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Suitable external microphone for DVD Camcorder (1 Viewer)

Paul Hackett

Well-known member
To any knowledgable techies out there

I have a Sony DVD Camcorder model 403E, and am recording on a regular basis video diaries for the wildlife tv here on Birdforum, one major drawback is i cant control the weather, more importantly the wind noise down the internal microphone, i am looking for a suitable microphone that can plug into the camcorder that i can either shield with my body, or a windsock? so it has to be small, portable and practical and is compatible with my camcorder, e.g. recording levels etc.

My search so far for a suitable microphone has drawn a blank

can anyone out there help ?

Regards

Paul
 
Unfortunately I can't help, but I'll be watching replies with interest. I posted a similar question on a camcorder forum and got one or two helpful replies, but the cost was always well over £100.

I only use my camcorder for holidays etc, but the wind noise it picks up (they all seem to) is very annoying. Surely there's a cheap and basic external microphone out there which could give satifactory results but solve this problem?
 
Paul,

I guess you may have looked at this already but have you looked at the Sennheiser MKE 300 D Camcorder Microphone?

Mark
 
Paul Hackett said:
To any knowledgable techies out there

I have a Sony DVD Camcorder model 403E, and am recording on a regular basis video diaries for the wildlife tv here on Birdforum, one major drawback is i cant control the weather, more importantly the wind noise down the internal microphone, i am looking for a suitable microphone that can plug into the camcorder that i can either shield with my body, or a windsock? so it has to be small, portable and practical and is compatible with my camcorder, e.g. recording levels etc.

My search so far for a suitable microphone has drawn a blank

can anyone out there help ?

Regards

Paul

Hi Paul,

I use an Canon XL2 camcorder but also a Minidisc for field recording with a Sony ECM-MS907 mike which I got (with Japanese instructions!) on Ebay for £50. There are plenty on there now. Would that fit the 403E?

http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/sea...uk/ws/&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=MS907&category0=

I'm very pleased, It isn't a Sennheiser (or however you spell it) but it's compact, has a simple jack, has variable direction and does the job. Having paid my Wildissues TV £36 I'm glad you've decided to go the windsock route!
 
level seven said:
Unfortunately I can't help, but I'll be watching replies with interest. I posted a similar question on a camcorder forum and got one or two helpful replies, but the cost was always well over £100.

I only use my camcorder for holidays etc, but the wind noise it picks up (they all seem to) is very annoying. Surely there's a cheap and basic external microphone out there which could give satifactory results but solve this problem?

You need a windsock / windjammer / wind shield / fluffy thing (there is no consistent name for them, which is frankly pathetic) that goes on the mike. I paid a lot (far too much) for mine (a Reinhardt) and it works brilliantly, though I've seen cheap (and probably equally effective) versions on ebay for a tenner. The effect is physical (breaking up the vortices and swirls that form around the mike) so it shouldn't matter if it's in synthetic or the groin fur of the Papuan tree kangaroo combed and teased by aboriginal maidens. Here's one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-XL1-XL1S-XL2-Microphone-Wind-Jammer_W0QQitemZ7599323212

whereas this guy specialises in nothing else:

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/ReinhardtWindshields

DO NOT BOTHER WITH FOAM WINDSHIELDS IN THE OPEN AIR
- THEY DO NOT WORK.
 
Touty said:
You need a windsock / windjammer / wind shield / fluffy thing (there is no consistent name for them, which is frankly pathetic) that goes on the mike. I paid a lot (far too much) for mine (a Reinhardt) and it works brilliantly, though I've seen cheap (and probably equally effective) versions on ebay for a tenner. The effect is physical (breaking up the vortices and swirls that form around the mike) so it shouldn't matter if it's in synthetic or the groin fur of the Papuan tree kangaroo combed and teased by aboriginal maidens. Here's one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Canon-XL1-XL1S-XL2-Microphone-Wind-Jammer_W0QQitemZ7599323212

whereas this guy specialises in nothing else:

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/ReinhardtWindshields

DO NOT BOTHER WITH FOAM WINDSHIELDS IN THE OPEN AIR
- THEY DO NOT WORK.


Hi Touty et al

Many thanks for all the words of wisdom, i have checked the specification and my 403E model has an intelligent shoe which tells me i can attach an external microphone, and the sony site has at least 4 possibles but the windsock thing on the Sony mikes is too specialised for anybody to make because they are so small possibly?

Will keep you posted if i find something that is suitable and eliminates some of the noise

Rgds

Paul
 
Unless you you have a button to control the volume input, you need an external preamp especially for wildlife film as the sound are somewhat usualy far and not at a great volume. For the mic the rule the more you pay the more better it's true. The hot shoe for the Sony are usefull for the intelligent shotgun mic, as the more you pump the zoom the more it narrow the area and so reach longer ( never try and don't know if it's really effective and especially for wildlife film,as they are intended for family filming), you can use the hotshoe for other mic also, more important you need a support for the mic that cut the motor noise and noise generated by the camera handling (suspension type are very good). Finaly, like you found you need a kind of Rycote to cut the wind noise (cut to 30 db noise). All that material are very expensive and can be found in store specialized in pro video camera.
 
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