Pentax for Video

Good picture and sound.

There's a fair bit of background hum/road noise which a good notch filter should be able to reduce. That's where the power of some of the adobe products come into their own, with the ability to sample a noise section and effectively remove it from subsequent audio. In your case the frequency ranges seem different enough for a low pass audio filter to do wonders with that clip.

I have to admit Im new to this editing sound/video stuff. What software do you use?

Adobe Premiere but Adobe Audition has all the really cool noise reduction/removal toys.

Yes, lull them into a false sense of security before a dramatic cut to a hair-raising bungee jump and a jet boat crashing through the waves!

I've just bought a Rode Video Mic Pro (from Music Matter - I found they have good prices and range) to use with my K-5 II. It gives good sound quality (mono - I'm intending to use it mainly for interviews, etc). It has a low cut filter that should help cut out traffic rumble.

However, the K-5 II has limited audio recording facilities - there's no way to control the audio level. The Rode mic has the option to boost the level so you can turn down the settings on camera to get better sound from the dedicated mic circuitry rather than the 'lower quality camera pre-amp', but I can't take advantage of that. Nor is is possible to monitor the audio on headphones.

Well, I bought the camera for stills, not mainly for video, but would like to take advantage of my kit to record some videos as the image quality is good. Any tips for getting the best audio?

Record the audio separately and merge in post production.
Use the in camera audio to help align with the audio from the external device, and then delete the in camera track.

Actually I went and checked and changing AF modes is done by pressing the AF mode button above the switch and turning the front wheel. I actually think this is more ergonomic



it was you who said the forum needs for fights.

Yes use a seperate recorder with a stereo mic pair and overdub it afterwards

Clapping hands, snapping fingers, etc are all good for giving a pulse of sound for syncing juse before the scene

Of course you could use the proper tool, the clapperboard. Then you can play the part and shout "Take 34, Action!" while smoking the big cigar

I guess it's relevant considering the thread. I got an email ad from Scan (computer parts) advertising this rather snazzy chappy designed to record pro level sound on a DSLR.

Not been my bag yet but was fascinated that they made such stuff...Tascam DR-60D 4-Channel Linear PCM Recorder For DSLR...link

Yes a lot of people are surprised to learn the point of the clapperboard, but it becomes obvious when you point out that traditionally the film camera couldn't record sound. It's only been since electronic forms of image capture that the video capture device could potentially record sound as well. The clapper provides a point of reference present on both recording mediums, from which you can align both tracks.


A certain other brand that makes great mirrorless video orientated camera equipment has this as an option on it's latest product.

I'm not suggesting Pentax leap to this sort of level, but their video offering is now fairly rudimentary compared to what's possible now.


That's a bit of an open ended question, but off camera is usually a better way to do this. You don't get any lens movement noise etc.

After than the basics of mic location, wind sock type covers to protect from wind noise etc, filters in post production to remove frequency ranges that aren't required etc are all options. Depends entirely on the nature of your subject and desired project outcomes.

Thanks for all the tips


That does look interesting, if expensive. As I already have a pretty good little PCM audio recorder, an Olympus LS-5, that has decent built-in mics and mini-jack input and output, I'm going to try that with the camera and see how easy it is to dub the sound. The audio quality the Olympus can capture, eg taking a feed from a sound desk at a conference, is pretty good. (I've also got a 'dead cat' wind shield for it, and for the Rode mic.) The clapping hand trick is something I've heard before, though it may not suit all situations!

Now I need to try this out - oh, and make sure the video quality is good enough too!

If you're trying to sync separate audio & video recordings on different tracks, I'd still record the audio on the camera at the same time as the 'master' audio from a dedicated audio recording - then you can expand the waveform display on the audio tracks and use the shapes from the camera recording to precisely position the master tracks underneath.

Cut the stream in a few places where the video cuts as well and you have a little room to play with. If you can't line everything up exactly then a small amount of time-shifting on a video track event won't matter much, I mean a half second or so.

Thanks - the Olympus LS-5 recorder provides an line out socket so I do plan to do this when I test this out in a week or so.

Cool, do let us know how you get on