Shoe mount for G10 - Hood for G10

[Jeff Harper]

I'm considering the G10 as an extra camera, and am curious about the shoe mount. It's called a mini shoe mount by Canon, I believe. Does the mount accept standard camera top lights and micorphones?

Is there a lens hood made for the camera, or will the hood for the XA10 work?

[Lee Mullen]

One of these my friend.

Canon Camorder Mini Hot Shoe to Universal Shoe Adapter | eBay

[Jeff Harper]

Thank you Jalan, appreciate the link!

[Mark Goodsell]

Just a thought here: I actually owned the G10 for a short while until I returned it for an XA10. One of the shortcomings of the G10 is the rear-mounted mini-shoe. I think the shoe adapter is a must for a G10 owner that uses shoe-mounted accessories. I personally didn't care for the position of the hot-shoe on the G10. This was one (but not all) of the features I felt I needed that stepped me up to the XA10. This is just me speaking, but If I were going to shoot serious video with a G10 I would strongly consider doing one of the following:
1) Replace the G10 top plastic cover with an XA10 top cover (from Canon parts) with a cold shoe. Side by side they appeared identical.
2) Epoxy, or screw on, a full-sized cold shoe onto the G10 in about the same position as the XA10 cold shoe.

I think it comes down to how much you think you'll use a cold shoe, and what accessories one might mount it on. I personally would mount a nice microphone with an anti-shock mount onto the camera. Something like a Sennheiser ME64/K6 with a balancing adapter (you can make), which would actually be longer than the cam itself but give you great audio. But it would require a sturdy shoe that is more centrally positioned on the camera, or the use of both shoes for stability. I personally don't think the rear mini-shoe with an adapter will be strong enought to handle a large mic by itself. A smaller mice like a Senn MKE400 will work just fine on the rear shoe, however. I have an MKE400 that I use with my XA10 and it is a great little mic. Great audio from such a small package. Anyway, I'm just thinking outloud here.

The answer to your question about the lens hood, I'm not sure what you are asking. The G10 comes with the same EXACT lens hood that comes with the XA10. You don't have to buy one separate, it comes in the box. It's plastic and removable by twisting a partial turn. I wouldn't call it the most robust item I've ever seen, but it's heald up fine on mine under some less than ideal handling circumstances, so I guess it does the trick. Hope that answers your question.

I think the G10 is a great value for what you get if you don't need the XLR capability. Personally I would like a better viewfinder, ND filters and a better zoom rocker. For that, something like the JVC HM150 would be worth looking at. But they don't have the nice LCD that G10 / XA10 has, and it's a full grand more in cost. Good luck.

[Jeff Harper]

Mark, thanks for your feedback. After seeing that an adapter was needed for the shoe, I will likely just get another XA10, if I don't get something entirely different.

At this point in the season it would be most logical to wait until spring and see what is out between now and then.

Ideally 1080 30p would be best overall, but that would mean replacing all of my cameras, and at this point I can't imagine ditching four cameras less than a year after I bought them.

Anyway, thanks again, you're right on target, at least to my thinking. I want to be able to run a shotgun and light on whatever I buy, and I'm tired of using the Y type adapters that mess up the balance on my other cameras.

[Mark Goodsell]

Jeff,

Just to follow up, if another G10 / XA10 is a good fit for your work and you don't mind putting a little work into your cam (and if you have some fabricating skills), I think a G10 would make a great second cam. And actually, in some ways it would be better than the XA10 in terms of compactness, if that matters to you.

So, you'd need to order a new top plastic from Canon parts for the XA10, and install it (means disassembling the camera, or taking it somewhere to have it installed, then fabricate up a microphone mount. Or, screw and epoxy a cold shoe mount onto the top of the existing G10. Then you'd need to fabb up a anti-shock mic mount (easy to do). I usually fab up a blimp into my mic mounts and make a furry sock to fit over mine, for great outdoor audio. You'd probably want to stick with a short mic that has battery power, like the Sennheiser ME64 with a K6 power module which is shorter than the ME66. It's a cardioid mic, not hyper-cardioid. I actually like it because it captures a little side audio making for more natural audio. One of the things I don't care for on the XA10 is that the mic sticks up quite a ways making for a less compact cam. One benefits of using the 1/8" mic input is the auto audio limiting. So, you're talking 1 or two day's work to get it into shape. Might not be something that fits in your wheelhouse, but just thought I'd put it out there.

[Jeff Harper]

Thanks for the suggestion Mark, and the detailed instructions. I feel pretty confident I'll get another XA10. I use the 1/8" input on the XA10 for the reception, and you're right, I like the auto limiter, works pretty well.

Compactness is important, but the XA10 is more than compact enough for me.

[Don Litten]

I have a cold shoe adapter on mine and haven't had any problems with the Rode Video Mic. It's bigger than the camera but no problems despite some energetic workouts.

The hood that comes with the camera is OK but I use 77mm filters with adapters on all my cameras.
I use these hoods on the filters.

Amazon.com: Adorama 77mm Wide Angle Metal Lens Hood: Camera & Photo

 

Amazon.com: Adorama 77mm Wide Angle Metal Lens Hood: Camera & Photo

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg

[Mark Goodsell]

Don,

Let's see a picture of that bad boy w/cold shoe mount. Love to see what you did.

[Don Litten]

Not great Pictures but should give you an idea

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1322021976

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1322021968

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1322021968

[Don Litten]

This is the adapter I'm using:

Amazon.com: Satechi MSA-1 Mini Hot Shoe to Universal Adapter for Canon Vixia HF10, HF11, HF100, HF20, HF200, HG10, HG20, HF S10, HF S100, HF M30, HF S20 and HF S200: Camera & Photo

 

Amazon.com: Satechi MSA-1 Mini Hot Shoe to Universal Adapter for Canon Vixia HF10, HF11, HF100, HF20, HF200, HG10, HG20, HF S10, HF S100, HF M30, HF S20 and HF S200: Camera & Photo

[Mark Goodsell]

Looks great. Yeah, you were right. it gets big, but no more so than a XA10 w/external mic. Good job.