Hey all,

I am looking for a microphone to use for my consumer handycam:

http://sonystyle.co.nz/shop_detail.asp?ssid=933484928&ssm=2791&ssc=2794&sku=DCRHC32E

The MIC slot however is just a standard small circle one, the type of hole you stick a computer mic into. (And actually, a computer mic does work on it).

I went to the sony shop, and the guy pointed me to a ECM MS 907 MIC. It's $249NZD, and I'm not sure I want to spend that kind of money right now (Although I'd do it if I have to).

I can rent a Sennheiser ME65 - but will this go into the slot on my camera? From the pictures I have seen, it doesn't look like it will fit in the small headphone-type mic hole I have.

I am trying to remove some background noise and focus on the dialogue, with decent quality sound.

Any advice?

-Chris

You can connect any kind of my via a connector, For example, a straight XLR (thats what is on the Sennhesier mic) to 1/8" mini jack(thats what is on the cam) will do the job. However, you lose the benefit of the XLR cable by doing this - noise cancellation. You will pick up a lot more hum and noise through the 1/8" jack. So the workaround is to either use as short a 1/8" cable length as possible to reduce the chances of picking up noise, or even better, by something like the beachtek XLR adapters that basically do the same thing but go a step further by upping the connector quality as well as high level controls:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=277930&is=REG

regarding the mic - There are definitely better mics out there - What is your budget? Take a look on www.bhphotovideo.com at shotgun condenser mics in the camcorder section for a good listing of mics to choose from. Theres a lot of factors, but for dialogue your best bet is a mono shotgun, as long as possible (makes it more focused). The mic should also be powered by a battery, as your cam cannot provide phantom power, unless you got an outboard device, like the beachtek, that provided phantom power for the mic (the one i referenced does not). i am assuming dialogue would be the primary purpose correct?

Hope that helps.

Yeah it's for dialogue. Thanks for your help - I just want to clarify something. If I rented the mic I was talking about - I'd need a connector. Where do I get one of these? At any electronic shop or...?

Also, sorry to bother but I have a few more questions:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=3646&is=REG

1. Can anyone tell me what kind of cable this one has? (the mic at bhphotovideo I just posted a link to)

2. It looks like I need to buy the connector cable listed under the mic so it'll fit in my camera slot. Am I correct? I've heard that I can either use an adaptor (which I can't really afford right now) or an XLR female to male 1/8 converter cable. Is that what this is?

3. I don't have a slot for headphones on my camera. Is this going to be a big deal?

I just don't want to buy something that may not work on my camera.
http://sonystyle.co.nz/shop_detail.asp?ssid=933484928&ssm=2791&ssc=2794&sku=DCRHC32E

Finally - instead of using a boom pole, can I just stick it to an old broom stick? will it do the trick?

cheers,

-Chris

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Chris Hurn,

Are you sure you linked up the correct model? according to the site you linked your cam does not have either a headphone jack or a mic in jack...are you sure you have this capability?

Anyway, to answer your questions, the mic you linked to has a 3.5 mm connector, thats the same as an 1/8" connector (just in millimeters). So if your cam does indeed use this connection, you can plug it right in.

If it turns out that you do have a mic in and no headphone jack, and you are definitely recording audio on the cam, then make sure you do some audio tests first. You dont have control over levels anyway according to that link about your cam, so you should be recording tests with the mic in various positions to determine where the best location is for the mic. Play back the tape to see how it comes out. Thats about as good as you can do using that cam.

Regarding the broom handle...this is a really good reason to HAVE headphones. the advatnage of a real mic boom is that there is minimal vibration in the boom. any vibration in the boom will be picked up loudly by the mic. I would suggest not using the broom (even though you could probably use foam or something to cushion the mic and avoid picking up much pole noise), and instead put it on a mic stand out of the shot. that way you will at least get clean audio, given that you cant reference the signal while you are shooting.

Good luck w/ it.

Well, on my camera there is a little red hole that says MIC. When I plugged in my computer mic into it, and recorded, it worked. The man at the sony shop also offered to sell me a sony ECMMSD1 mic, and said it would work with my camcorder.

I'm guessing this means I can use an external mic. Am I right?

-Chris

Double check your model number for me. I believe you that it is there, just want to figure out if you linked the wrong model or if their site is wrong. Yes, if the jack is there that mic will work for you.

http://ostg.pricegrabber.com/search_techspecs_full.php/masterid=4417529

DCR-HC30E.

The only one on the sonystyle site is the 32E, I couldnt find my model there.

Also, Just realised - the cable on this thing is really short by the looks of things: http://www.procura.com/ecz-990.html

How will I use this? it probably won't even extend far enough to go on a mic stand. Or is that what the cable is for? Does the cable you can buy for it at bhphotovideo replace the default short one?

-Chris

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Chris Hurn,

Ok, found some more info. your cam does have a mic in like you thought, and re: the headphone jac, try using the av outs. you can probably monitor off of that (you may need an rca to 1/8" converter for that, i am assuming your cam has rca outputs correct?).

The cable is short on the mic so that you can use it on the cameras hot shoe without it hanging on the floor. For your uses you should get the cable from b and h, it extends the length of the cable. You should be all set.

Thanks a lot Jeff, you have been very helpful.

-Chris

no problem :-) good luck!