looking for a camera with good sound

[Micah Mcdowell]

Well, your question is a bit broad, but here’s some suggestions.

The first thing to remember is that all built-in camcorder mics are generally very poor, so you will want to use an external mic (lapel mic or boom mic most of the time). Even a very good camera mounted mic will usually be too far away to be useful for dialogue and will pick up noise from the camera (fans/tape transport/zoom motors, etc.)

Most cameras have an external mic input and any DV/HDV or better camera will have adequate audio recording quality. Lower end cameras will often have a 1/8″ jack which must be used with an adapter to work with professional microphones with XLR connections. More expensive cameras will usually have XLR connectors, which is a good thing. For around $1000, you may be able to find a nice older miniDV camera with XLR inputs like a Panasonic DVX100, as long as you don’t mind buying used.

Having said all this, you should think of some more determining factors beyond the audio quality of a camera. Do you need HD? What are you going to use it for? Do you want it to record to tape or solid-state?

Don’t forget to add good mics to your budget, and check out the Cow’s audio forum.

[Brian Moore]

I would recommend you get an external digital audio recorder. audio that goes into a video camera is extremely compressed. You should never use the audio from a camcorder. the difference between the two is truly night and day.