H4n zoom question

J

jpkeenan24

Member
Hey guys i'm looking for some incredible audio/microphone equipment i can use for my gh1 and interviews, i've looked into shotgun mics but they mostly sound pretty weak and have white noise and echoy sounds. I've looked in the h4n zoom and was very impressed. I was wondering what are some microphones you can use with it? thanks a bunch.
 
I've been searching for shotguns and lavs and there are many decent. Finally settled on mics from Audio Technica. The AT897 shotgun and the PRO70 lav.

I'm testing them out connected directly to the GH1 and 7D. Connected via a Juicedlink CX231 and connected directly to a Sony PCM-D50. I've been mixing and matching to get the most out of it.

I can say the Audio Technica mics do sound very much the same. With the D50 as recording device it's really clean with no noise. The juicedlink adds to the complexity but also gives me phantom and individual level controls. I have the shotgun on one channel and the lav on the other. I also made an adapter cable that brings the D50s line output to mic level and I will try out how it works to connect it to the GH1 and 7D so I do record in camera and on the D50 simultaneous.

It's interesting that if you connect directly to either camera via the juicedlink the GH1 has a very thin sound and the 7D is fuller.
 
The biggest problem you are going to get with having audio on your camera is that you have to stay in the same spot to get the sound that you like. As soon as you move, your sound source changes and so does your resulting audio.

The best way to record your audio is off camera. A recorder like the H4n will work great for that. Simply place the recorder by your source using external mics or internal mics (which are quite good) and sync in post.

Another way to keep the recorder on your camera is to send a wireless mic feed to the recorder and then send the recorder audio to your camera. I have done this quite often with my video cameras. Usually though I will place a recorder by my audio source and record this way and either send a wireless feed from the "Line Out" of the recorder to my camera. Or record via the recorder and mount a mic with plug in transmitter next to it and send this to the camera for backup/sync/reference audio. Again the audio is synced in post in both circumstances.

BTW, this is where a box like the Juicedlink comes in handy, as you can take a wireless feed and also an onboard shotgun on your camera and send both to the GH1.

Either way if you are gong to be mobile a lot and shooting in one spot like a bar or such, get your audio off camera is possible. Your results will be much better if you do.

If you are on a non paying gig and just shooting to shoot, then onboard audio is good enough.
But if your on a paying gig, then do the professional thing and get the audio off of the camera. This is what studios do all of the time.

Happy shooting,
Michael
 
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