How are people doing DSLR audio?

[Bill Bruner]

John – to connect a Tascam to your DSLR you’ll need an attenuating cable that matches the output of your recorder to the input of your camera. I bought a $27 Sescom LN2MIC-TASDR100 from Adorama to connect the Tascam DR-40 to my GH3 and it delivered clean, hum-free audio to the camera.

Good luck!

Bill
Hybrid Camera Revolution

[Rob Manning]

Hi Bill I did mention this as well: “In the case of a two step box like the Zoom, TASCAM, Sony, one can feed the line level to the camera, but, there are gain structure considerations in some cases and Sescom offers several buffered cables specific to the gear being used for connectivity.

https://audio-video-supply.markertek.com/search#w=sescom%20dslr ”

Your site is very informative BTW, great stuff.

Thanks!

Rob Manning

[John Doggett-williams]

Thanks Guy and Bill, the answers are great butafter following all the blogs last year I went out and bought a H4N which at $400 which now seems a waste. I think I’m stuck with it while I do love it as a recorder it is cumbersome and requires that audio post.

I must admit I’m finding the GH2 problematic at many levels. I have a problem with the monitor – it is not wysiwyg. I am using a flowmotion patch, the touch screen focus disappears, I worry about my ability to manual focus especially in low light. Anyway enough whinging.. thanks again.

John Doggett-Williams
http://www.fineeyeproductions.com

[John Bauwens]

Thanks everyone for the input. After talking and trying out a few devices, I am going with the JuicedLink box and running sync sound directly into the body. There people are incredible by the way.

[Dan Asselin]

John I thought the T3i had a manual audio setting, which overcomes the AGC, built in. I have used Lantern on my T3i but only for the automatic continuous recording.

[Jim Watt]

If you want excellent audio the Tascam DR60D is the way to go. with a cage you have a very slick easy to use configuration. You can double record with a sync tone into your camera and the quality of the audio in the Tascam is far superior to anything you can record directly to your camera regardless of the quality of your microphones.

jw

Producer/DP, HD series, “Discoveries…America”, “Discoveries…Ireland”, “Discoveries…Spain”,
“Discoveries…Argentina”, Discoveries…India”, “Discoveries…Asia”, “Discoveries…Africa”

[John Doggett-williams]

Looks awesome and I have a soft spot for Tascam. Also well balanced physically for DSLR’s.
Has anybody used one with a GH2 and it’s 2.5mm input? The Zoom H4n has beautiful audio
but is awkward to connect.

John Doggett-Williams
http://www.fineeyeproductions.com

[Manuel Lazaro]

Hi Guy,

I am having a bit of a dilema with recording sound directly to my Canon 7D. Let me start off my mentioning that most of my work will go directly online so not wanting to record with an external recorder is more of a personal choice because I am a one man band.

With that said, I have tried several forms of attempting to obtain clean audio directly to my Canon 7D. One of the best ways I have achieved this is by using my sennheiser EW 100 G2 wireless system. I set my camera audio to the lowest setting and increase the gain from the wireless receiver or transmitter. This provides good clean audio when using a lav or a hand held wireless mic.

Now to my dilema. I have not been able to achieve the same quality audio as mentioned above using my Rode NTG-2 shotgun mic. The Rode NTG 2 is a condenser mic which means it runs off a AA battery When I connect the Rode NTG 2 directly to the camera via an XLR to Mini adapter I get lots of white noise during my recordings. I have also tried using a Beachtek and JuiceLink preamp but have had no success. Perhaps I am not setting up the preamps correctly but I don’t I am since they are pretty basic to use. I have tried many different forms of set up to the above mentioned preamp devices but no luck. I still get lots of white noise and the only way I have been able to get rid of the white nose is using FCP X and analyzing the audio. The solution has been to bring down the background noise in FXP X to achieve cleaner audio but it is not as crisp and sometimes sounds like someone is speaking underwater.

Would you happen to know if I invest in a Sound Device Mix Pre D will I encounter the same issues? Is there a better solution out there? Do I have my setting wrong on the preamps? Are there specific setting that perhaps is causing the white noise or is that white noise normal and will show up even using the Sound Device Mix Pre D? If the white noise is there, what are you or your coworkers using to get rid of the white noise? Can you advice on set up for recording on a Canon 7D without using an external recorder?

Your reply will be greatly appreciated and I look forward to hearing from you or a member of your staff. Thank you in advance. Feel free to phone it you prefer.

Best,

Manuel Lazaro
954-625-5359
mlazaro27@msn.com

Camera: Canon 7D
Audio: Set to Manuel at lowest level. (have tried all different levels)
Mic: Rode NTG 2 (have tried directly to cam and preamps)

[John Doggett-williams]

Yes audio is still problematic with DSLR’s, others may have better suggestions but it sounds like an attenuator (also known as a pad) may help with the 7D, it is usually used when taking a feed from a mixing desk, it’s avoids distortion. It is cumbersome though.

I’ve now changed my mind from an earlier post where I said the H4N zoom (separate recorder) was problematic. It records beautiful sound and is quick to download and it’s rarely a problem syncing audio in post. But, despite its good reputation, I have had some problems syncing with FCP X. If you can afford plural eyes it ceases to become an issue.

John Doggett-Williams
http://www.fineeyeproductions.com