[Alaa Ashkar]

Hello Bill,

Thank you for your interesting post. Your equipment looks very promising. I have some questions though:

From what I understand, any battery powered shotgun mic with XLR would work on the GH3 simply by using the Hosa transformer? what do you think of the Rode NTG-2 then? I am in France and its price is much cheaper than the Audio Technica AT897.

Also (and I am novice in these technical issues), from what I read on the internet, the GH3 in camera preamps (what does that mean actually?) might not be enough powerful as an external mixer like the Juiced Link. Is the GH3 preamp strong enough to benefit entirely from an external microphone’s capabilities? Do you think using the battery grip will make a difference?
I guess the best would be to use an external recorder for the better bit rate recording capabilities (did you test the difference?). But then I would have to synchronize in post and I don’t want that.

I would still like to hear that Panasonic MS2 sound quality compared to other DSLR shotgun miss. What I found interesting about it, and maybe that what justifies its price, is the fact its switchable shotgun/stereo, which will allow me to use “all in one” mice for interviews and ambient sound capturing.

Finally, size speaking, I find your mike too big for my type of work where I prefer not to draw much attention. I will be interviewing marginalized communities where having a big camera and a big mic might intimidate them. My presence might seem “less personal” in some situations.

Thanks for your input

Alaa

[Alaa Ashkar]

Thanks Steve for the quick reply.

I am aware of what you say. Since I work alone, I am looking for the most efficient equipment, and am willing to scarify a bit in quality for the sake of ease of use.
I was thinking of a shotgun mic like the panasonic Ms2 for these reasons:

– When set to stereo mode, it apparently captures much better stereo quality sound than the in-camera mic
– When set to shotgun mode: it isolates the sounds from the sides for better focused sound for interviews, and I can point it as close as possible to the subject if needed with the extension cable that comes with it.
– It offers these two functions so I won’t need to buy two types of microphones like the Rode VideoMic pro AND the Rode StereoMic pro.

Downsides as far as I can tell (I am not a professional):

– It records in-camera (I will buy the Panasonic GH3), i.e. the sound recording quality (in terms of bit rate) is less than an external recorder like the Tascam or Zoom. But with an external recorder I will have to synchronizesound in post and I prefer to avoid that especially for ambient sound where I will have many short sequences. I think synchronizing is easy and great when working with long shots interviews, but when you have to synchronize tens of short shots every day it becomes more complicated I guess…? even when using a software like Plural Eyes.

– This mic is designed to work only on the GH3! it is powered by the camera battery and all functions are adjustable from the camera menu. Actually I don’t mind that. Reminds me of Apple’s hardware/software philosophy.

– Price: it costs a about 90$ more than the VideoMic pro! is it worth it? Or should I get the Rode and an external recorder like the Tascam Dr-40?

Now that the RODE VideoMic HD Digital Recorder Video Microphone is on the way to the market, that complicates my decision as well… it looks perfect but I guess the price will be less 🙂

I WOULD LOVE TO GET A FEEDBACK ON THIE PANASONIC MIC comparing it to the competition!

Sorry for saying much but its because I will be investing in sound equipment very soon and would not want to regret anything.

Thanks!

[Alaa Ashkar]

Any one can help me out please! I haven’t figured out how to fix this issue.

Many thanks

Alaa