Pic's of my audio solution for GH1

G

GMC

Well-known member
Here are two pics of my audio solution for the GH1. This is the ZOOM H2 field recorder (which goes for ~200 bucks) mounted on the hot shoe on top of the GH1. All I needed was an adapter which I found on amazon for 10€ (HAMA Aufsteckfuss). On the ZOOM H2 you can see the live audio levels, and have live audio via earplugs as well. For synchronization I am using the built in microphone.

I have been recently experimenting with feeding the line out signal of the ZOOM H2 into the GH1 mic input (as seen in the pic's), but some added damping (via resistors) is obviously needed as the signal gets distorted. Also auto gain of the GH1 is putting this solution at risk.

GH1 audio1.jpg

GH1 audio2.jpg

best regards,

Gunther
 
I find the quality from the phones/line out jack on my H2 to be only good enough for monitoring. I use my H2 all the time, however, by syncing sound in post. Is this what you are doing?

Do you find much of a skew between the H2 and GH1 audio tracks on longer shots?

== Kevin
 
Oh, and don't you find with your solution that you get a lot of handling noise on the H2? It is REALLY bad for that.
 
My brother has an H2 but if I end up using it for sound I'll get an external mic and record straight onto the thing for post sync.
 
dig it said:
I find the quality from the phones/line out jack on my H2 to be only good enough for monitoring. I use my H2 all the time, however, by syncing sound in post. Is this what you are doing?

Do you find much of a skew between the H2 and GH1 audio tracks on longer shots?

== Kevin
Click to expand...

I am also syncing sound in post. I was just looking for an alternative. But as you state the line out jack of the H2 is not very good together with the auto gain of the GH1. My shots are typically not more than 15 - 20sec. Here I didn't see any skew.

Gunther
 
Last edited:
dig it said:
Oh, and don't you find with your solution that you get a lot of handling noise on the H2? It is REALLY bad for that.
Click to expand...

Handling noise can be a problem, yes. But the way I typically shoot is that I do all settings (and zooming, etc..) before my shot and then I just press the "record" button. Hence its not a problem for me.

Actually what I found is that the internal mic of the GH1 seems to be rather good for recording (not too distant) voices. The H2 in turn is pretty good for ambient and atmosphere recording.

Hence, the two together produce a nice sound (sufficient for me).

br, Gunther
 
Hi GMC,

I have also been experimenting with audio options with the zoom H4. The biggest problem I have seen is with handling noise and lack of a shock mount. I also tried a a feed from the headphone jack out to the mic in on the GH1. There is some sort of signal from the GH1 that completely wrecked the recoding on the zoom. All I got was distorted noise. As soon as I unplugged the connection the zoom recorded audio perfectly. Have you run into this problem?

Also - your zoom is pointed at the sky. Isn't it a directional mic? Wouldn't you want to point it forward at your actor?

My zoom mounting solution ended up being this
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showpost.php?p=1671751&postcount=28

Fairly similar to yours as you can see. Foam added to minimize handling noise
 
Peter J. DeCrescenzo said:
Hi Gunther: I'm curious about the white adapter cable you're using to connect to the GH1's mic input jack (part # & source if available). Does it make at least a semi-reliable connection? Thanks!

P.S.: Concerning DIY attenuators, you may find this article by Jay Rose helpful (.PDF):
http://www.dplay.com/book/pgs2e/pads.pdf
Click to expand...

The white adapter cable is a three - pole adapter from 3.5mm to 2.5mm. It is from HAMA as well. I just bought in the next store, can't remember part number. It makes a robust connection, but the signal gets distorted (probably the level is too high).

Thanks for the article.

br, Gunther
 
J Davis said:
Hi GMC,

I have also been experimenting with audio options with the zoom H4. The biggest problem I have seen is with handling noise and lack of a shock mount. I also tried a a feed from the headphone jack out to the mic in on the GH1. There is some sort of signal from the GH1 that completely wrecked the recoding on the zoom. All I got was distorted noise. As soon as I unplugged the connection the zoom recorded audio perfectly. Have you run into this problem?

Also - your zoom is pointed at the sky. Isn't it a directional mic? Wouldn't you want to point it forward at your actor?

My zoom mounting solution ended up being this
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showpost.php?p=1671751&postcount=28

Fairly similar to yours as you can see. Foam added to minimize handling noise
Click to expand...

What do you mean by "lack of a shock mount"? When I plugged the line out signal from the zoom into the mic input, I got a correct, audible signal, but slightly distorted (see above) - Obviously some damping is needed.

The ZOOM is pointed to the sky, but thats correct for the H2, as it records perpendicular (i.e horizontally) to the top. It has four mics, two at 90° at the front, and two at 120° at the back. You can also chose to use both (for surround sound).

Actually a bigger problem than handling noise is the fact that the ZOOM is pretty close to the camera operator - hence breathing noise (as mentioned elsewhere) can be heard easily in silent situations.

I didn't notice it when I was just using the GH1's built in mics, but now with the ZOOM (and so much more quality) you have to pay attention.

br, Gunther
 
Without a shock mount vibrations from your handling of the camera are transmitted through the solid surfaces of the Zoom itself to the microphones. Foams don't help with handling noise unless you are hearing your fingers rubbing on the surfaces of your camera a little less from the foam acting as a pad on the overall signal. I don't think the Zoom has shock mounts built in on the mics. However I also don't know if there is a shock mount that would hold the Zoom.

I believe the optimal positioning is with the Zoom aimed at the subject (mics towards the subject and the body aimed in the opposite direction).

Additionally, the single most important factor for sound is mic placement. An on-camera mic won't do the trick for proper narrative sound unless you are ok with the results of course. The main issues are mis-matching sound from shot to shot where one shot may be ok if you are close to the subject and when you cut to the other you have to raise the gain getting the noise that is in any signal to be that much more audible. Even if you didn't have high noise levels you would hear the room at different levels. When a mic is close your direct voice is loud in comparison to the indirect voice bouncing back from the walls, while on shots where the subject is further away the difference in intensity will become smaller. What you hear at that point is reverb, the echo of the room. The best thing you could do is to get the Zoom on a boom, hopefully with a shock mount, and (if possible) sync it to the camera, or use a slate and sync in post.

Just my 0.02
 
USLatin said:
I believe the optimal positioning is with the Zoom aimed at the subject (mics towards the subject and the body aimed in the opposite direction).

Additionally, the single most important factor for sound is mic placement.
Click to expand...

I fully agree - wherever possible I try to place the ZOOM as close as possible to the subject and do the sync later.

"My solution" (which I'll definitely will try to improve by a shock mount as mentioned) is for moments, where you are chasing a subject (e.g. your kids) which won't stay in one location for more than 2 seconds ...

Thanks for all the answers - this forum is one of the most valuable I have seen so far.

best regards,

Gunther
 
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