D400 just a rumor

jamesmallonuk said:
...but what I really want is a half decent non auto gain external mic input, because I want to use it for documentary work.
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I know that an external mic input seems like a good idea and I'd appreciate it as much as anyone. But the truth is that you want your microphone as close to the action as possible, not stuck back on the tripod or camera with you.

I use a wireless lav going into a quality recorder, a Zoom H2, a handheld mic with a built in recorder and any other tool I can get that puts the mic where the action is. Most of these will run for several hours on a set of batteries so you can put them where you want them, turn them on and capture all kinds of film without worrying about starting and stopping with every clip.

Manually syncing them up is easy but I find that I edit the audio track so much that I can't use long sync clips much anyway. A good audio track and lots of b-roll makes a better film than a talking head.

It strikes me as weird that people will haul around a camera bag filled with lenses, filters, extra this and that but believe that including a light weight high quality audio recorder is more than they want to deal with.

Just like the number of steps we're willing go through in post with D90 footage is okay but taking a few minutes to sync up high quality sound is too much trouble.

Sorry to rant on but bad sound is the easiest way to spot a cheap production while great sound is almost invisible in a high quality production. A good sound track starts with the initial capture of the audio and that almost always starts as close to the action as possible.

-a-
 
brunsona said:
I use a wireless lav going into a quality recorder, a Zoom H2
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me too. on my feature we actually used two wireless transmitters plugged into the zoom with a simple splitter cable. sometimes we used two lavs and sometimes we plugged an mke-400 on a boom into one. i did the mixing, convenient since i had to listen to the dialogue anyway, and the assistant director took care of the lavs and boom operating, leaving the dp free to figure out ways to avoid flicker and jello. :-)

/matt
 
As a one man documentary maker I at least need to get good ambient thats related to the scene and talk from distances even if I over lay audio made at other times ie interviews. And sorry but a h2 zoom is not professional, its pro consumer. If you were professional you would insist on balanced XLR audio at the very least the h4 zoom. I would never and have never tried to get and needed quality voice recordings form an onboard mic, but having the recording set up fixed to the camera is essential if you are a one man documantary maker who can't walk around with a boom. The major reason I am looking at DSLR's apart from swappable lens, is my need to be very low key.

I totaly agree about sound being 50% of what you see always have always will, thats why my hero is James Longley who won an OSCAR a couple of years back noted for brilliant sound recorded from a DVX.

You know what assumptions do dont you?
 
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jamesmallonuk said:
And sorry but a h2 zoom is not professional, its pro consumer. If you were professional you would insist on balanced XLR audio
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while i totally agree that the zoom isn't a professional piece of equipment xlr inputs aren't necessary in this case since the wireless receivers have line outputs, which often aren't balanced even in professional gear, no need since the signal is much stronger.

/matt
 
IMO, what he says about the D90 movie mode seems to confirm that it was a simple add-on introduced by the engineers and that the customers' response was completely unpredictable. He also knows that, from now on, people are expecting to find a movie mode in all future cameras.
 
fake or not there's a new DSLR coming from Nikon in 8 days and I'm crossing my fingers they got it right this time

It better have 20p!
 
A digital SLR with a full frame sensor, 1080 at 24p and manual controls. I'd pay 3500 easily.
 
PaPa said:
A digital SLR with a full frame sensor, 1080 at 24p and manual controls. I'd pay 3500 easily.
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It would be a bit of a stretch but if it had a good enough codec sure.

But it's unlikely we'll see that on april 14. The D400 is most likely to have a DX sensor for around $2000. But manual control and a decent codec is a definite possibility.

Even if it's only 24Mbps AVCHD with manual shutter control and a sensor that doesn't overheat it should blow away the GH1. I think/hope we're gonna see something from Nikon that records pictures that look as good as the 5D @ 24p.

Either way my D90 is for sale.
 
I'm ready to whore myself in order to afford a D400.

I got an itchy trigger finger, I will launch this D90 onto Craigslist faster than you can say Nikon.
 
ya, maybe. One can always dream. I just want to use my nikon 35mm lenses without having to deal with a 2x crop factor! Can't afford a fast wide 11mm lens!
 
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