Problem with onboard Mic: please HELP!
 

Hey guys. I got my GL2 about 6 months ago and I love it. I taped a wedding last weekend and used just the GL2's onboard mic for the reception. The sound was quite pleasing. Well, I picked up my camera for the first time today since then, and I'm experiencing some problems with the onboard mic. I hooked some headphones up to the camera and I noticed a horrible "staticy" sound coming only from the Left channel of the onboard mic. I plugged in my Beachtek and two separate mics into that, and everything is fine.

The sound is VERY noticiable and it is horrid. I'm so ticked off now because I bought this thing not even 6 months ago, and it's already having problems! Any suggestions? I don't know what to do. I've recorded a little bit and the sound does show up on the tape. I've also lightly shaken the camera (to see if its a loose wire), and that didn't make it better or worse. I really need some advice. Thanks.
-Brett

Does using the the MIC ATT setting make a difference?

Might be that something disturbed the onboard mic or its connectors for the left channel.

The ATT setting doesn't help much at all. I've also played around with the other mic settings. It's still there. It almost sounds like interference, but its not because I've walked around the house with it, and no difference. Plus I've had it on in my house many times, and this has never happened. I absolutely hate this because now I'm going to have to send it away to Canon, wait about 6 weeks, and who knows if I'll get it back fixed. From the horror stories I've read on here about Canon, I probably won't even get my camera back, or better yet, it will comeback with the "Remove the Casset" error. This sucks.... :(
-Brett

Don't get totally depressed. My experience with Canon service (in NJ) has been good, and you should be under warranty so cost should amount to one-way shipping. If you send it in, be sure to include a tape that demonstrates the problem.

I presume you can hear the noise if the tape is played back on a different system, this implies tha that noise wouce is in the record section somewhere. If not, it imples that the noise source is in the playback electronics.

If MIC ATT has no effect (it should make it 12 dB softer), it implies the problem is not with the mic or its immediate electronics, but on the down stream side of the preamps.

Thanks for the tips Don. The noise is on a tape if I do a test recording (I played them in my other camera). So, I guess I'll have to send it in.
Thanks again for your help.
-Brett

I have had a GL2 for about 14 months and we just started having the same problem. I found if I press the top of the mic on and around the photo button it stops. Must be a short in there somewhere.

Its definitely in the left channel, we figured out how to go around it until we can send in the camera. You can either shut of the left channel or just ajust in on the computer. It's a pain but it works.