Audio for 7D what are you doing.
 

here is what i am going to first

zoom h4n for now with the 4 tracks of audio i can run all i need wireless, shotgun and a combo of all and with the audio enabled on the 7d to match up with in post should be good and with the 12min clip size should be easy app. with a clap to start each clip!!

when magic lantern gets the 7d up i may go with the juiced link but for now i like the zoom option

what are you all doing???

Plan on Juiced link - Magic Lantern. Don't have the camera yet though

Tascam DR100. I wanted the separate level controls.

On DSLR News Shooter, one guy uses the H4N as a camera mic, with a cable going to the camera. I'm wondering if that or the Tascam might be the best of both worlds with the 7D when Magic Lantern is done. If you can send audio from the recorder's built-in mic to the camera, you should be able to do the same with a good mic via the XLRs. Maybe. If so, then you could record double system when you need to or record to the camera when you need to with only the recorder and not a Juicedlink or Beachtek. Although the Juicedlink might improve quality.

If I go with a recorder it'll be the DR-100, for the same reason as above, separate level controls.

I haven't finished reading the manual yet. I was hoping AGC was a function that could be turned off in the menu.

Nope, it's on all the time. That's what Magic Lantern is for. When it comes out for the 7D.

Another thing about the Tascam versus the Zoom is it uses two AA batteries, and in a separate compartment, has a rechargeable battery. So that's three ways to power the unit. But you have to buy the charger for it.

Bill, I am using the same trick, in narrative environnement. The H4n on the shoe mount of the camera and the line out of the zoom (lowered to mic level) in the camera. The rationnal for this is that my soundman can work in exactly the same way when I shoot on the 7D or the XLH1. I still continue to record on the internal memory of the H4n since the level of noise in what the camera is recording is considerably higer then the tracks of the H4n. But what I get is a very solid refence track to sync easilly in post.

Do you have some kind of attenuator cable to get the line level down?

I don't have a cable with an atenuator in it, yet (like the guys at DSLR News Shooter). But I have ordered one to an audio technician, should have it in a few weeks. What I am using now is an old Beachtek DXA-2S that I have laying around from my Optura 40 days.

This unit can take line or mic level and have a stereo mic level output. It's bulkier than a dedicated cable but for now it works.

sync
 

wouldnt it just be easier to use the zoom on its own and also leave the audio on on the 7D for post reference?? it sounds like alot of work just to feed reference audio to the cam.

Kirk, It's impraticable in many circumstances. When my soundman is using a shogun mike on a boom 30 or 40 feet from the camera, there is too much differences between this sound track (highy directionnal, close to the source) and the sound recorded from the camera (Omni pattern, very far from the source).

I have done an interview in an industrial building with a lot of machine noise. The sound from the shotgun clearly got the voice of the talent (sure the ambiant noise was still present but this is ok in this kind of setup) but the camera mike would have picked only the loud ambiant sound.

I'm doing dual system audio on my 7D: I record the audio with my 5D + Magic Lantern + juicedLink and use the 7D's audio track to help with syncing.

That's the plan until I have Magic Lantern running on the 7D, too.

Like the rest of you I am doing double sound. I have a 10-30db XLR attenuator that I can pluig into the line level XLR socket of my mixpre mixer.

JP, are you using the H4's built-in mics? If so, wouldn't you still get mostly the ambient sound?