[Craig Alan]

I see what you mean. But if you are just capturing the event as it happens, you still need to get your mike close to the source or you just get atmosphere sound. You can use this with a voice over and perhaps you’ll get some clean enough voice clips within the scene. You’ll need to get your cam real close for the attached mike to pick up dialog. I have shot footage in crowded events using a G2 with plug transmitter and an ENG mike. It works but it’s not an “interview” other than some quick off camera questions perhaps. And the G2 will fail in certain environments. Once you start setting up the body transmitter and lav it’s no longer true run and gun.

A lot depends on whether the subject is moving. And the whole style of the shoot. If you really want to capture subjects where they are not “in on” the production, then you need an assistant to get your cordless close to the subjects. You can’t zoom a mike.

If we are talking about recording voices on public transportation, the mike needs to be very very close to the subject’s mouth or the audience will be listening to loud background noise. This is fine for a few seconds in an action pic where the noise contributes to the sense of danger and the subject is shouting over the din. But for documentary interviews???

Good xlr cords are pretty easy to manage. Measure off how much slack you need from floor to cam. Put a piece of gaffers tape at that point. Disconnect cord from cam run your length to subject. Gaffer tape the cord down to avoid tripping hazards. Leave plenty of slack for talent. Reconnect xlr to cam. Use a Velcro tie or more tape to secure cord to cam or tripod to prevent it being tugged and straining connection (particularly if you are plugging into a miniplug).

OSX 10.5.7; MAC Book PRO (EARLY 2008); Camcorders: Sony Z7U, Canon HV30, Sony vx2000/PD170, Canon xl2; Pana, Sony, and Canon consumer cams; FCP certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

When you say interviews, who is asking the questions? Without a boom pole and operator, you need two mikes, one for the subject and one for the interviewer. For $700 you can’t afford two Sennheiser G2s. Also the mike that comes with it can be disappointing. I’m not being super picky here, the kit for the most part works well but the lav itself is just so so. It requires experience and constant experimentation to get clean sound from it. The other problem is that if you are shooting in many locations, you are bound to face a situation where the cordless kit is picking up interference and will not work on any frequency.

I would on this budget stay with wired mikes. You can get ENG hand held mikes, which will record excellent interview sound. Look in the $150 apiece range. For example: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/76687-REG/Electro_Voice_16501707_RE50_B_Omni_ENG.html#accessories. With canare xlr cables, you are at $400. Then think about two wired countryman lavs. Something like: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/295908-REG/Countryman_B3P4FF05B_B3_Omnidirectional_Lavalier_Microphone.html. You might think that wired is less convenient than wireless but with a one-man crew getting the talent comfortable with the transmitter and adjusting it is a lot trickier than you might think. For the buck, you get much much much better sound quality with wired mikes. No scanning frequencies, no adjusting transmitter levels and receiver levels. No batteries running low. For the hassle of dealing with cords you get pro quality sound. Get yourself some soft cases to protect the mikes in your cam bag, a couple of rolls of gaffer tape, and a must have headphones https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/49510-REG/Sony_MDR_7506_MDR_7506_Headphone.html and you are good to go. Even before I’d buy a cordless kit I’d get a sound devices 302 mixer. Check out the video that BH has on that ENG mike. There are other choices for ENG mikes as well.

If you only need one mike and absolutely require a cordless than go with the G2 kit that comes with the Plug-In Transmitter and get an ENG handheld to go with it and a countryman lav with the G2 adapter. You will be way over your budget and you’ll still need wired mikes and cables as backup.

On an interview heavy documentary, clean, pleasant sound is way more important than any other variable. You can always use ken burns style stills or graphics or b-roll to cover for bad or boring footage, but if you capture sub-par sound you end up with an un-watchable project.

OSX 10.5.7; MAC Book PRO (EARLY 2008); Camcorders: Sony Z7U, Canon HV30, Sony vx2000/PD170, Canon xl2; Pana, Sony, and Canon consumer cams; FCP certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

My guess is you are not missing anything. You are used to cameras costing much more. The XL2 was ground breaking at its price point a while back. It competed primarily with the Sony pd170.

“The XL2 shoots 16:9, but it uses a trimmed-down portion of a 4:3 CCD to do it. … It does loose 25% of its CCD to make a 4:3 image.” (https://www.dvxuser.com/articles/shoot3/)

That could be your problem right there. I could be wrong. I never shot with it 4×3.

It has a relatively soft look but a powerful stock lens at its price point.

The supplied mike is stereo. Thus if you record at 16 bit then it is not possible to record from it and the XLRs.

It does not have the ability to switch to line level on the XLR inputs.

I would just plug two different mikes into the XLRs. Or better still; use a mixer like the sound devices 302. The 302 can take a line level signal and then send you a mic level. Or get some XLR pads and go that route.

What made the XL2 desirable, in its day, was being able to shoot flattering 16:9 images and a powerful zoom for under $5000. Also for indie folk they could rent other lenses for a given shoot which few cameras at that price allowed for in its day. But once you added other lenses, the cost started getting high enough that it was now competing with much more expensive and better cameras.

