For anybody who owns a Sennheiser MKE-300 microphone, and may have had problems picking-up camera noise with it, I have just heard back on an inquiry I made to Sennheiser USA on this problem. For $17.50 plus shipping and sales tax their service department will make what they call the "Red Dot Modification", which apparently involves painting some damping material in certain places inside the MIC. The number to call for a return authorization is: (860) 434-9190.

Jim,
Thanks very much for passing this along. I'm sure that many folks will be interested (including me), since this is a popular mic.

Jim,
Just to follow-up on this topic...
I had a chance today to test my MKE-300 under quiet conditions. Sure enough, the sound of the lens' zoom servo came through loud and clear. The zoom-wide motion seemed to whine more prominently than the zoom-close motion. I removed it but held the mic in the same position over the camera and heard no sound. So I believe that, at least in my case, the sound is principally that of transmitted vibration through the camera body and shoe.

Ken - Me too! - Did this test some time back. Have been thinking of some "suspension" rig for the mic or some "deadenning" material to "wrap" around the Senni mic. - Hmmm.....

Ken, with which of your cams did you test?

Will,
In my post, above, I tested my GL-2 with the MKE-300.

Prior to sending my MKE-300 back to Sennheiser USA for its modification, I decided to call and talk to Dave Copp, the Service Technician who will actually be doing the work. He was very interested in this issue, because apparently not all cameras have the noise problem. According to Dave, the noise problem has two possible sources:

1. Electronic noise caused by a magnetic field from the motor: this is solved with the modification he normally makes, which involves spraying a thick coating of insulating material around the internal electronics of the microphone.

2. Possible mechanical vibration: He is going to address this problem on my microphone by adding mass to the microphone capsule, more or less like a shock absorber. He is not charging any additional amount for this service. He came up with this idea when I told him that we were all finding that moving the microphone away from the camera helped matters.

Dave also told me that there is in fact a MKE-300-D version being sold in Europe, but feels the modification being made as needed for each camera in the USA is more effective.

He is very open to talking to people about this issue and is trying to build a database on specific cameras. Dave Copp's number is 860-434-9190 Extension 151.

UK here - Any email or website for Dave Copp - Cheers

grazie

Sorry Graham, I don't have an email. Hope I didn't cause problems for him with that remark about the "D" model. His comment was just that they had elected to do it this way here in the U.S. and felt it was a better way to go. It's interesting that the regional international markets do it so differently. Are you with Sennheiser UK?

A side-note about Sennheiser...

During their 60 year history they have firmly established a well-deserved world-wide reputation for being goggles-on fanatics about sound reproduction and their products. On my few direct contacts with Sennheiser representatives I came away with the strong impression that each took their company's products' quality and performance very personally.

So I am not surprised that Jim was able to get in touch directly with the Sennheiser technician who will actually do the work on his mic. That just seems to be the way the folks at Sennheiser approach their work.

That was also my impression, Ken, and I must say that I was VERY impressed, not only with his knowledge, but as you say, with the fact that he CARED so much about the quality of sound I am getting!

Ken thanks for the "guarded" invitation to contact my Senni UK rep. Wilco.

Jim - understood. But I'll speak with my agents here in London. Never known, if you don't ask . . . . yeah?

Grazie