External microphones for video recording

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Hopefully things will get better, Tom. While doing the basement run (above), I once forgot to turn on the 440 on the Nikon, thus had silence on the video, so had to rerun it. Thankfully it wasn't a concert or something I couldn't redo.
 
An update here, Tom.

I've used that MKE 440 now for several concerts in the middle school gym, and it's a decided improvement over the Canon G-20's built-in mics -- I really like it for that, but it still doesn't focus in tightly on the music director announcing (no PA) what's coming up (better than the Canon, though), and it doesn't completely kill the excess echo (a lot of it though), but what triggered this update is that I got a chance to do another concert of my grandson's school, this one in a theater environment (plush seats, carpet, etc.) and it is SUPER. And there was a lot of percussion (drums, steel drums, xylophones, even some choir music and such. I couldn't ask for better sound quality or for better sound distribution across the stereo image.

So the MKE 440 (stereo "super" cardiod) is a sweetheart, and can be used on both my Canon G-20 and my Nikon 7100, giving excellent results on both.
 
Thanks Larry. Hope to post an update on the results from my stereo super cardiod mic at our June 2 concert. Meanwhile, I'm still hoping to gain access to the theatre to set up cameras and mic sometime this week, and compare the image, zoom, etc of my new Canon videocam with my Panasonic G7 in video mode.
 
Last evening was our "dress rehearsal" for the June 2 concert. Not a good venue for audio tests, but I set up two cameras, both with external mics:
  • My Panasonic G7 'still' camera, which takes very good video, and my prior (inferior) ext mic.
  • My new inexpensive Canon HR800 camcorder with the newish stereo super-cardioid mic.
The videographer (Chris) has been sick and, since I was sitting/playing in the band, I didn't do much beyond place the cameras and turn them on (I did remember to turn the mics on this time!). As expected, the G7 captured superior video, and the stereo super-cardioid mic captured superior audio. A Panasonic phone app is able to control some features, but the darned 20 minute auto shut-off required me to periodically get up, walk across the room, restart the G7 and restart/reconnect Wifi.

If there was a way around the auto shutoff, I'd have Chris use the G7 and the stereo mic at Sunday's concert. It's apparently an EU tax issue; Anything longer than 20 minutes on a 'still' camera causes it to be treated as a video camera, with higher taxes. I haven't found a reliable workaround.
 
There really isn't a good way around the 20 minute limit. Yes you can get up and manually restart it but the reason for the 20 minute limit is because the sensor gets hot. If you keep on running the sensor after 20 minutes you run the risk of damaging the chip. I would run one camera and then after 20 minutes run the second camera and then restart the first camera etc.
 
Aye Tom, there are apparently two reported reasons for the auto shutoff; The tax issue and the sensor heat issue. One sets a limit of 20 mins and the other 30 mins. The G7 worked for the entire show at a prior concert at this venue, but Chris had to keep restarting it before the shutoff kicked in. I don't see a reason to run two cameras and switch between them; I just haven't decided which camera we'll use. The Canon is much easier to use and has no timeout; It ran OK for 2.5 hours last evening, but doesn't have the optics of the G7  ???
 
I opted to use the small Canon videocam with the stereo super cardioid external mic to record the show. The theatre had their own small video camera mounted in the sound booth, just in front of my camera, but they relied on the camera's internal mic's. The comparison of the audio of the un-mic'd band is quite significant. Glad I followed the advice of our AV experts here and bought the stereo external mic.
 
Aye Larry. Thanks again for your and Lou's help getting me on the right track.
 
Another note about the MKE 440. My grandson is now in a marching band, and today they had a band competition in a high school football stadium. So I used the MKE for his band and one other, then I used the internal mics for yet another band. The difference was much greater than any use I'd had before. With the MKE the sound was crisp, clear, and very full, while the internal mics, though the sound was not bad, lacked the fullness and wasn't nearly as crisp and clear. It was literally a difference like night and day, much, much greater than the difference between them in a school gym.

 
Sounds (no pun) like you have a great mic' there Larry.
 
Sennheiser has a long reputation for making high quality audio products.  I've been a fan since they created the first "open air" headphones back in the 1970s.
 
Lou Schneider said:
Sennheiser has a long reputation for making high quality audio products.  I've been a fan since they created the first "open air" headphones back in the 1970s.
Yep, they're one of a few companies that make excellent audio equipment. AKG is another -- the AKG K240 headphones I bought in the 1970s are still manufactured today, though I'm sure it's an updated version.

The surprise to me, Lou, was because this is a stereo "shotgun" mic, and in the outdoor environment of the stadium the shotgun effect is much more pronounced than it is indoors (which was my main use before), where reflection from the walls/ceiling aids the built in mics. The actual sound quality on the MKE is, of course, better than the built-ins, too, but those are still decent in actual freq resp, etc, just not as good as the MKE. And, of course, the main reason for acquiring the MKE was the shotgun effect for distant sounds.
 
Tom J.

The Qz video I just posted to the rallies forum was shot with a Sony XA2000 camcorder (I bought it used after 8+ years), but using the MKE440 stereo shotgun mic I've discussed above. In some spots (especially where I pan around with generators running) you can even get an idea of how directional it is. I use that mic almost exclusively these days, including when I took video of my grandson's band concert in a school gym (big difference).
 
Thanks Larry. I've been quite happy since I paired a stereo super cardioid mic'with an inexpensive video cam, especially for concerts, but haven't yet tried it outdoors.
 
I bought a cheap large diaphragm mic.  An MXL991.    It was right around $100.  Works good, pretty directional and VERY sensitive.  I also got a MXL shotgun small diaphragm mic to pair with it for recording acoustic guitar.  Great combination.  The 991 is a little weak on high frequencies, or that would be my ears.  Wish I'd had these 30 years ago. 
 
[quote author=8Muddypaws]Better luck next time.[/quote]
???
 
Just an update on the MKE 440:

I've recently used it in a quiet high school auditorium for a choir concert and last night I used it in an outdoor football stadium for a graduation ceremony with various microphones and speakers boosting sound for the audience, both for the speakers on the stage and for choir, band and orchestra performances during the ceremonies.

After previewing the latter this morning, I'm finding that I can actually hear what people are saying and the choral voices better on the recording than I could in person while recording, in spite of the fact that I was on the top level of the stadium and far enough away that a 20x zoom could only get people on the stage down to roughly full height, enough to recognize faces, but not any closer.

And the audio quality (freq response, etc.) is good, too. Love it even more now.
 
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The stereo super cardiod mic worked really well (again) with the small Canon video camera at last Sunday's Delta Strummers concerts. We don't amplify the band; Several guitars are amplified and feed a couple of floor monitors to help keep everyone on the beat and avoid a right-left delay. Solo instruments (guitar, ukulele, or mandolin) and solo singers (except yours truly) are amplified for the audience.
 

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