External Mic for Panasonic HDC-SDT750 Camcorder

[glenpinn]

Hi there, hope this is the right section to post this in, if not, can someone move it to the correct section please.

now, recently bought my new Panasonic HDC-SDT750 Camcorder which records audio in Dolby Digital 5.1ch with the top mounted onboard Mic, but to be honest, its pretty ordinary at best, sounds very tinny and anything i say that has the letter S in it really sounds bad.

the cam has a shoe bracket on the right side for an external mic and has a 2ch jack to plug it into as the cam only supports 2ch audio via external mic.

can someone recommend me a decent quality Mic please.

http://www.camcorderinfo.com/content/Panasonic-HDC-SDT750-Camcorder-Review.htm
http://www.panasonic.com.au/Products+Archive/Camcorders/3MOS+Full+High+Definition+Camc...DT750/Overview

cheers.

[aedipuss]

rode mics work well. the shotgun videomic(mono) or the stereo videomic pro. looks like you have to use whatever the included accessory shoe adapter is to attach one. looks kind of flimsy?

[glenpinn]

rode mics work well. the shotgun videomic(mono) or the stereo videomic pro. looks like you have to use whatever the included accessory shoe adapter is to attach one. looks kind of flimsy?

hi, thx for the reply, as yet i have not bought a shoe adaptor for a mic, because panasonic do not list a Mic shoe bracket or adaptor as an accessory in their website, so i dont know if i need to buy a specific type of mic that has the mounting bracket for this cam, or if i have to buy a universal mounting bracket that fits all mics, and fits the shoe on this cam.

it is a wonderful cam, by far the best consumer HD cam i have used, but panasonic just fail in some things by putting the onboard mic on top of the cam just back from the lens ring rather than on the front, and this mic location is exactly where most cams actually have the shoe bracket for a mic or video light.

the shoe bracket for the mic on this cam is on the right side near the front (in front of the side hand strap)



this is the silly video light bracket panasonic devised and it screws into the tripod mount under the camera, meaning that you cant use a video light while the cam is tripod mounted, and they cost around $150 to buy just the bracket ???

[Video Head]

I second Rode. Great microphones.

You could use the $150 that they want for that bracket towards a small rig with shoulder mount and pistol grip (gunner) or base plate and rods. With those you can attach mics, lights, matte box, follow focus or any other accessories you need and the whole thing will still attach to your tripod.

[aedipuss]

that's strange the description i read said it came with a shoe adapter.

[glenpinn]

that's strange the description i read said it came with a shoe adapter.

yeah, thanks for that reminder, here i was getting all carried away and the shoe adaptor was still in the retail box under some plastic bags and bubblewrap

lucky i never throw boxes away.

the problem here is i just dont know what Mic to get, there are so many, but consider in mind that the camcorder records in dolby digital 5.1ch that sounds pretty horrible, and when i encode my m2ts files to MP4 i currently use AAC stereo @ 48000Hz @ 256br, and the audio will revert to stereo using an external mic anyway.

cheers

[glenpinn]

i was told to get a "directional" mic for best results, or doesnt it really matter.

im fine with the Rode one, but apparently it has a 3.5mm audio jack on the cable, and im trying to work out if the jack port on my cam is 3.5mm, pretty sure it is, looks bigger than a 2.5mm port.

also, i found this microphone on the panasonic aust website for $240
http://www.panasonic.com.au/Products/Camcorders/Accessories/Other+accessories/VW-VMS2E/Overview


ok i copies this info from a members post in my HD Cam review thread.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...icrophone.html
This Sima mic is very cheap, its performance/quality is very likely to be also very cheap, probably only good for a very casual user who wants to pay the bare minimum.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...Recording.html
This Audio-Technica should be superior in almost every aspect to the Sima, probably not a bad choice for amateur/home use.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...CM_Stereo.html
This is a more compact unit and perhaps better suited for a small camcorder.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...icrophone.html
This Azden mic uses a AAA size battery (while the Audio-Technica PRO 24 uses a watch or button cell battery with a probably shorter working time)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...a_Mounted.html
This is a very good mic (highly recomended around here), better specs and of course a higher price. Also, it´s a true shotgun (super-directional or super-cardioid) mic while the others in this list are just cardioid (uni-directional)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...act_Video.html
Another super-cardioid from one of the best profesional micorphone companies. You can´t go wrong with either the Rode or the Sennheiser but price could be a consideration.
Good luck