You need to light it well in order to not get a washed out image. Once you do, the picture is very pleasing. To monitor it well, use an external monitor. If the focus drifts or is off even a little, the already soft image becomes unacceptable. As far as I know, the zebras start at 80 ire.

The key to using the XL2 is good lighting. Although that is true of all cameras, the XL2 is not an available light champ. I’d also experiment with 16:9 and see if you are happier with the image.

OSX 10.5.7; MAC Book PRO (EARLY 2008); Camcorders: Sony Z7U, Canon HV30, Sony vx2000/PD170, Canon xl2; Pana, Sony, and Canon consumer cams; FCP certified; write professionally for a variety of media; teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Repair your startup disk, your disk permissions, or both. To do so, start up from your Mac OS X installation disc and use Disk Utility. Worth a try. Any chance the folder you changed permissions on was one that should not be messed with– that is belongs to the admin.

Disk warrior might help if you messed up the directory of your system drive.

OSX 10.5.3; MAC PRO 2 X 2.8 GHZ (EARLY 2008); FCP Suite; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

https://support.apple.com/kb/TA24160?viewlocale=en_US

I understand your point. However, maybe you want to use it to bring down overexposed levels and then tweak again with another filter. Not everyone who uses the filter is really sending the project to broadcast.

What if a filter did not follow the FCP rule of which filter overrides the others? That would be inconsistent and therefore illogical. It’s a small thing to bring this filter into the dominant position.

Perhaps there could be an option to automatically shift the position of certain filters so they remain dominant? Or a pop up warning when levels exceed broadcast safe if the broadcast safe filter has previously been applied?

OSX 10.5.3; MAC PRO 2 X 2.8 GHZ (EARLY 2008); FCP Suite; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

other things that may work too is resetting pram. and unplugging all including power cord, waiting a bit then replugging. port isolator cord can prevent frying. this is a good idea before applecare runs out. on cheaper macs firewire is connected to mother board so fixing it is big bucks. on a pro you can always add another card.

OSX 10.5.3; MAC PRO 2 X 2.8 GHZ (EARLY 2008); FCP Suite; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

That’s about the cheapest one worth buying. But you could go with Ty’s suggestion for a sound devices 302 and sony headphones. and use wired lavs. Do a search on where and how to tape the lavs to talent.

Look at this kit: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/428645-REG/Sound_Devices__302_ENG_EFP_Deluxe_Field.html

you can get just the mixer for $1300. But you’ll need the Canare BACX25 so you can monitor from your camera. canare is a good brand for xlr cables as well.
You’ll need a bag (If you don’t go with the kit then sound devices makes one and porta brace is great too). The harness is very helpful.

These are good lavs though maybe Ty has a better suggestion: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/shop/13825/B3_B6_EMW_Lavalier_s_EMW_Classic_Lavalier.html.

You’ll also need different length xlr connections. We’re still a little over $2000 but a lot closer than starting with three cordless kits. get a good roll of gaffers tape. and some velcro that can be strapped to the wires for cord management. https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/336856/velcro-reusable-ties-8-black-gray/.

OSX 10.5.3; MAC PRO 2 X 2.8 GHZ (EARLY 2008); FCP Suite; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

https://dvcreators.net/products/sennheiser_wireless_movieframe.htm

This should help. Sit down with the device and practice setting the controls until you get it.

You’ll notice in the demo that when you set a certain menu item you can exit the menu system by pressing the on off button quickly. That’s a time saver and might prevent accidentally changing another feature.

The only thing in the demo that I question is mike placement. Though I wouldn’t put the mike on the throat area, I usually put it higher than he suggests. You might also consider getting a countryman mike that works with this unit.

I would also take a wired ENG mike with me as a backup. There are locations where no frequency will work due to some kind of interference.

Scan for a different frequency if there is interference or the default frequency is reserved by law for a certain use.

If you only have one set, what do you use for the interviewer?

OSX 10.5.3; MAC PRO 2 X 2.8 GHZ (EARLY 2008); FCP Suite; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Thanks, Craig. No doubt that works the best. However, I was hoping to find a way to not have to power down and power on my mac. This is what has been working every time:

To disconnect the array:

Unmount the external array.

Power off the array.

Power off the esata card.

Eject the card.

To mount the array:

plug in the esata card.

Turn on the external array.

It’s mounting every time.

Craig

OSX 10.5.3; MAC PRO 2 X 2.8 GHZ (EARLY 2008); FCP Suite; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.

[Craig Alan]

Hi,

Just so I’m clear because this thread is of interst to me:

Are you not pleased with the sound of the Senhieser G2 series as a system or just not the lav that comes with it?

Thanks

OSX 10.5.3; MAC PRO 2 X 2.8 GHZ (EARLY 2008); FCP Suite; Sony camcorder vx2000/pd170;Canon xl2; Pana consumer cams; write professionally for a variety of media;teach video production in L.A.