PMW-200 audio question

C

CarolP

New member
Hi guys. Thanks in advance for your advice. I plan on buying a PMW-200, so I took one out for a test run this weekend. Everything went smoothly except I noticed that anytime I touched anything on the camera (zoom, focus, moved the camera ever so slightly) the onboard mic picked up loud plasticky noises from me handling the camera and a kind of click when pressing down the zoom controller.

I had the audio levels set to auto and shot both interiors and exteriors. I'd like to be able to shoot a documentary interview and adjust the zoom without making the audio unusable. Also, I plan to do some handheld shooting. Do you think using an external mic mounted on top of the camera would solve the problem? I'm a one person band so I won't be bringing a boom op with me and there will be times when I need to leave the audio levels on auto. Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks very much.
 
Carol, unfortunately the problem with the onboard microphone picking up handling noise is unavoidable. But it doesn't matter anyway, because even if it didn't have that issue, you don't want to be relying on it to shoot interviews for a documentary. That would be a big mistake and I highly recommend you attach an accessory shotgun microphone to camera. It should eliminate 99% of the handling noise, and provide much better audio quality.

There are so many different brands and models of shotgun microphones to choose from that it is hard to recommend a specific model. I use a ECM-MS2 on my PMW-200, but I'm not trying to record interviews with it. If you're really going to rely on a shotgun mic attached to the camera as your primary audio source during handheld shooting, you'll want to invest in something better such as a Sennheiser ME66. But like I said, there are dozens of mics that will do the job if you are willing to spend the money required to get something that will be good for the task.

Of course, it should go without saying the shotgun is for run & gun handheld shooting only. If your camera is on a tripod and you've got more than 15 seconds to setup, PLEASE (for the sake of your viewers) use a lavalier microphone and set the levels manually. An extra 15 seconds spent in the field can save you countless headaches in post.

http://www.vortexmedia.com/DVD_PMW200.html
 
Hi Doug, thanks so much for your reply. I watched your PMW-200 DVD this weekend before I took the camera out for a spin and the information was invaluable. It's rare to find someone who is so knowledgable, but also able to see things from the perspective of a beginner.

What I really wanted to make sure of before I buy the camera is that the external mic would do the trick. 99% elimination of handling noise works for me. And, yes, I would certainly use lavs for sit down interviews. I will be doing some more research into the mic options as I plan on shooting both documentary and drama. Not sure if I'll need different mics for each. Thanks again for advice. It was the last thing I needed to know before getting the camera. I'll be placing my order today.
 
Hi Carol, thank you for buying my video and I'm very please to hear that you liked it. I hve no doubt you will love the PMW-200 once you get it, and then maybe you can borrow some mics from someone in your area and experiment with the different options until you find what you need. Good luck.
 
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