Røde Videomic Pro and Marantz PMD620?

E

eibr

New member
I am quite a novice when it comes to DSLR video, and audio is the area I need to grow more experience.
I have a 5D mark II rig and I just got the Røde Videomic Pro.

Short background: I will make a short documentary-style presentation video about a café that helps immigrants integrate in the Norwegian society by learning language and get job experience. The will consist of interviews supplied with shots from the café. It will probably last for 6-7 minutes, and will be used by the owner when the ytravel around to get funding for running the café :)

Back to the audio. I have tried the Videomic Pro on the 5DII and set the audio gain to manual. The results sound good and i realize that I need to get the mic closer to the subject than the camera, to get the best recording possible. I have read on this forum that the pre amp on the DSLR cameras are rather weak, so I wonder if I would benefit to record audio on a Marantz PMD620? (that I bought a few years ago to record the early years of my kids).

I am familiar with editing external audio into my video in Premiere Pro, so that part is no problem. But will my PMD620 do any better than my 5DII as an audio recorder?


Eirik Berger
 
A mic preamp or a new recorder will NOT compensate for having the mic too far away. We don't know what kinds of scenes you are shooting, so we don't know (and maybe you don't know) even whether a super-cardioid is even suitable for what you are trying to do. In general, the top of the camera is NEVER a suitable place for recording serious production audio. It is always too far away from the desired sound, and too close to undesired noise from the camera and/or operator.
 
Sorry, my english did not come out very well. I do intend to mound the mic closer to the subject than the camera.

I bought the Videomic Pro as an all round mic, and I want to see if it works well as a mic for interviews. The interviews will be done indoors in a quiet (and well lit) room. The camera will be 6-7 feet from the subject with me next to the camera communicating with the subject. But I wonder if I should wire the mic to the camera or if I will get better audio connecting it to my PMD620...
 
You want the video mic to be 18" or less from the speakers mouth (as close as is possible), out of the frame. Usually this is accomplished with a mic boom. The marantz will probably sound better than the canon but you'll then have to sync the audio up in post. With some cheaper rigs you may experience audio drift. Where the recording device clocks aren't super accurate so if takes go long the audio will go out of sync with the video. Run some tests! That's what kids are great for...test video subjects...and you get a cute video out of it!
 
Only you can make this decision. You say: "The results sound good..." If you are satisfied with the audio you get when the mic is close enough to the subject, why do you seek any additional equipment?

It is not clear what (if any?) problem you are trying to solve here? If the audio quality meets the requirements for your production (which only you can decide), then why do you think you need a separate recorder?

In the larger view, there really is no "all around mic". The Rode VMP isn't necessarily the ideal hand-held mic, and not the ideal boom mic. It would probably be reasonably good on a stand, visible in the frame. If you are just starting out, the VMP is probably a good choice. But if you continue doing different kinds of video productions, you may need other kinds of microphones (or just more of them). For example, if you have two people sitting down for an interview, it would be difficult to cover both of them with a VMP.

Post # 1000
 
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