Wireless Mic for Video Camera

[Ric]

I'm looking for a wireless mic for my Canon Elura 100. I had seen I thing from Chuck that he had a Memorex MKA382 from Target. Would that work as I want to put a mic on a person and me and the video camera be around 60 feet away with no wires connected. I seen one from Sony that has 2 little packs one for each person. But I can't tell if the Target model does that from the picture. Anyone have any ideas on a brand that has worked for them?

[Chuck Engels]

Hi Ric,
I haven't been able to find anywhere that says your camcorder had an external mic jack, do you know if it has one? Otherwise syncing up the audio and video might be a real challenge. You would have to record the audio to your computer separate from recording the video to tape.

It might be possible to record live direct to the computer but you would still have a separate audio feed, not sure if it would work without the proper equipment.

The wireless mics have 2 pieces and the microphone, 1 transmitter pack attached to the microphone that you clip to a belt or something, and a receiver that sits connected to the recorder or amplifier. To do what you want to do you will need 2 transmitter and microphone units and may get away with a single receiver. The Memorex at Target would probably work fine if they can both use the same receiver (I am not sure if they can) and you could connect the receiver to the camcorder.

[Steve Grisetti]

Assuming you can connect to an external microphone -- how much do you want to spend?

Very good wireless mikes can be had for around $200. I found a set on the internet for $30 that needed an adaptor but worked surprisingly well. It's probably not something I'd use in a career-risking situation though.

[Ric]

Chuck,

The camcorder does have a mic jack its on the top of the camcorder next to the the audio jack I think. Anyway there are 2 jacks there and one is the mic jack. I have seen a Sony brand for $140.00 and then one on EBay for around $89.00 I'm just not sure how much I will use it for that kind of money. The Target pricing looked alot better to me.

[rustysterling]

Chuck, I can tell you for sure that the Elura 100 has an external mic jack. It, of course, is 1/8" input.

And like you said synching sound is a pain. I recently did a two camera shoot of a concert. I used the track from one camera as the primary audio and had to synch up the clips from the other camera to drop-in. I have been very successful but it isn't easy.

I do love my Canon Elura 100 and one of the reasons I bought it was because of the external mic jack. I plan on using wireless mics with it in the future -- either multiple mics fed from a mixing board or a single to a single receiver connected to the camcorder.

As far as the original question, I'm such an audio gear freak that I wouldn't even look a second time at a wireless rig from Target. There's good prosumer stuff out that from Shure, Sennheiser, AKG and many other good audio manufacturers. And none of them sell through Target.

Sorry if I sound like a snob. I have a band and we use 4 wireless mics for vocals whenever we perform and I've never bought any of it from Target (sorry Chuck). I get shivers just contemplating the idea.

BTW, if you are going to use two mics you'll want to run the receivers through a mixing board since the Elura 100 only has one input.

[Chuck Engels]

Hi Rusty,
No offense taken, I am very involved in audio recording and use some very high end equipment at church. We are in the process of putting in all new digital stuff 1/2 a million dollars worth of audio and video equipment. What we have now is analog but it isn't anything to sneeze at either. We use $5000 Neumann wireless mics for vocals.

I played in a few bands myself, shure equipment mostly becuase it is always reliable and very reasonably priced for the quality. Marshall or Crate stacks and amps, sometimes Fender with a Mackie or Alesis sound boards and effects. Nothing great but nothing too cheap either.

When I saw the Memorex wireless hand held and headset mics at Target for $20 I was curious, my wife and kids got them for me as a birthday gift and I was thrilled. After playing around with these mics I would not be afraid to use one for a home video, especially for talking. I would not use one for a vocal on a demo music video, that would be awfull. But for $20 you would be amazed at how good they really do sound. I would recommend them for anyone doing home movie interviews and simple acting, even a karaoke piece might be ok.

You could probably get away with a Y adapter rather than a mixer but I don't know that for a fact. I am thinking the mic jack on the camcorder will take a line level signal just fine.

For $20 it is worth getting one to test with, if it doesn't do as good of a job as you need return it

[Ric]

Thanks for the information guys. I will have to sit down and think about how much I will be willing to spend on the mic.

[Chuck Engels]

Ric, like I said, get one of the mics at Target and give it a test drive
You might need a 1/8" adapter but I am pretty sure mine came with one. If it doesn't work just return it, you have 30 days to try it out.

[Ric]

Good idea Chuck, I will see if my local Target has one in stock.

