Rhode Videomic VS GH-1 Onboard mic?

B

BrianBrook

Active member
I'm doing a psuedo-doc shoot this summer on skid row in Downtown L.A. and wonder if the Rhode Videomic would benefit location audio substantially more than the built-in mic and if so in what way? Also for purposes of surveilance it would look less noticeable if there was NO visible mic like the Rhode and I was just shooting stills while actually capturing video etc. but I would chance this for usuable location sound if it's much better...I have read in an older post the accentuator is better at -10 db on the Rhode-why is this and what actually is better about that? Sorry for the long post but I really need some input on this matter.
 
You will get substantially better audio with an external mic like the Rode over the GH1's on-board microphone. If keeping a low-profile is your concern, I would recommend the Sennheiser MKE-400. It's very small (much smaller than the Rode), gives excellent sound, and runs about 300 hours on one AAA battery. I use it all the time on my GH1 and 5DII, and it always performs beautifully and blows away the on-board mics.

Either way, it's well worth it to use an external microphone if you need anything more than just decent quality audio.
 
Jess Amonoy said:
Cowp, how do you monitor the sounds? there's no earphone jack. I
Click to expand...

I had the BeackTek SVU-2 already to monitor audio on various devices in the field so I tested it with the GH1 and it works great using the AV output cable for the GH1.

Record a video clip then listen to it right afterwards by playing it back and using the SVU-2 headphone jack and level control. It also has meter calibration adjustments for the left and right channels which is helpful. Powered by a 9V battery.

It can be directly mounted under the GH1 using Canon FD lenses with the audio meters facing you but the kit lens is just a little too wide in diameter and the zoom ring rubs against the top of the SVU-2. It can be mounted sideways and you can use the kit lens with it or just make a belt clip and hang it on your belt.

SVU2.jpg


To take it a step further there is also a composite video/audio loop through so you could actually have the audio and video from the GH1 hooked up to a video monitor with speakers and check both that way. Composite SD video only but still not bad to be able to check audio/video quickly and directly from the GH1.

SVU2Bk.jpg


http://www.expandore.com/product/add/BeachTek/SVU2.htm

Randy
 
Jess Amonoy said:
Cowp, how do you monitor the sounds? there's no earphone jack. I
Click to expand...

I don't monitor. The AGC of the camera does a really fine job with the MKE-400 mounted. I just plug it in via a 1/8 adapter and it does it's thing. I've been pleasantly surprised with the quality, especially for ENG style shooting. For narrative projects, interviews and anything that requires professional-grade audio, I use a combination of lavs and a shotgun mixed into a Sound Devices 744 digital audio recorder - but an H4N would serve that purpose valiantly at a fraction of the cost.
 
I'll leave you to find my Rode Stereo Videomic samples that I posted somewhere here way back... in case you want to stick with stereo.
 
Anyone else using the Sennheiser MKE-400? Other opinions on it? It looks good to me but audio is one of my weaker points-what adapter 3.5 to 2.5 is the best config for GH-1?
I remember reading posts about people having to trim plastic on adapter to make it fit into GH-1? Is this unavoidable? I love this camera but getting it play nice with other gadgets is becoming a lifestyle in itself.
 
I read somewhere that the line-out of the Zoom H4n can be connected via an adapter to the mike input of the GH-1.

- Given a line-out cable that is long enough, could the H4n with its built-in microphones be connected to the GH-1 for interviews, etc.?

- Would the audio recorded by the GH-1 be comparable to that of the H4n or would it show "pumping" of background noises caused by the AGC?

It would be a great time-saver in post production to use the GH-1's soundtrack and not to have to synch up the H4n's soundtrack. (Plus the H4n soundtrack could serve as a backup.)

Has anybody tried this?
 
I think it is better to use the H4n as a standalone recorder. The GH1 preamp is not that great quality and the result you would get would be similar to the on board microphone.
I have recently seen some similar test with the H2 and the gh1 on vimeo (I don't have the link though) the zoom h2 alone sounded better than if connected to tha gh1 sound input. The guy in the end concluded that for interviews he was using the rode videomic attached to the zoom h2 to record sound and the gh1 microphone to sync in post. He was very happy with this solution.
 
There is nothing wrong with the quality of the GH1 preamp if you know what you're doing. You certainly don't want to connect a line-level output (Zoom H4n) to a mic-level input (GH1)since that will sound pretty bad and almost guaranteed distortion.

Now with the GH1 firmware hack you can raise the audio bitrate up for even higher quality audio.

Randy
 
Thanks, kostas and Randy. I appreciate your help.

Here's a very instructive clip about using a Zoom H4 with a home-built attenuator to avoid distortion:

http://vimeo.com/7616987

I also remember a pretty decent-sounding clip made with a wireless lavalier mike and the GH-1, but the filmmaker couldn't provide any technical details.

Maybe we can come up with a low-cost and minimalist solution yet...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top