Light and Shotgun Mic on HMC-40

N

nervtubeproductions

Member
I may start shooting some weddings soon with my HMC-40. We all know the low light on this camera is pretty horrible so I'm going to need an on board light. Am I wrong, or is impossible to have the shotgun mic and light attached to this at the same time? I know there is only one mount on top of the cam which is where I put the mic, but I'd think you'd be able to do both. Also, if anyone has any reccomendations for a light that'd be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
Assuming that you're not using the XLR adapter (which allows a shotgun mic to be mounted on the side, thus freeing up the upper shoe on the handle) there are shoe brackets (I'm honestly not sure what they're actually called) that would allow you to mount multiple accessories side-by-side, as such.

Code: 
MIC      LIGHT
SHOE     SHOE
   BRACKET
    SHOE
   HANDLE

Honestly, making one probably wouldn't even be that hard, if you've got a Dremel.
 
The only XLR adapter that allows you to mount the mic on the side is the official Panasonic AG-MYA30G. Pictures below:

Pan_HMC40wOpXLR.jpg

Pan_HMC40wOpXLR2.jpg

Pan_HMC40wOpXLR3.jpg

Pan_HMC40wOpXLR4.jpg


As you can see; with this official Panasonic XLR adapter, you can still use the shoe-mount atop the included handle on the HMC40 to mount a proper LED light or... whatever else you want. ^_^
 
isolation via the xlr mic holder

isolation via the xlr mic holder

i am finding that the sound isolation provided by the panasonic xlr adapter is not all that great. I am still getting some handling noise unless i use a better suspension type of mic mount on the shoe.
anyone else having a similar issue? any ideas to fix it?
 
Drumbone,

Welcome to DVXuser.

Isolation is not provided by the XLR unit. The Panny mic mount is not suitable for anything except a hat rack. Anytime you mount a mic on the cam, it is a bad compromise. Any mic used for interviews or spoken audio, even shotgun types, should be less than 3' from the sound source. That really isn't going to happen with a cam mounted mic.

To the OP: for a wedding you will want to consider: mounting interview or lavalier mics for the ceremony, handheld interview mics for the reception. If you use the search function, you will find a ton of info posted by wedding videographers.

Grant
 
I think Drumbone was talking about the isolation of physical camera handling noise rather than trying to pick up audio from a distance.

There's only so much you can do to remove handling noise. You could add a $200 Rycote camera suspension mount, and you'd still pick up the noise. If your handling of the camera makes a noise - a tap of your finger, the click of a button, or if you knock the camera body, it is a noise - and a mic will pick it up. There's no real magic we can do there.

As Grant says, get the mic off-camera and close to the subject, and you can make as much noise on the camera as you want and it won't be picked up. Or have a sound bloke to hold the mic in a pistol grip, boom etc., or get a mic stand or improvise something to put the mic on.

Having said that, I have used both an Audio Technica AT875R and a Rode NTG-1 (with the appropriate Rycote softies) on my HMC41 and I do not feel that handling noise is excessive.

If interviewing, my preferred set-up is to use the AT875R on the camera for ambient/backup noise, and a wired lav mic on the other channel for interviewee audio. I have hand-held the NTG-1 in a pistol grip too and it is pretty good (though I do need to get a proper interview mic).
 
Mike,

You know this, but I was making two points:

The Panny mic mount is junk. More important second point: if you have a cam mounted mic and are 6' or more away, in order to get enough sound, the gain will be adjusted up. This will make the handing and other ambient noise much worse. All the way around it is pretty important to get the mic off the cam. We have all probably done this in a pinch, but it is a bad recipe for primary sound.

As a separate backup channel it has a purpose.

Grant
 
Grant,

Good points - and to stress, this applies to any on-board mic, in the stock holder or in a $200+ Rycote mount. (Save your pennies and buy a lav, folks!")

When I'm filming steam trains though, I can be more than 6 feet away and still get pretty good audio from the on-board mic. :)

Bit of an extreme case though. Unless your interviewee or bride & groom (or wildlife) are made from 200 tonnes of coal-fired metal, you want to get a wee bit closer!
 
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