[Don Whitten]

Depends on how much you would like to spend. I purchased a Azden dual wireless mic set up from B & H photo but it cost over 600.00. But I am pleased with the quality and having two wireless mics being fed in helps alot.

[rustysterling]

Chuck: No offense taken. I guess I just am too much of an audiophile to try the Memorex. But that's me. What I might not like others will likely rave about. Personally, I'm moving more into the area of music videos and want top notch stuff.

I agree that Shure's are a workhorse and I certainly have plenty of Shure mics. But I love the Sennheiser E series mics a whole lot more. I also use a couple of AKG wireless with D880 capsules which sound as good as a Shure SM58 anyday.

I could talk about this stuff all day long.

Cheers,

Rusty

[Chuck Engels]

Rusty, Have you ever gotten down to the Monterey Jazz Festival?

[Ric]

Chuck what do you think about this unit I saw on EBay?

Item URL: http://cm.ebay.com/cm/ck/1065-29393-235 ... 0094329144

Headset & Lapel Wireless Microphone System
DELUXE Receiver / DELUXE Transmitter
BRAND NEW in the carrying case
Great Camcorder Wireless Microphone
Camcorder Dual Track Cable and Adapter Included

This excellent headset / lapel wireless microphone system comes with a Headset boom Microphone with an ear cushion, a clip on Lapel / Lavaliere Microphone and a belt clip Transmitter that can transmit up to 150+ feet to the included deluxe mini FM receiver (that plugs into a camcorder MICROPHONE jack with the included special cable) in the frequency range of around 114 MHz. The receiver has an on / off switch, power LED, signal LED and a fine tuning frequency control. The transmitter has an on / off switch, power LED and a volume control for microphone sensitivity. The frequency response is 100 to 15,000 Hz and the impedance is 2K ohms. The microphones are very sensitive and the belt clip / body pack transmitter which has a microphone volume control has incredible transmission range to the mini FM receiver that has telescopic antenna.
The ideal use for this system with a camcorder typically would be with recording a speaker who is too distant for the camcorder's own internal microphone to pick up clearly enough. In this case the speaker would use the small clip on lapel microphone and the belt pack transmitter to transmit his voice to the mini receiver which would be plugged into the camcorder's 1/8" MIC jack. With the included special mono cable the voice would come across into the camcorder on one of the two stereo channels. With the included mono to stereo adapter the received sound possibly might be able to be spread across to both channels.

With the included STEREO cable and STEREO adapter for CAMCORDER use the sound from the wireless microphone will be recorded on BOTH left and right channels of the soundtrack on the video recording. OTHER similar systems sold on eBay only include a large long MONO adapter and the sound would only appear on one of the left or right sound channels.



The complete wireless microphone package includes the following:

A Headset Boom Microphone with an ear cushion
A Clip On Lapel / Lavalier Microphone
A Belt Clip ( Body Pack ) Transmitter
Deluxe Wireless FM Receiver with Telescopic Antenna
Padded Carrying Case
Cable for PA/MIXER Use
Stereo Cable for CAMCORDER Use (other eBay sellers do NOT include this)
Stereo Adapter for CAMCORDER Use (other eBay sellers do NOT include this)
Instructions
My SONY Camcorder in the photograph is NOT included in this auction but is shown as representation of how the system would look in actual use.





The wireless receiver is powered by 2 Alkaline AA Batteries (NOT Included)
The wireless transmitter is powered by 1 Alkaline 9 Volt Battery (NOT Included)

[Chuck Engels]

It looks fine, the specs are not great but a microphone for that price isn't going to be, neither will the Memorex from Target. The eBay price is almost $40 now, I found a dual mic setup, same brand name, on sale for $70
http://www.myvirtualzone.com/SearchResu ... goryID=124

And here is the same dual setup for $99 but the single in the eBay auction for $30
http://www.akida.net/.sc/ms/cat/Electronics--Microphone

The brand is Hisonic, check out the links there are other great deals there as well. I don't know the web sites, they just came up in a Google search, but it shows you what's out there.

Check places like Musician's Friend http://www.musiciansfriend.com/home/nav ... &src=00630

Here is a good place with a wide range of equipment and prices
http://www.samedaymusic.com/browse--Lav ... tems--2773

This is a FABULOUS DEAL http://www.guitarcenter.com/shop/produc ... =103384962

Plenty of deals around, take your pick, no need to buy used on eBay

[Ric]

Thanks Chuck the the web links I will take a look at them.