Microphone solutions for A7S?

D

dmitrizigany

Veteran
Hey,

What are the best microphone solutions for a bare bones A7s? I don't have the sony xlr add-on and its way out of my budget. I have my FS700 for most situation when XLRs are needed but doing a thing where I can't bring it.
it will be interview situations mostly.

Thanks

PS - I know the internal pre amp etc aren't ideal but for this thing they will have to do.
 
Sennheiser G3 wireless lav? I have a couple and paired with a rode lav or even the stock mic sounds pretty good going into a DSLR. There are on-camera mic solutions like the videomics, but those are hardly professional solutions for when shooting an interview unless you plan stick it on a boom pole. They have their place for run and gun type stuff, but IMHO, not for dialogue recording for interviews. With a wireless lav, you put the transmitter on the talent, the mic is nice and close to their mouth, and the receiver is mounted on the A7s hotshoe and being fed directly into the camera.
 
Yeah, maybe all the cheap DSLR type mics are too bad. Maybe we're better off renting an external recorder of some sort.

It's a freebie for a friend at a festival, we will be staying in an apartment but still don't wanna bring the FS700 if I can avoid it. And I think his budget is way to limited to get anything decent, so rental might be the only solution.
 
Honestly, Mic position >>> Mic quality when it comes to audio. A rode videomic or the like CAN sound good for an interview, just not sitting on top of the camera. A $2000 Schoeps would sound bad sitting mounted in a hotshoe. I simply recommended a wireless lav since it wouldn't tether you to a long wire or having to carry around a boom pole. I'm sure a cheap videomic on the end of a boom pole about 12-18 inches away from the talents mouth would sound great. Just get a cheap boom and boom holder and throw it a lightstand and run a cable back to the camera.

Most people prefer lavs since it's less stuff to carry around, you aren't tethered to a wire and you don't have to compromise your framing to accomodate a boom. A boom will almost always sound better though.

Honestly, it's hard to recommend since you can't monitor the audio, but a cheap lav + something like a zoom h1 in the pocket of the talent works for a wireless solution on the cheap, especially if you are doing this as a freebie. Definitely get something for scratch audio to help sync up files later though.
 
Hey,

I found that the A7s preamps are actually quite clean.

You have quite a few options but it's always best to get the mic as close as possible to the sound source whether by using a lavalier mic on the talent or via a mic on a boomstand.

I've used most of RØDE's gear including the smartLav+ which you can record into a small audio recorder with an adaptor or smartphone.

If you wanted to go straight into camera, you could get the SC1 extension cable and adaptor to pipe it straight into camera.

The VideoMic Pro has the +20dB boost so you can turn down the preamps which will minimise any hiss noise from the camera preamps so it's a good choice for run & gun.
 
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