DVX100a mic... option or a must???

[balrais1]

I people, I'm awaiting my DVX100A and wanted to know is a mic a must?

I was thinking of a Sennheiser LAVALIER MIC for auto reviews - you know talking inside the car while driving - and wanted to know if I really need one or is the mic on the camcorder good enough???

 

[J.R. Hudson]

I Robot.

Need an external mic. No doubt. SENN would be nice. The onvoard mic should be removed and shredded; I kid; it's good for ambient room crap.

 

[thisiswells]

Lav mic's are good for car interiors.. I have some samples if you'd like to hear 'em.
I'd really like to try out these next time, though:

Sanken CUB-01 Cardioid Boundary Microphone

 

[balrais1]

do you think that a lav mic is compulsory?

I was hoping not to spend more money than I already did (I bought some essentials like extra battery, tripod, case, etc...)

How good is the audio quality of the DVX's mic /10 (where 10 is outstanding)???
And how good would it be with a Senn lav mic on it (also /10)???

 

[Sean Michael]

I've had my DVX a couple of months now, and have bought three mics for it: a AT-897 Shotgun, Shure SM58 handheld/vocal, and a Countryman lavalier.

Thus far, I've used the lav the most. It is useful (essential?) in every type of interview situation. It has never disappointed, and produces vibrant, crystal clear vocals.

The DVX on-camera mic is pretty medicore. I don't think you want to rely on it.

 

[Merrill]

With the countryman lav; is it wired or not and did you find that you get this low level white noise in the background of your audio track. I get this all the time even when I'm in a cone of silence and its driving me nuts! I have tried wired versus not and its all the same....

Any tips or fuctions on this camera I'm overlooking....

Merrill

 

[Sean Michael]

I'm a newbie and thus you should take my free advice as being fairly valued.

My Countryman is wired. I haven't had any trouble with white noise, etc. in the background. Sometimes for interviews, I've plugged it into DVX Input 2 and switched both channels to Input 2 (focusing all sound input on the lav). I don't know if this is wise or not, but the results so far have been good. BTW, my Countryman requires phantom power (which of course the DVX provides).

 

[thisiswells]

do you think that a lav mic is compulsory?

If you don't need a lav mic then it is not compulsory. Do you need a lav mic?

I was hoping not to spend more money than I already did (I bought some essentials like extra battery, tripod, case, etc...)

Here's a reality most newbie camera owners do not realise:
Buying a DVX100 is usually 1/4th of the amount of gear you need to do any production.

How good is the audio quality of the DVX's mic /10 (where 10 is outstanding)???
And how good would it be with a Senn lav mic on it (also /10)???

There is absolutely no way to compare the sound of these microphones.
They do different things. One is a stereo mic on a camera the other is a clip-on mic.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask them. It is helpful to some of the
volunteers who post here if a specific question is asked.. like, I'm shooting a movie
outside in warm weather and lots of wind and I have XX to spend on sound, what do
you think I should get.

Or, I'm shooting a five minute scene indoors in a large cavernous space like the attic of
an old abandoned mansion and I want to do everything in an ultra-wide angle master
shot--and no cuts. The actor will be thirty feet from the camera at all times, what do
you think I need to do sound in this situation?

These are the kinds of questions that are good to ask and will bring the best results,
much more so than, please rate the quality of X compared to Z so I know which one
to use. It's just not that simple, sorry.

:undecided

 

[balrais1]

"Do you need a lav mic?"
I dunno yet, that's why I wanted to know how good the stereo mic was on the DVX?

"There is absolutely no way to compare the sound of these microphones."
I don't want a direct comparison, all I want to know is how good would you rate the stereo mic on the DVX.
eg. will it be able to handle auto reviews when most of the comentary is done while driving.

"If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask them."
Ok, here goes... I am outputting all of the videos (car reviews, 3-5 minutes -- and -- product reviews, 1-3 minutes) on the web using quicktime.
What format should I use?
I ask this because there is much discussion about using 24p or 60i for output on big theaters but there has not been a thread discussing anything for the internet.

If anyone needs more info on the production to better answer some of my questions please get back to me and I'll try to answer them to your satisfaction.

 

[Barry_Green]

Y'know, if there was ever a job that the onboard mic would be best at, it's probably driver commentary in an auto review. The main problem with an onboard mic is that you can't get it close enough to the source to get a decent signal-to-noise ratio, but in a car, in a closed environment with the windows up, and considering you'll be a maximum of 2' or 3' away from the speaker... it may be okay. It might be close enough to "good enough" that I'd say you should try it and see if you're happy with the results before springing for an external mic.

 

[thisiswells]

I am outputting all of the videos (car reviews, 3-5 minutes -- and -- product reviews, 1-3 minutes) on the web using quicktime.

The on-board mic sounds perfect for what you want to do. A lav mic would probably be
more trouble than it's worth if your guy were tied to the camera with a wire... that's
pretty inconvenient and wireless units are pretty expensive. I'd say the on-cam mic
would be perfect for this application. It's what I would use, anyway.

What format should I use?
I ask this because there is much discussion about using 24p or 60i for output on big theaters but there has not been a thread discussing anything for the internet.

Probably a better question for the editing/post production forums. I don't know jack about
getting the best output for the web. I totally stink at that. If you find the answer, LMK.