Just completed a shoot with using the Zooms headphone output direct to the 5D. 5D manual input is set to 1. Used a Pad from Search Results for ‘DVCreator Line to Mic Cable ’ at DVcreators.net

Which is a -50db mic pad.

You will have to set level of output volume of headphone to get proper level, but once set, you can forget it and adjust Zooms record level.

OK, that's great! So it seems that if you have a zoom or tascam recorder and such a pad, you basically have a two-in-one, right? You can choose to either use the standalone recorder or the synced signal from camera. Or even let them run simultaneously if you want...

I am waiting to buy any sound gear until all the news from NAB is out to see if there is any view of what might be next in the camera world.

A test to see if drift is happening is very easy. Record 12min of music with the 5D internal mic while simultaneously recording with the external device.

Put both audio files on a timeline, sync up from the beginning and play. Take note of when/if the two start to separate. Since you are recording music, I would test this just to make sure.

I missed that, but it's an honest mistake - this is the 5DII forum.

Typically the headphones out of a consumer recorder (and for that matter even a good prosumer model) will suck bad (e.g., lots 'o noise). If your recorder has a line out you'd probably be much, MUCH better off than the surely POS headphone outputs. Just saying...

Yup, been there, done that.

I run ProTools HD in the studio and have checked the location files from the SD302/PDM661 by importing them into a PT session. No drift in 12 mins..

Interesting. When I have used my laptop DAW for external recording I notice drift in between 5-7 minutes without my digital timepiece in the loop.

Have you tested this after the firmware update? True 30p does not have the drop-frame thing going on which would help it stay with normal recording devices. I would be interested to know if it drifted in 29.97.

I don't know if the new 24p framerate is 24p or 23.976.

On the Zoom H4N the headphone socket is also a line out socket. Hopefully that means the circuitry is a little better than just a POS headphone amp. I'm not sure how it switches between headphone or line though.

Scott

Actually with FCP the true 30 caused a lot of problems initially with drift - 2-3 seconds over a 12 minute clip. If you got your project set up properly for 30p though it wasn't a problem. Haven't tried it yet but I assume the new 29.97 should give you proper results with the default FCP settings.

And the new 24p is in fact 23.976.

Evan, pardon me if you already know this, but your posts seem to be referring to FCP as the source of drifting. The drifting/sync issue I am speaking of is the speed difference between the in-camera audio and an external recorder.

All recording devices run at their own speed or internal clock. these speeds usually differ which over time shows up as drift, or a mis-allignment of the recordings over time. It is really the exact time the device considers to be a complete second.

If I have time I will run this test with a 5D and a laptop with a portable audio interface to see what I find out.

Definitely - it's just that the most significant/common source of drift I've seen people reference with this camera comes down to problems with FCP and can be corrected with the proper settings.

Once your settings are sorted out then the drift you're referring to comes into play - and for me it hasn't been a noticeable issue at the 12 minute mark. Maybe it's just a lucky combination of hardware for me, or it could come down to the type of material I'm shooting. I'll run a test like you described with music though to check for drift.

Update: Here's a link to my test - this is a 5D at 24p and Zoom H4n. Video has three segments - the beginning sync point, the beginning of the song repeating at approximately 10:30, and a copy of the 10:30 clip offset manually by 1 frame. The offset version has a very clear doubling of the high hat and flanging on the voice, whereas the original version sounds very much like the sync start version to me - so if there's any drift it's far less than a single frame over 10 minutes and well below my ear's threshold to notice it.

http://smalldog-media.com/misc/5D_Sync_Test.mov

It'd be interesting to me to see how much this varies for other people, maybe I just got lucky with the particular equipment I got.

Is there someone with a zoom h4n and 5d with ML who could test the difference in sound quality and noise between the recorder and the line out to 5d?

Thanks for posting Evan, that is good stuff. Without the offset example it would be tough to know there were two audio sources.

I will test today with my Firepod/laptop setup.

Has the latest version for 2.04 firmware released yet or still in beta form?

Thanks
Mitchell

Related to Mitchell's question -- I'm working on a quite important shoot, and hence, have been afraid to upgrade. So my question is, how reliable is the 2.04 version..?

-- peer

Update after Audio drift test:

I tested about 13 minutes of music with a 5DMKII, EX-1 and a Firepod multichannel audio interface attached to a laptop via firewire.

Results:

The 5D and the EX-1 kept sync for the entire time, no issues
The 5D and the EX-1 drifted from the DAW to the point of snare hits sounding like flams around 5-6 minutes. Pretty bad.

This is normal to my experience with cameras and DAWs. I use a digital timepiece that allows a video input signal to determine the DAW's sync.

So the devices that have been already checked must be made with video sync in mind if they can avoid drifting for 12 or so minutes.

Magic lantern or ???
 

Is it possible with firmware or other routes to do a gen lock between two 5DIIs for use on a 3D rig? The 5D may not be the best 3D camera but it would allow a very compact rig.

I just test last night 0.1.8 version
It works well on tethering with usb. I was able to shoot some pictures on the camera and directly transfered on my Mac with LightRoom 3 Beta 2.
The big surprise was on focus feature.
After selecting 'NEAR', and going to the next line, i wasn't able to do calibration sequence with Zoom + button. No reaction.
The same works again well with 0.1.6, i tested again after discovering this issue, with the same lens, same parameters.

Anything wrong about that Trumbell?

Thanks

Regards