fz2000 - external mic - only one channel?

[Ian Chapman]

When I add a Rode shotgun mic to my FZ2000, it shows as stereo (left and right channels flicker.

However, when I add Sennheiser ew 100 G2 radio mic, it only shows as mono (one channel)

I have tried both cables in each and same happens as above.

Bit confused, can any shed any light on this?

ian

[Chris Harding]

All receivers output a mono signal on all wireless mics ..the lav is a mono mic so only a mono signal goes to the receiver and that outputs to just one channel .. I have a Saramonic 2 channel XLR adapter and each receiver feeds a channel and the mixed output goes to left and right on the camera ... The Rode's use a 3 conductor cable (well on my Videomics anyway) so the mono signal from the condenser mic feeds a stereo plug and both left and right BUT the signal is identical on both. You can also just record to one channel and duplicate the channel in your NLE or rewire your flyleads from the G2 so both left and right are feed. Mine are XLR plugs and always mono so I can feed one set into left and one into right

[Ian Chapman]

Thanks for the info' Chris. I just thought it was odd that the Shotgun mic (with same cables) created stereo inputs. I wasn't aware the radio mics were mono!

[Chris Harding]

Actually all Rode do is on the circuit board they just jumper the left and right live wires so the signal from the mono mic insert goes to both ...if you put a multimeter across the stereo plug you will find the the tip and middle ring are shorted out ...if you need to modify the G2 just replace the mono jack plug with a stereo plug and bridge the tip and middle ring and you will have a feed to both channels.

[Pete Cofrancesco]

It's a common misconception. Very few mics are stereo but that doesn't make them bad. You can use a digital recorder mixed in post to create a fuller more natural sound without having to attach any equipment to your camera. There are other tricks in post that you can do to make a mono sound like stereo.

[Ian Chapman]

What puzzles me is that the little Rode shotgun registers as two channels, but the radio mic (with a stereo plug) only shows as left side? So is it the case as the earlier reply said, that the radio mic is mono? just seems odd!

[Pete Cofrancesco]

I was educated in another thread that wireless mics transmitter/receiver can use one of the rings in the TRS plug for power instead of an audio channel. Where as a shotgun mic either using a mono plug or the right and left rings are wired together