Got a couple of tips, borrowed from the film industry.
1: Audio recording. On a recent outdoor shoot that I had all of five minutes to prepare for after being asked to record it for webcast, I put a ZOOM H-4 SD card audio recorder on the ground in front of the PA speaker. In post-production (Using Movie Edit Pro 11) I simplysynched the audio track from the camera with the audio from the recorder. The recording was about 15 minutes long and I observed no drift in the synch. The other advantage was that the camera mic picked up a ton of wind noise that was not a problem for the recorder at ground level. I plan to make a zeppelin/fishpole arrangement for the H-4, which also sports a line level monitor output that could be dropped to mic level and fed directly to the camera. While not a shotgun, the X-Y microphones are highly directional.
(2) Audio monitoring: While browsing a local Costco, I stumbled across a “Rear View Video Camera Kit”. The part that caught my eye was that the 3.5″ LCD monitor had an aux A/V input. I simply take the A/V output from the camera, some RCA barrel connectors and a 12V battery pack to power the whole thing and Bingo! I have a video/audio monitor for director/sound use. One thing, since there is no volume control, use headphones that incorporate one. Closed-ear types work best. You can also enable your in-viewfinder audio level monitor, although it appears to be a bit on the slow side. The price of the camera, monitor and cables in a blister pack? $69.95! I’m still figuring out what use I can put the tiny color camera to, it broadcasts wi-fi 2.7 GHz video directly to the little monitor with a range of roughly 30ft.
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