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Cheaper option to Rode VideoMic Pro + Zoom H1?


Inazuma
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I know this is pretty ludicrous really but my friend is on a budget and although the two aforementioned items are pretty budget, they're still not cheap enough. Can anyone recommend an even cheaper but still OK setup? Will be used in run and gun situations, such as interviews in the changing room during a fight warmup with the crowd outside howling. 

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In terms of the mic: The TAKSTAR SGC-598 I bought seems pretty decent to me, don't know if/by what name it goes in your region, but here's a link to German Amazon: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00E1CTFZY Just get a cheap boomstick/handle with it.

I couldn't bear to pay that much money for (imho) mediocre mics as the Rode Rycote Videomic/Videomic Pro, I returned them both because I couldn't find the value I had paid for in them. And the retarded 9V blocks...The TAKSTAR sensibly takes AA batteries.

And recorder-wise possibly try a decent Android/iPhone app? Dunno if this would do the trick. The Rode Smartlav/Android combo works nicely for me.

At least for iPhone it seems you need an adapter, though. Dunno about Android, I believe they don't have the complicated setup. If you want me to test this on Android with the Takstar, just give me shout. Here's an article about the adapter you need for iPhone: http://www.danmccomb.com/news/iphone-4-as-audio-recorder-with-external-mic-a-comparison/

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Guest Ebrahim Saadawi

The Zoom H1 on its own is the best cheapest solution to record high quality audio, really really good microphone and preamps in there. Tell him to find a used one if budget can't stretch to 99$, or borrow the rest or something. 

If not possible at all, just get a 3.5mm regular cheap Walmart/radioshack microphone and directly connect to camera's input, will still get a much better, closer sound to the speakers. 

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Thanks for the suggestion Agolex. 

Ebrahim, I have the h1 and although it does record excellent sound quality, it's omnidirectional so unsuitable for what he needs. Basically it'll be put on top of the camera and pointed at the interviewee. I have tried this with the H1 before and it just picked up too much ambient sound

 

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Thanks for the suggestion Agolex. 

Ebrahim, I have the h1 and although it does record excellent sound quality, it's omnidirectional so unsuitable for what he needs. Basically it'll be put on top of the camera and pointed at the interviewee. I have tried this with the H1 before and it just picked up too much ambient sound

 

This isn't a very good idea if you want good audio for interviews.  You need to get that mic in close even if it's a directional mic.

Griffin on Indy Mogul had a smart solution with an arm coming of his shoulder rig with a shotgun. 

Best way is to tripod the camera and have the zoom in your hand, text book reporter setup.

Sugest watching this,

 

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The Zoom H1 on its own is the best cheapest solution to record high quality audio, really really good microphone and preamps in there. Tell him to find a used one if budget can't stretch to 99$, or borrow the rest or something. 

If not possible at all, just get a 3.5mm regular cheap Walmart/radioshack microphone and directly connect to camera's input, will still get a much better, closer sound to the speakers. 

I agree with Ebrahim Saadawi. The H1 is quite flimsy, but it's sound quality is pretty good. 

Thanks for the suggestion Agolex. 

Ebrahim, I have the h1 and although it does record excellent sound quality, it's omnidirectional so unsuitable for what he needs. Basically it'll be put on top of the camera and pointed at the interviewee. I have tried this with the H1 before and it just picked up too much ambient sound

 

Actually placing more than a few feet would cause lots of background sound pickup.

The Indie Mogul sound solution is good. You could, alternatively also place it on a stand, between you and the interviewee, so that you both could easily be heard. 

The H1 does record dual sound, and you could feed one line into the DSLR. Though I don't think that sound quality would be stellar. It's only for reference and as a possible backup. 

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You can plug a cheap Lav into the H1. But if the budget is that tight, I'd just move the H1 closer to the subject with a boom just out of frame and maybe put a piece of foam around the outer edge that's open in the middle to reduce ambient sound.

Or maybe a cheap lav straight into the camera?

Pretty tough to get anything decent for less.

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Thanks for the advise everyone.

Lavs and tripod setups are a no go really because the fighters will be topless and things will be happening too quick to set up tripods. 

I have ended up making an arrangement with a sound guy that I work with to borrow his equipment. 
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Does anyone have any tips on reducing the handling noise on the Zoom H1?  I find gripping it really tight works OK but that plastic body seems to pass through any slight movement.

The Zoom Recorders do have quite a bit of handling noise. I guess so do Tascam and other plastic bodies. 

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