External microphone for Video

As a discussion has 'kicked off' regarding the video function on the Pentax cameras I thought i would start a discussion on accessories that can help any budding Spielbergs out there.

The inbuilt microphone (on the k5ii) is only mono and is not ideal. I have purchased one of these:

Sony-ECM-DS70P

I haven't tried it 'in anger' yet but a quick trial seemed to work very well. It's small and discrete and I thought about 'blutac-ing' it to the hot shoe (temporarily) to film street scenes. Aparently there are some fake Chinese versions on ebay for a few pounds which get fairly good reviews.

For a higher quality sound I was considering one of these:

Zoom Hi

It can be directly fixed, using a mount, to the camera as a 'live' mic or can be used remotely to record the sound and then sync'd later in editing.

I would welcome any advice or other options.

Ralph - quite simply the better quality mike will offer better quality sound. A few years ago, I managed to get my hands on a Sony digital microphone for my Minidisc recorder (yes - I was that person that thought it was the bees knees!!), and done a comparison test with an old analogue mike. The difference was night and day! Thankfully, I got the digital mike on the cheap, as Sony was one of our customers. As it stood at that time, there's no way I would have parted with around £200 (RRP) for it. By the sounds (no pun intended! ) of it, the Zoom Hi is what you should go for - although it's entirely your choice.

Steven

Thanks for the response. Your point is well made and I agree that the better the mic the better the sound.

I intend to use the video function for capturing scenes during our driving holidays. The idea of the small sony was to be as unobtrusive as possible whilst filming in a street or public space. To be honest most of the sounds will be replaced by music in the end video.

The Zoom (or other alternative) would be for more formal recording such as these, on my website:

Video tour of storage setup

You can clearly hear how the internal microphone has suffered from wind buffeting. The Zoom H1 seems like a reasonably cheap option which does get good reviews. However I am open to other ideas .

I'm sorry to say that any mike mounted on the camera is going to pick up handling noise as well as the operator breathing

I have the zoom H1 and it is really very good for the price. I have used it twice to record sound for my sons Christmas play and it does an admirable job- I just left it on record by the narrators lecturn and it picks up all the necessary singing and talking. I know you can get a sponge cover for it for use outside to limit wind noise. I just sync it in Sony vegas in PP.

One negative- it is quite budget in terms of build quality- cant imagine it would respond well to being dropped. The H2 looks more substantial but costs about another £30 on ebay at least.link

Has anyone any recommendations if I toss in an extra requirement in that it has to be good for recording live acoustic music as well?

Ken
Thanks for that. The small Sony mounted on the camera would be used just fo ambient background noise (ie.g. walking along a street, in a restaurant, etc) and so camera noise and me coughing and spluttering behind it shouldn't be that much of a problem. The clip length would be quite short so I could always overlay a bit of the soundtrack without the interference.

Japers45
Thanks for the link. I hadn't seen the H2. The additional cost isn't a problem as I am more interested in the quality rather than sticking to a tight budget.
I have also thought about a belt mounted option to use with a lapel mic for doing documentary style videos. At a quick glance it looks like this will take an external mic/line in. So this could be a very good option.

gwing
The more questions the merrier. Hopefully we can teeze out some good recommendations.



Cheers
Ralph

Just throw this one in,

When I was at college doing my HND in Music Production we used to get great results with all kinds of music with just an old sony minidisc recorder and the plug in Sony microphone which had a wide stereo field selector ( so you could effectively limit the pickup to 120 degrees or a tight 90 (think i remember this correctly) thus eliminating to a large degree pickup from behind the mic.


I know its not on camera but it a pretty cheap and good quality option the minidisc supplies the power for the mic so all you need are the discs and batteries One AA for mine!

Think it might be worth a look and I'll post a link to the mic if i can find it

edit: found this link to the Mic link
D

I tried a lot of Sony mikes with DAT recorders years ago,
but unless you paid serious money they weren't really all
that good. A lot of people used to buy Panasonic modules
and make their own.

There was a UK seller on ebay who used to make some really good
mikes for about £10 a time which beat all the Sony ones under
£100 especially for power output. I can't remember the name
and can't see any of the same models on ebay, but it could
have been this seller...... Don't let the price put you off
the modules are cheap and the big boys charge for the casing.

There are a few videos testing Micronic mikes on
Youtube such as this one.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpXKt6epLMU

or this.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqgx9EqZcbw

-

Algi
Thanks for that link.
The lapel mics look good and combined with the Zoom H2 looks like it could be the ideal combination for my needs.
Cheers
Ralph