Is the Automatic Gain Control Any Good?

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Benjillion

Member
I've been looking at the Canon 7D for a minute now. I am interested in the audio ability of the camera. So I want to know from those of you who have used one, is the Automatic Gain Control Any Good?

For example, lets say you took the 7D to a "music performance" (aka punk show), would the camera distort the sound, or would the automatic gain control kick in and lower the sound. I ask because there is no way to monitor the audio without getting a breakout box.

So I wonder, when attaching an external microphone, how good is the audio? Does the Automatic Gain Control do a good job and keep the levels in check?
 
Benjillion said:
I've been looking at the Canon 7D for a minute now. I am interested in the audio ability of the camera. So I want to know from those of you who have used one, is the Automatic Gain Control Any Good?

For example, lets say you took the 7D to a "music performance" (aka punk show), would the camera distort the sound, or would the automatic gain control kick in and lower the sound. I ask because there is no way to monitor the audio without getting a breakout box.

So I wonder, when attaching an external microphone, how good is the audio? Does the Automatic Gain Control do a good job and keep the levels in check?
Click to expand...

As far as I can tell, it does keep everything "in check". Unfortunately, since the audio components of the camera don't cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, when it turns up the gain during periods of silence there is a lot of noise. In fact, it's relatively noisy all the time. And that will happen with whatever microphone you plug into the camera. So while everything is "in check" it is all (imho) unacceptable for production purposes. Home movies, sure.

On camera audio bad; dual system audio good.
 
Yeah, it won't distort. That is what auto gain is all about. It doesn't let loud noises blow you away and it tries to pick up tiny noises so you don't miss something far away from the microphone. It won't sound constantly smooth. It is basically like any consumer video recording device that adjusts to the sounds around it.

I've been using a wireless lav mic with the receiver plugged into the mic input. The sound is acceptable. Without knowing what exactly you're looking for, I'd say just find someone that has one or a store somewhere and try it out.
 
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