Noise free lapel mic for use with canon 700

[ska invita]

I bought a little lapel mix, 30 quid battery operated with cable, that was suggested does a good job without making white noise - recommended for youtubers in several articles and cheap....turns out it makes quite a lot of noise.

I cant tell if this is partly the fault of the camera or if paying more money for a better microphone will do the trick. Ive set the record levels as best I can in the camera.

I want to record the audio in-camera and my only mic requirements are to record one person speaking, so a lapel mic seems to be the way to go. Doesnt need to be wireless.

Any help/thoughts appreciated!

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

30 quid for a mic is cheap. Very cheap. But you can usually get acceptable results with a bit of work...

Check how you're mounting the mic - does the clip hold it away from clothing or is it rubbing?
Check the cable - give it a gentle wiggle, see if it's loose at either and and causing noise.
How high are you having to set the gain on the camera input? Cheap mics often have fairly low output levels, if you have to crank the gain up to compensate any noise will be be exaggerated.
Does the camera have a high pass filter available on the mic input? Use it if so.

If none of that works... might be time to use a different mic. Depending on how you want the results to look, just using a handheld dynamic mic like an SM58 can get decent results. After that prices start going from merely expensive to how-the-fuck-much territory.



(to give you an idea, the DPA lav mics I tend to use at work are around £450 each, and thats just for the capsule. We run them all on Shure Axient wireless transmitters/recievers that are around £1500/channel )

 

[ska invita]

30 quid for a mic is cheap. Very cheap. But you can usually get acceptable results with a bit of work...

Check how you're mounting the mic - does the clip hold it away from clothing or is it rubbing?
Check the cable - give it a gentle wiggle, see if it's loose at either and and causing noise.
How high are you having to set the gain on the camera input? Cheap mics often have fairly low output levels, if you have to crank the gain up to compensate any noise will be be exaggerated.
Does the camera have a high pass filter available on the mic input? Use it if so.

If none of that works... might be time to use a different mic. Depending on how you want the results to look, just using a handheld dynamic mic like an SM58 can get decent results. After that prices start going from merely expensive to how-the-fuck-much territory.



(to give you an idea, the DPA lav mics I tend to use at work are around £450 each, and thats just for the capsule. We run them all on Shure Axient wireless transmitters/recievers that are around £1500/channel )

Thanks Bees... Yeah not cranking the gain and although there's no hi pass I'm aware off there's the possibility to eq out the noise in post...but I'd rather get it clean straight off.

Yes 30£ seemed too good to be true but there were lots of good reviews (I'll post an example later) so it seemed possible.

This seems to come down to signal strength and my concern is that the internal driver or whatnot within the camera is the problem. Only way to know for sure I guess would be to try a top-notch mic on it.

Definitely want to stick with cabled lapel mic though, as that's perfect for what I'm filming (talking head to camera)

 

[ska invita]

DSLR Video, External Mics, and "The Hiss": Digital Video Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

First thing I’d do is try plugging in a normal handheld dynamic (58 or similar). That will quickly show you where the problem lies.

 

[ska invita]

First thing I’d do is try plugging in a normal handheld dynamic (58 or similar). That will quickly show you where the problem lies.

The camera only has mini jack in, but yeah, I need to find someone with a mic collection and play around

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Checked all the obvious things like if the camera wants mic or line level signal?