No XLR jacks on camera

roxics

roxics

Veteran
I know a lot of people think XLR jacks on a DSLR would be silly. They would be. Too large to start with. But I'm curious if a 1/4" balanced mic jack would be feasible. A simple 1/4' to XLR adapter could be used to provide balanced audio directly into the camera including phantom power. It's a smaller footprint than an XLR while still providing the same audio capabilities. Not to mention a little more heavy duty than an 1/8" jack.

I assume camera companies haven't thought about this because of the size and "consumer" outlook they've had on these cameras. But it would be a welcome addition, right next to the headphone jack. ;)
 
You know as much as i want better audio out of my t2i think about the size. those jacks are pretty deep and think about how much more room they would have to add into the camera to fit in one or two of those. I kinda like the fact that my audio set up which does end in the camera recording good sound doesn't have to make the camera larger and can be moved far away from the rig if i need to fit it into a tight spot.

i know dual system sound feels like a pain but its standard for a lot of high end production and has been for years.
 
there's much more that's missing apart from the xlr plugs... nearly all the sound recording bits of the cameras would have to be improved
 
roxics said:
I assume camera companies haven't thought about this because of the size and "consumer" outlook they've had on these cameras. But it would be a welcome addition, right next to the headphone jack. ;)
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One of them has, RED are putting 1/8" balanced microphone inputs on EPIC and Scarlet.
 
AndrewGentle said:
One of them has, RED are putting 1/8" balanced microphone inputs on EPIC and Scarlet.
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Totally different price point...totally different customer base. Canon or others have to think carefully about what they add for video purposes on their stills cams. They don't want to anger their customer base by having to change a design simply to add inputs/outputs/swiches for video functionality. I know they've already done it somewhat with the movie record buttons and modes...but my point is that RED SHOULD be putting every thing they can for video functionality on their cameras where as Canon/Nikon are primarily selling to photographers.
 
Really, the best way to do this while keeping the cine side of the camera invisible to the still photographer would be something that looks like a motor drive attachment with XLR's and every other pro connection that filmmakers are looking for. That way the cam can be a dedicated stills cam, and for another $700 it can break out to a dedicated cinema camera with all the proper connections.
 
f64manray said:
Really, the best way to do this while keeping the cine side of the camera invisible to the still photographer would be something that looks like a motor drive attachment with XLR's and every other pro connection that filmmakers are looking for. That way the cam can be a dedicated stills cam, and for another $700 it can break out to a dedicated cinema camera with all the proper connections.
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+1 I had always pictured a battery grip style attachment.
 
Most consumers - and still shooters - don't even know what "balanced audio" means - they think it's a knob on their stereo to control pan. Don't even start on sample rates and bit depth.

And sending a balanced signal to the low-rent converters in a DSLR... I don't think you'd see a bit of difference.
 
Michael Carter said:
And sending a balanced signal to the low-rent converters in a DSLR... I don't think you'd see a bit of difference.
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If canon offered a grip attachment that interfaced with the cams electronics through the bottom of the cam, one would assume it would have mic pres as good as the Juiced Link, and the A/D conversion would be as good as any other in the myriad of audio recording products out there today. Only has to be as good as the Alesis Masterlink for example. It doesn't have to be Apogee. If it produced such a cine module with professional connections, I'm sure it would be up to spec. They're taking the time to partner with Technicolor to get their DSLR's to output Log-C. It appears that their shooting for something a bit more than consumer grade. We'll see.
 
There are at least a dozen good connector alternatives to the XLR. Think about pro wireless gear, nobody tries to fit a full size xlr on those hideable transmitters. With the miniaturised components available today its not too far fetched to see Canon fitting a multiple source mixer box into something the size of an attachable battery grip.
 
Not going to happen.

DSLRs are primarily still cameras that have video recording as an added bonus.

The still camera manufacturers have no interest in adding hardware like that that doesn't make the primary task of taking still photos better.
 
mcgeedigital said:
Not going to happen.

DSLRs are primarily still cameras that have video recording as an added bonus.

The still camera manufacturers have no interest in adding hardware like that that doesn't make the primary task of taking still photos better.
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Well, you certainly could be right, but I'm not aware that camera manufacturers have made that their stated philosophy. They've already added hardware that has nothing to do with making still photos better such as the mic jack, HDMI out, and variangle screen. That's all hardware primarily for the video feature. Canon more than any other has embraced the convergence of video and stills. It seems rather early in the revolution to say that they are not interested in making any money on products that capitalize on this convergence and just turn over that market to 3rd party manufacturers. I guess they could, but it seems like a stupid move.
 
Mike jack and HDMI I'll grant you are video specific, but the vari-angle screen is very useful for photography too, and I think pre-dates video on DLSRs, certainly Canon's latest poster ads for the 60D emphasise the screen rather than video.

I could see a plug-in block with not just audio, but extra computing power and high bandwidth data outputs being a way to keep both sides happy.

Not going to speculate any further, just saying it could be done if Canon wished.

Dave
 
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