Zoom Mics

[Mose]

Does anyone know if there is a "zoom mic" available for the Sharp VL-Z8 camcorder.

Do zoom mics make much of a difference? Current sound I am getting in stereo is ok, but I use the camcorder mainly for car meetings and motor racing, and I want to be able to get a much better sound if I can.

Any advice much appreciated

[Plasma]

Certainly do make a difference. I used one for the first time 18 months ago. It was at a gathering where someones ashes were being interred under a Sweet Chestnut sapling.
A guy was shovelling in gravel for drainage. When I played it back the footage taken at about 5 metres sound from the shovel was deafening. (Seinhessier) Poor guy they were burying was deaf as a post!!

[Plasma]

Certainly do make a difference. I used one for the first time 18 months ago. It was at a gathering where someones ashes were being interred under a Sweet Chestnut sapling.
A guy was shovelling in gravel for drainage. When I played it back the footage taken at about 5 metres sound from the shovel was deafening. (Seinhessier) Poor guy they were burying was deaf as a post!!

[Roy Mallard]

when you say a zoom mic do you mean a mic with a more directional pic up or a mic whose pic up changes as you zoom?

[Mose]

Roy thats a good question. I know my camcorder has a shoe on it to add another mic, and I assumed this would be a zoom mic. I thought by adding a zoom mic, then the sound field would become more "spacious" instead of "immediate".

I was at Goodwood last Saturday and was on the start line recording the F1 cars as they give it some serious welly at took off. When I played it back, the osund was there, but it had no balls at all. Guy I was stood next to said I should get a zoom mic!

[Plasma]

Directional. I cannot afford to pay for a mic that costs as much as my
camcorders. If when HD format really gets going and we can have access to
editing suites that can handle it. DVD discs with the capacity to store it,and TVs that can show it. I may be tempted to buy an HD cam and compliment it with a mic with a changeable distance pick up. (I had better start saving I think!) I now use a radio mike setup for weddings/christenings etc.

MOSE
I made a big mistake at an airshow by having my Seinhessier on top of my camcorder. While it picked up the terrific effects the mic was seen as black ball on my wide angle shots when editing. I had to use the pan feature on all those shots. Took hours to render. Since then I have always attached
the camcorder and mic seperately to an L bracket. This works a treat and
gives greater stability when following the action.

[Kevo]

You won't get much better than the Sennheiser MKE300D .

For around £180, worth every penny.

I used to one when I did weddings 10 years ago, never let me down.

Make sure you get the 'D' (digital) version as opposed to the older 'S' version.

[MarkE19]

Roy may well disagree with you here Kevo due to the additional cost of the MKE300D compared to the standard MKE300

Mark.

[Kevo]

TBH, I used to use the standard one on an old analogue camcorder.
I'm only going off recommendations from other articles/people.

[MarkE19]

Agree, I've never used one on my own camcorder but have on other cams and don't know for sure if it was the 'D' or not.
Roy has said that the difference is a load of ££££'s and all you get extra is a bit of tin foil to insulate the cable. Not sure how true this is, or weather there is more to the 'D' model than that. But some users on here have reported problems with the standard model and have replaced it with the MKE300D and the noise has disappeared, so maybe it is worth the extra money on a DV cam.

Mark.

[Kevo]

I used to pick up a fair bit of '50hz mains hum' when it (Standard mke300) was mounted on my camcorder when plugged into the mains. If the 'D' version gets rid of this and then it's worth paying the extra.

[Roy Mallard]

the mke300 is a good mic, the D is a better mic, but it's not £50's worth more, it's a simple faraday shield (an extra layer of insulation teminated at one end of the cable).

try the 300 first, jessops do a 30day return, if you get problems then return and upgrade to the d version.

[Mose]

I appreciate all the info. I popped into Jessops over th weekend and after trying to explain to 3 different ppl what it was I wanted, and neither or the three ppl any the wiser. I called it a day.

Then popped into an independant camera shop and they have pretty much given the same advice as you guys have here.

Thanx again peeps

[Kevo]

I was using the MKE300 some 13 years ago now, I'm surprised that there is still nothing to match it in the same price range.