Sennheiser wireless lav - Band A or B?

M

Mark Turner

Active member
I am going to buy a wireless lav, and everyone seems to be pointing to the G2.

I am left a little uncertain, however, what frequency range I should go for - A or B.

Is there any rule of thumb to this?

I am planning to be filming in Haiti; will it make any practical difference?

Also, I see there is a G3 coming out, although B&H does not have it yet... is it worth waiting for?

Thanks!
 
For use in the US, Sennheiser has a nice frequency finder on their site:

http://www.sennheiserusa.com/findfrequency/

It will tell you what frequencies are free in your area and help you choose.

Don't know what to tell you about Haiti, though.

As far as G2 vs. G3... unless somebody still has G2's in stock, there's really not going to be much choice. :) The G3 is also going to have a new frequency block, "G," which might be a factor if you find that A and B are both crowded in your area.
 
The G2 system is a really nice one. I have a G2 and original (G1) system, both on the "A" band which work just fine in my area. (All Sennheiser ew100 systems are fully compatible, though the G2 and G3 systems require you to turn off the "pilot" tone to operate with the older G1 equipment.) Choosing frequencies is a matter of finding what works in your area, the available equipment, and your anticipated future needs.
As far as the G2 vs. G3 goes, there are some retailers who sell the new G3 system (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?q=sennheiser+g3). I don't think there are any significant upgrades to the G3 system that would do you any better. There's some new features for guitar players, and you can transfer the frequency settings from the receiver to the transmitter on an IR link. Those are nice features but in my opinion not worth the extra $$.
Check the frequency rules for Haiti to be sure you're allowed to use those frequencies there, and not on some restricted band.
 
While it's true that there aren't huge upgrades between G2 and G3 in the "installed" systems, there actually is an upgrade in the "ENG" systems, which is that the G3 is technically a diversity system where the G2 was not (although the G3's diversity is a little odd because it's using the output cable as the second antenna). And there is, again, the availability of the "G" block frequencies.

(And, as somebody who works for an A/V company, I guess it just baffles me that this question even comes up. Look, as far as Sennheiser is concerned, the G2 is gone, ancient history, sayonara. And I understand that a company like B&H buys a thousand systems at a time, so they probably still have G2's in stock; but really, if the G3's are available, isn't it time to start clearance-ing the G2's out? Especially since other retailers do seem to have the G3 "ENG" kits in stock...)

As far as Haiti goes... I wonder if there is an equivalent of the FCC there, and regulations for use of the airwaves there, or if it's just an "anything goes" kind of situation.
 
G3 is much nicer than G2.

You can use bands "A", "B" and "G" in the USA ("G" is in-between "A" and "B").

The camera receiver is now diversity (G2 was not) and uses the output cable as the second antenna.

G3 also has a wider switching bandwidth (42MHz as opposed to 36MHz) which makes it more versatile.


The main differences between G2 and G3 are the improved handheld transmitters with interchangeable heads, diversity on the camera receiver, wider switching bandwidth and more frequencies (ie: on 100 series - 10 per bank on G3, 4 per bank on G2).

I hope this helps.
 
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