mic mount
 

I know I saw it in a past thread, but cant seem to find it using the search function. I need to replace the mic mount on my ex3. at -30, the mount got somewhat brittle and shattered when I tried to remove the shotgun for an interview, so its being held together by some 88. I did find a couple threads on the shoe mount style, but I dont want that one, I want something similar, but a little more beefy (if possible). any help would be appreciated.

Ian

I had a Lightwave minimount and mounted it to the EX1 after removing ths Lightwave's hot shoe arm. Unscrew the two screws that hold the EX1 "shockmount" (yeah, right) and remove that assembly. Then, find two longer screws of the same diameter so screw in the minimount. It is much more sturdy.

Then, you're left with the problem of hitting the thicker cables of the XLRs. I ordered some custom short cables from TrueAudio without the rubber outer casing.

I got the DM Accessories hot shoe mount replacement that fits into the EX1 shock mount holes and puts a hot shoe receptacle in it's place. For me this is a well built, simple and versatile solution.

Then I got a Rycote hot shoe microphone shock mount for my shotgun microphone. This is a versatile mount that also be adapted to a pole, stand or whatever has a 3/8" screw or hot shoe receptacle.

I also got a Rycote Hot shoe extension bar that allows me to mount multiple hot shoe accessories on either the Sony EX built in hot shoe or the DM Accessories one.

For me this was the most versatile solution, and when I don't need a shotgun mic mounted on my camera, I have a very minimalist flat plate that can hold other hot shoe mount accessories such as wireless receivers, lights, whatever. Without anything mounted on it, the EX fits better into cases, without either the stock fragile shock mount or a 3rd party permanently attached shock mount.

Ian,

You can look at EX3 accessories on www.dmaccessories.com - He has a small cold shoe that comes with it's own screws and mounts in the same place. I've just read Keith recommended it too.

I chose the K-tek cold shoe shockmount (the short one) to mount there and it works great for my setup. Hope this helps.

If you want something beefy, you might look into the Sony CAC-12 originally designed for use on a Betacam. It will mount to the EX with a little modification (mainly drilling some small holes in the base of the CAC-12 to accommodate the nipples on the EX where the old mic holder used to be. Or, you could file those nipples down to get a flush fit.) I have mounted my old CAC from my Beta on the EX, and am quite happy with it. It's solid, (more solid than the part of the EX it's mounted to) very adjustable, and adds quite a bit of extra height which is a bonus if you're using a long mic like a 416 or ME66 with a softie on it. You won't have the softie showing up in the top of your frame. All you need is some longer screws with small washers. I think the thread on the EX is 12mm, but don't hold me to that, I used some I already had on hand-
Here is a link: Sony | CAC-12 Camera Microphone Holder | CAC12 | B&H Photo Video

thats the one I was looking for, thanks!
the cold shoe mount one looks cool, but seems like the mic could pop off whenever it wanted, probably isnt true though huh?

I've found the Rycote cold shoe shock mount to be pretty stable, you have to screw it down firmly against the shoe mount to hold it down tightly though it's not perfect and the tilting mechanism could have been implemented better, it tilts down a bit when you tighten it, so you have to account for the and have it a bit higher than you want before you tighten it down. I've taken it through the forest, hitting branches, etc, holds up well. So far I like it and have more options there than before. Also the Rycote sits pretty high so you can put a long mic and a softie on it, which I also do.

Hi, Ian-
If you do go with the CAC-12, you'll have to make the decision whether you want to drill two small holes in the bottom of it, or file down those little nipples on the EX where the mount is. You'll see what I mean when you look at it. I drilled the holes in my CAC-12, and it worked just fine. I believe the mount screws are 2.5mm but you'll need to confirm, and get some longer ones than came off your camera. You'll also need two very small washers, because the heads of the 2.5mm screws are going to be so small that they'll push right through the holes on the CAC-12 which is designed to use a much larger screw.

I don't tighten the swivel part of the mount too much.... keep it just barely tight enough to keep the mic pointing the right direction, then if you happen to accidentally smack your shotgun into something, the holder will just swivel out of the way rather than distribute the force down the mount and into the EX. I wasn't kidding about the CAC-12 being more solid than where you mount it to the EX. It's all-metal construction and I think if you were to tighten the swivel lever really tight and then you smacked the shotgun into something, you would do some damage to the EX itself at the mount point.... the CAC-12 is that solid.

As I mentioned, I really like the extra height the mount provides, too. It not only gets the softie out of the field of view (even with a .6 wide angle adapter) it's that much further away from your hands operating the camera which can transmit some unwanted audio.
Let me know if you have any questions on mounting, I can send you some photos.... but it's really straightforward. The hard part was digging up the screws....

The CAC-12 isn't a shockmount, though. Don't you pick up additional noise that way?

i have never used a shockmount, they seem a little cumbersome when it comes to quickly taking the mic off for an interview. I was just looking for a better replacement to the old mic mount. I do like the idea of getting the mic a little further out of view, on my wide shots I can see the fuzzy, even if it is out of safe title, it still bothers me.

I have never picked up any additional sound from using this mount.... and have used it for years on a Betacam before this. It holds the mic quite snugly, and there is no movement which can translate to unwanted audio. Of course, when audio is more critical than just nat sound, I either have a lav on a subject, or an audio tech using a boom. The nice thing about this mount is I often use a butt-plug transmitter (which the mount can handle with the extra weight) for my Lectro receiver I always have mounted on the camera, and I can just pop the shotgun off and either drop it where I need better audio, or hand it off to a producer or even hold it myself while shooting one-man-band for better audio. This has been my system for well over a decade and has always served me well.

Agreed, I use a CAC-12 too. No noticeable handling noise, I actually replaced a shock mount with this and I prefer it. All thanks to this forum, its a great place!

Dan

I knocked the mic on the car door and the mic mount snapped off. It’s held on with tape now until I find a cheap solution. I cant believe how fragile this is and how flimsy it is screwed down, they really forgot about the design on this when putting the EX1 together.

Will let you know my solution when I find one.

yeah, i was aware of that option, but as I stated above, I was looking for something a little more beefy.