D90 For Feature Length Film ?

neka said:
i'd stay away from m-audio chip recorders - the pre's and converters are pretty sub-par - rode video mics don't really cut it either imo

check out the shootouts at
http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/right_mic_brockett.html
and
http://www.wingfieldaudio.com/portable-recorder-reviews.html
heaps of audio samples on those links - let your ears decide!

i'd go for a sony pcm-d50 and an AT or octava shotgun
maybe a beachtek or jucedlink for leveling
phantom power? - denecke makes an ok unit
if most of your film is indoors, you might want to look at lavalier mics - far fewer reflection issues than with a shotgun mic
and don't forget to get some nice clean ambient room recordings to act as a bed for your dialogue...
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Thanks for those Mic reviews and samples. I like the At AT875r for the price. Zoom h4 has xlrs and phanton power, etc. The combo of those two would be good for my budget, I believe. I was interested in Sound Devices MM-1 , but then I would be recording straight into the camera again and that would defeat the purpose ? I know I sound naive and dumb (maybe I am :) , but it's best to ask questions if you don't know. I have read a lot about Sound Devices products and they have a great rep from everywhere I've read or heard. I wouldn't mind spending the extra $100 on a better sounding piece of equiptment . It would go from my AT875r, into the Sound Devices, then into the Camera . That would work, right ? Would that sound better than the AT875, into an H4, back into the Camera ? Thanks
 
A dedicated pre-amp will almost always give you a better sound than the pre-amp's on the budget recorders we're looking at. You'd probably have to spend $1000 plus to get the same kind of sound out of a field recorder. I haven't played with the MM-1 but it looks the business. Luckily I have my digitube just lying around gathering dust so it will be great to put it to work. The other issue is the quality of the A/D converters on the MicroTrack II and the H4. The sony sounds nice but it's a bit spendy and I don't wanna cut corners on other things like a tripod.

I've been using gear with "budget" A/D converters for over 10 years while my peers have been having a wank over their high end stuff. I recorded an award winning album with "budget" A/D converters and nobody complained to me about the quality of the sound. The trick was to use "budget" valve pre-amps and compressors to warm the sound and get a hot signal into the converters. I also used a lot of analog warmth type plug-in's. At the end of the day it's the content that matters. Do you really care if there's a sound engineer having a whinge about your sound in a theatre packed full of people glued to the screen?

Those Lavalier mics sound tasty, I might have to fork a bit more out for one of those. But I'm still getting the rode to run and gun. Two more weeks of shopping and I'm making a film.......so over it. Tripod has been the hardest choice, a decent one costs as much as a D90. Bugger that!

"But in the end, back on Earth, you’ll be lobotomized!"
 
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The only advantage I find with the MicroTrack over the H4 is it is a bit smaller. Other than that I would choose the H4 over the MicroTrack 99% of the time. Especially with the XLR inputs.

Squig, the H4 is just as easy to use as the MicroTrack. Maybe if you are using the 4-track mode it might become confusing or if you are bouncing tracks...but stereo mode is straight forward and simple.

I cannot stress enough how frustrating it is to use the MicroTrack with it's lack of swapping out batteries in the field, and having to charge it for awhile to use it again.

I have had the Microtrack for 2 years and its battery cannot be counted on for more than 60 minutes of straight shooting anymore. The battery just keeps getting weaker and weaker.

I would never buy one again unless you could swap out batteries.

The H4 is just as good if not better in sound quality...
 
I have no experience using the m track, but this is why I chose the H4...the XLR and 1/4 inch audio jack. SD cards...seeing how the d90 was SD, I figured I keep my media the same.

The XLR on the H4 eats up batteries, but I'm not too worried about that as long as I have an extra pack on the side. And it records 96hz .wav which is really high end audio. More so than what the DVX is capable of recording. The menu isn't that hard. It's just different. It takes all of 10mins to figure out if you're capable of reading. Hell if it's the menu you're worried about, stay away from the D90.
 
OK you've worn me down, thanks again for the advice guys.

I found a good review of the Zoom here- http://www.proaudioreview.com/article/162
and here- http://homerecording.about.com/od/productreviews/fr/h4_review.htm

I can get the recording levels right using my digitube so that overcomes the main issue that was bothering me with the H4. And I guess the built in mic's might be usable shooting inside a car.

This was the last equipment purchase I had to decide on.......until the next one. Now I just wanna get back to finishing my script.
 
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Outkasted said:
It would go from my AT875r, into the Sound Devices, then into the Camera . That would work, right ? Would that sound better than the AT875, into an H4, back into the Camera ? Thanks
Click to expand...

this would work fine
sound devices are the shizzle - expensive but great sounding
will last for years and you can get a good rental for them too

squig said:
I've been using gear with "budget" A/D converters for over 10 years while my peers have been having a wank over their high end stuff. I recorded an award winning album with "budget" A/D converters and nobody complained to me about the quality of the sound.
Click to expand...

movies contain many quiet sections, often just 2 voices talking in a room.
not really like an album with many layers of 'loud' sound

for (dialogue, foley, atmosphere), clarity and space are very important - quiet pre's and nice converters help with this

Car3o said:
And it records 96hz .wav which is really high end audio.
Click to expand...

like a 5 megapixel cameraphone takes good pictures?
resolution isn't quality unfortunately :)

anyway, my advice is to listen to some sample recordings from different recorders,
and choose the one you like the sound of the best, rather than relying on reviews :beer:
 
"I'm also getting a rode video mic ttp://aus.rodemic.com/microphone.php?product=VideoMic it attaches to the D90's shoe mount for run and gun action."


Unless I'm mistaken this won't work because the D90 has no audio type of inputs on it. I just read the manual from the Nikon website. Maybe somebody that owns a d90 can tell me different ?
 
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