C100: Oops... phantom power on when sennheiser wireless mic plugged in...

C

chsiung

Active member
Just thought I'd share a mistake I made while shooting with the C100. I was reviewing my footage when I noticed during an interview in a quiet room, a subtle sound in the background almost like a driver leaning on his car horn in the far distance. I noticed this in some of my interview footage, so I powered up my camera at home, hooked up my sennheiser wireless lav and sure enough I could hear it.

Well as I have given away already in the title, I had phantom power turned on when it didn't need to be on for the mic. I turned off phantom power and the background sound disappeared. I know you're not supposed to have it on for an unbalanced mic, but with my previous JVC camera when I did make a mistake like that it didn't have any consequences I was aware of.

Guess now I have to add that to my critical mental checklist. The background sound isn't bad in anycase, but would be noticeable for a quiet scene with headphones on.

Chris
 
Thanks for the tip, but I had headphones. The sound is just quiet enough to not notice it unless you're listening for it.
 
Check everything before powering your camera, especially when you're running late.

When you do need phantom power, always connect everything first then switch it on. And off before you unplug the mic.

Cheers.
 
Ive never really bothered turning phantom power off when using radio mics as im always switching and changing mics depending on the shoot. I have not heard this noise with my unit before, but I have an interview today and will make sure i TURN OFF phantom power just in case - cheers for the tip.

Maybe its a fault with your C100 or a characteristic with the C100 as ive never noticed noise like your suggesting with any of my other cameras in the past several years. But as I mentioned i've not heard this on my C100.
 
It could be an earthing problem, it has happened on other cameras, notably Panasonic.

If you run into a constant sound like that and it's not recognisable, try swapping battery to A/C power with the adaptor.

Cheers.
 
If you accidentally provide 48V to any self powered device it will cause noise. This is basic

if you hook your C100 to the DJ mixer with 48V, the whole room will start hearing your noise.


anyway, advise : bring a headphone, always, always have someone monitor the audio while recording.

sound level bars does not mean anything.
 
Great tips all around. Suffice to say, check your settings, listen more carefully. I don't always have the luxury of a good sound person so I'm listening to the headphones while conducting the interview. I neglect to check the background noise just like how I sometimes forget to check what is in the background of the image.
 
Very subtle but I hear it on mine too. Hard to hear unless you do a A/B test, but always best practice at least to turn off the phantom when it's not needed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top