Freesound Forums

Hello everybody

I am new here, so a brief introduction is in order. My experience with sound is quite limited, worked for a year doing on stage sound for theatre and rock band small concerts. Besides that, did some studio recordings, but all very very basic and it was many many years ago.

My real profession is photography (nature) and now i am doing my incursion in video, also related to nature. Thing is i need to be able to record the sounds of nature, specially bird sounds, with a certain degree of accuracy. Purchasing basic video gear has left me on a tight budget, and living in Argentina it means that most of the decent gear is out of reach.

My idea, until i can purchase an external sound recorder, is to plug a microphone into my camera. For the kind of job i need the mic to do i know i need a shotgun microphone. So far i've seen a few used ones, a quite seasoned [b]AKG 900[/b] (with no few dents) a [b]Takstar Sgc 568[/b] (which looks like being in good conditions, including the alumnium carry case) or an [b]Audio Technica Atr6550[/b] (new). So i am looking for some advice about them.

At the moment i have very little sound recording equipment, just a very very old condenser mini-boom (canibalized from an old Chinnon videocamera, it has an extending rod) and a Philips lavalier mic (surprisingly good for ambience recording). As per editing software, i will use Adobe Audition CC (which is included in my Adobe CC package).

Thanks in advance for your input

RV

What kind of camera do you have? Does it have xlr inputs? If not, the preamps on dslr cameras are pretty bad for any kind of "nature sounds" recording.

You have to have quiet preamps and/or mics with very low self noise, like rode nt1-a (best bang for your buck)

If you can't have noise, if I were you, I'd hire someone with the needed equipment and expertise.

If you plan on doing it a lot, maybe you should invest in some good audio equipment that will serve you for a long time. And when you're not using it, you can rent it out and make it pay for itself (slowly)

Thanks for your reply, Vlat

My camera is a Nikon D750.

Sadly this project has only my hardwork, not a chance to hire anyone. The budget matter is because I need to get quite a few things to get started, got the camera and a set of lenses, but still need to improve stabilization equipment, computer, accessories for shooting video, etc. Besides I always liked to work with sound, maybe this is a chance to get back to it after so many years

My plan is to use the camera stereo mic (with deadcats on them) to have a basic ambience recording, mostly for synch and reference; the shotgun mic will be used on a portable recorder.

Got some data on the previously mentioned microphones, the AKG is only worth for a museum, the audiotechnica seems to be a bit weak in construction, and the cable is build into the microphone body, so if it hase any problems can't just replace the cable... Good news is i've found a good deal on a new Takstar SGC-568.

As for the recorder, since budget is an issue, i am thinking about the Teac Tascam VR-10. The other available option for the same price range (100 USD down here) is a Sony Icd Px333; I was aiming towards a Zoom H1, but the price tag for them here is twice that of the Tascam VR10.

If you would like to see what am I doing, video wise, here is my latest video, with some sounds from this site

(I recommend watching it in HD and with headphones)
In Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/124588667
In Youtube: http://youtu.be/pwwpNTBkki4

If you plan to do this often, I'd recommend getting something with xlr inputs/outputs. I've bought a few of the cheap shotguns from ebay, but I was always dissapointed. Now I'm using rode ntg2, but I'm not quite happy with it either - for quieter sources, it's still a little noisy.

I watched your video, it would certainly benefit having a good ambiance track.

You can make do with stereo camera audio if there's also a music track that wil cover the camera preamp/mic noise.

Thank you Vlatko

Indeed, i don't want anything to do with mics without XLR connectors! Plus, in the future, i can upgrade to a better recorder with phantom power, so XLR and phantom compatible are two of my items in the "must have" list.

If things develops well, and someday i start making money off my videos, my plan is to get much better equipement, i always used Shure and Senheiser when i had my studio years ago, but both are way too expensive right now.

The rode is a very good mic, indeed, but while the takstar does for 100 USD down here, the cheapest Rode shotgun is about 400 USD (a sennheiser starts from 600 USD)

My "wet dream" would be a Sennheiser Mkh70-p48 but they are above 4k USD... probably next year once I move to north america, but not while i'm stuck in Argentina.

My team and I record audio and video for live band shows and video for studio sessions. If you have good lighting and a quiet environment (and acoustically treated), you're going to have great results.

If the camera doesn't have good low capabilitues and the lighting is not good, you have to bump up the gain, and it's going to introduce noise. Same with audio... If the source is quiet, you bump the gain and get noise.

You can get much better result with a faster lens (and low self noise mic). So it's kind of important to be able to change the mic or lens.

The audio is as-important as the video, so I would try to get the best equipment I can get my hands on.

Rent, borrow, steal Just kidding. But ask around, maybe someone in your area with audio equipment is looking to have fun on some projects, you never know.