External Mic DMW-MS1 may solve audio issues?

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LizaWitz

Carbonite Member
Panasonic is also making a new external mic for the GH1. Its the stereo mic that fits on the flash adapter as seen in some of the pictures. I think that I saw a picture of Philip Bloom with one on his camera.

The thing that I noticed on the pictures of this mic is that on the left side there are at least two switches. It may be too much to hope that there's a headphone jack on the mic for monitoring-- but I wonder about those two switches?

Maybe one of them is to turn off AGC on the camera? Can we hope?

So, does anyone have a good picture of that side? The only ones I have are mostly from the front and you can see the switches, but not make out what they do.
 
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I believe the switches on the side of Panasonic's optional stereo mic for use with the GH1 are labeled:
"OFF - MONO - STEREO", and "WINDCUT: OFF - ON"; there's also a small LED light indicating battery status.

(The mic appears to have its own battery compartment, hence the LED light.)

So, no obvious joy concerning disabling the cam's audio AGC, regrets.

See DP Review's preview of the GH1 (cu photo w. mic is at very bottom of their article):
http://www.dpreview.com/
 
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I think another (better?) solution is RODE Stereo Videomic (~ same price €/$ 120) ... with battery 9 volts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpBzn69_DPU

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So does the GH1 definitely have Automatic Gain. It's a missed opportunity if it does. I thought the camera was focused on video? Additionally panasonic has a good reputaion in the area of audio as well. Seems strange as its only a firmware issue as well. The mic won't help much it will just sound better but will still be ruined by hiss.
 
I don't really see it as too big of a deal. If you're serious about getting good audio you're not gonna be hooking up a mic to the camera anyway. Short of a decent preamp and actual XLR inputs, the only proper way to get decent audio is via a separate recorder. The onboard mic will just serve as a scratch track.
 
I've got an easy shoot for work next Thursday...they just need someone to film some new grad students giving little 2 minute spiels about themselves. I am planning on using my Gh1 and sound is not totally critical but I was thinking about this mic for awhile just to improve general quality of on camera sound. Does anybody know where I can get one of these? Is it officially even out yet? Seems backordered everywhere.

The Rode looks nicer with the shock mount, etc, but is also larger and is like $100 more...taking it out of impulse buy territory for me. Wasn't super impressed with the YouTube sound...especially since I guess I really just wish I had a shotgun mic for this situation...need to record across a classroom. I am thinking of buying it just to use though...hmmmm...uggh. lol. Sorry.
 
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Hey guys, I can't figure out if my GH1 External Microphone works. When I toggle to power on there is no sold red light. Red Light turns on then quickly disappears. How can I test if this thing works?
 
The only way to totally ensure whether any external audio source is recording is to replay, I'm afraid.
 
I also am curious about this microphone but in a different way. I recently bought the Rode video mic and think it produces very good audio (all factors considered). I am very unhappy with the size though. Does anyone have any experience with DMW MS1 and is it that much worse than Rode mic (for what it's doing). I am really only looking for an external mic to improve cam audio for "run and gun" situations. I use H4n for more important audio. I am shooting a doc and it would be nice to just through mic on for certain situations. I just can't find any decent reviews of the Panny mic.

Thanks!
 
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