External mic holder not usable?
 

I recently got my XH-A1. I attached the Rode NTG-2 that I already had. Since the NTG-2 was too slim, I put some foam tape inside the mic holder. Now the mic is attached firmly, but during recording it picks up every touch on the camera and you can hear even the zoom motor.

I know you can buy the Rode SM3 shock mount, but then the shoe is not available anymore for a camera light.

Does anyone have good experience with the external mic holder and a shotgun mic?

Thanks in advance,

Winfried

I have had the same experience. Which is why I'm in the process of picking up a Rode SM5 - it should fit into the mic holder.

yeah same cam, same mic here and just wrapped a paper towel around the rode to thicken it. no problems with extra sounds being picked up though.

Winfried,

I had the same problem with my external mic picking up zoom motor
noise and being overly sensitive.
I totally solved it by getting one of these, and it left me with a shoe
for my radio mic reciever.
I am not affilliated with this produce or the person who makes it,
but it works.

http://www.thej-rod.com/

David

That J-Rod looks awesome.. Did it fit the mic holder perfectly or did you need to build it up to fit the A1's extra large diameter holder?

You can also go to a hardware store (take the mic with you) and buy a couple of O-rings that fit over the mic tightly.

you will want some kind of shock mount to reduce handling noise. you can get a beyerdynamic shock mount with the j-rod (altho any shoe-based shock mount will fit on the j-rod), and the j-rod does fit perfectly in the xh mic holder.

Thanks for all the answers. I'll do a few more tests with different ways to attach the mic to the clamp. If it doesn't work out, I'll order that Rode SM5. That's probably cheaper than the j-rod + a shoe mount shock adapter.

Some folks find that over tightening the mic holder increases coupling of handling noise to the mic. Keep it lose, so that it just holds the mic from sliding in the mount.

I got this and added it to my shockmount.


http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ed_Camera.html

I was always under the impression that the K-BWS was the better fit for the A1.

Bill

I'm using the Rycote Camera Clamp Adapter and it works great. No camera/handling noise at all. See link below for details.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...tie_Mount.html

Well here's a really simple fix. Yesterday I went to Lowes and bought weather striping for $5. I bought the 1.25 width and it is 7/16 thick. You get 10 foot of it but who cares, it worked! No motor sound and it's shock resistant.

That's exactly what I did as well, but with less success. I found out that indeed you shouldn't tighten it too much, so now at least the zoom motor sounds are gone, but the mic is still quite sensitive to touching the camera.

Winfried...listen to people who have been thru it all. You get what you pay for. DIY is not the answer to your question. Don't come on forums and ask for help if your not sincere about it. Sound is 50% of any film. You must take it seriously like a business. I know your new so please just don't do it again. No harm no foul.

Yes, I already ordered the SM5.

Hope it works out for you.

J-rod works great!
 

Well I took the advise of a couple of people on here and got 2 J-Rods. They work great! Only problem is the hot shoes aren't exactly "tight" and tend to loosen and the mike falls forward. So I had to remove them and use lock tight and now they are fine. Another advantage is with the extra shoe (I purchased the double J-Rod) now you can have a mic, audio, and light all on the camera.

I just used the same mic I had on my Sony PD 150 and it works fine but there is a piece of rubber around the mic right where the mount clamps down on the mic, maybe you could get an old inner tube from a tire or just buy a new one and cut it up and make a ruber boot for your mic to go between the mic and the holder that should work as a good shock mount and stop the sound transportation from the camera to the mic.

Well, the SM5 costs only 39 euro, so didn't take me long to decide. However it's going to take a few weeks before it arrives, so I might try a few of those tricks in the mean time.

Thanks.

I'm using a AT897 and it's not picking up the zoom motor, but most definitely the sound of the tape that is recording. And also handling noises. I guess a shockmount wouldn't solve the microphone picking up the recording noises.

Depends on how the noise is coupled to the mic. If through sound waives in air, the shock mount will not help much, but if mechanically through the body and mount it will help more.

Question for my own information: Is the "tape noise" the sound of the motor (or motors) that run the tape and the recording drum?

I'm pretty sure the noise that was recorded reaches the external mic via the camera body, not via air waves. Otherwise the built-in mic should also record it to some extent (which is not the case) and touching the camera is hardly audible with my own ears.

Yes, that is correct. There is an earlier post in this forum where more owners of the A1 address this issue with the camera. I also own a FX1 and that one is pretty quiet. A German review mentions the recording noise as a negative point for the camera.

I noticed something peculiar. When playing a .M2T file in Windows Media Player 11 there's a high pitched sound. But when the same file is played in Vegas 7.0c there is only normal noise. The high tones are gone.

I have one myself and it really isolates camera vibrations/sounds from the mic. Never had the loose hot shoe problem luckily. It really does come in handy... so it lives on my camera.

Thanks for the kind words about The J-Rod guys ! I am glad it is working so well for you.
I reached out to Steve and I think that is an isolated incident with the loose shoe. I will always offer to fix or replace any problems though !