Giants-49ers game the mic performed flawlessly. It was amazing what I was able to pickup when I was in close to the players and coaches. I just put the settings on automatic and let it go, no sound guy needed. The 680 is a good investment and will serve you for decades on many cameras or boompoles. Cameras come and go, but audio lasts forever.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/514507-REG/Sony_ECM_680S_ECM_680S_M_S_Stereo_Shotgun.html
But for times when I want to go a little smaller and lighter and I just want to pickup good nat sound, but not necessarily dialog, I use my ECM-MS2. It's a very nice little mic for the price and sounds really good.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/850144-REG/Sony_ECM_MS2_Stereo_Electret_Condenser.html
If you're looking for a wireless solution, take a look at Sony's UWP-D11. I just ordered one after seeing it demonstrated last week at CCW.
For $600, it is an amazing what you get for your money. I've got $5K invested in a slot-in Sony digital wireless system for my F55 and bigger cameras, but the D11 seems to offer most of that functionality for a fraction of the price. What makes the system really cool is that you can mount it on the camera's smart hotshoe and then the mic will get power from the camera and send audio to the camera with no wires. Imagine no external power cables or XLR cables. Nice and clean. I'm looking forward to getting it.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produ...d11_30_bodypack_lavalier_mic_eng_package.html
Use the internal mic... Okay, only kidding, but it works... kind of... At the moment I'm using a Rode NTG2 and a bit of gaffer tape. Now that works...
The internal mic is already enabled as the camera's default setting. But if it has been turned off for some reason you can turn it on again by going to Audio Input > CH1 Input Select > Internal MIC and Audio Input > CH2 Input Select > Internal MIC
How are you guys liking your AT875R with FS7. I've been testing my old Sony workhorse 1-542-296 but it doesn't seem to sound as good as it did on my F3.
So far though I'm a little underwhelmed by the sound quality on FS7 altogether, especially if I turn the headphones up ( is there a way to control headphone volume on the outside of the camera). Granted I just started to play with it. I had trouble getting a really good sound level with the 1-542-296.