Q. I want something used at a reasonable price that can actually tolerate some motion and has sufficient audio quality to record live music. What's the best used video camera? Is digital really better than tape, given what I'm looking for?
A. get the SVP t-100 or the t-500 , or any of the t series for that matter, they are a lot better quality than the analog , or dv technology , dvd was the next one , which still had the transfer and edit problems , and now we have hdd and SD and sdhc technology allowing us to record massive amounts of information with out loss in transfer to hard drive and transfers to computers , ease with editing , and quick and easy burning. what sort of video should you buy , this is a personal choice , if you had a SONY and you loved it get another one , or JVC have a look at the svp one , it is cheap and does all you need and have described.and is around $100US or $150AU
How do I find a video camera that can record live music?
Q. Most video cameras - the sound will be horrible, because the mic is peaking out. Control for microphone sensitivity is not available, so the sound overdrives the audio. It will sound distorted. So - what can I look for in a digital video camera that I can control the sensitivity, by viewing a monitor level indicator, OR it has a automatic adjuster for loud sound ?
A. "Audio control"... or specifically, Manual audio control.
There are four ways.
1) Some (not all) low-end Sony camcorders have a "MicRefLevel" control. This is an option selected in the menu. "Normal" or "Low" for low mic gain for loud audio environments. Not very granular, does not work very well, but does provide some protection form audio clipping and the muddy audio caused by way-loud sound.
2) Some low-end Canon camcorders (ZR900, ZR930, FS10, FS11, FS100, HF10, HF11, HF100) have a mic jack - but no built-in manual audio control. There are external XLR adapters from BeachTek and juicedLink that have audio gain knobs. Plug the XLR mic into the XLR adapter; plug the XLR adapter into the 1/8" (3.5mm) mic jack on the camcorder. In the camcorder menu, you can select a "mic level" that will show the audio going into the camera - When you plugged the XLR adapter into the camcorder's mic jack, you are bypassing the auto mic gain. Use the knobs on the XLR adapter to control the audio levels going in.
3) Use a camcorder with manual audio control. The least expensive camcorder - of which I am aware - with manual audio control are the Canon HV20/HV30/HV30 and the Sony HDR-HC9. They also have a 1/8" mic jack if you want to use an external mic. When you drop into manual audio, a couple of meters pop on the screen. The audio level is not convenient to adjust.
4) Use an audio Field Recorder like those from Zoom, Edirol, Tascam, M-Audio, Sony, Marantz, Fostex... among others... When you edit the video just mute the audio captured with the video and add the audio captured by the Field Recorder.
Prosumer or pro camcorders like the Canon GL2, XL, XH, XLH series, Sony DCR-VX2100, HDR-FX1000, HVR- Z1, Z5, Z7, Panasonic DVX100, HVX200, etc, all have manual audio controls on the OUTSIDE of the camcorder.
In the cases of 2, 3 and 4, the meters should be around 3/4. Adjust the audio gain if it is higher or lower than this.
Please not that I listed ONLY miniDV tape and flash memory consumer camcorders. This is because consumer hard drive based camcorders have KNOWN issues with vibration. Loud audio environments as you have specified can cause enough vibration to have the camcorder sensors park the hard drive heads and not record video. This is to prevent the hard drive heads from scruffing the hard drive and crashing the camera. HDD camcorders are NOT recommended for high vibration environments - says so in their manuals. (They will also park their heads in low air pressure environments - so high altitude, anything over about 9,800 feet - will also cause the heads to park and no video will be recorded. MiniDV tape and flash memory do not have this problem, either.)
There are four ways.
1) Some (not all) low-end Sony camcorders have a "MicRefLevel" control. This is an option selected in the menu. "Normal" or "Low" for low mic gain for loud audio environments. Not very granular, does not work very well, but does provide some protection form audio clipping and the muddy audio caused by way-loud sound.
2) Some low-end Canon camcorders (ZR900, ZR930, FS10, FS11, FS100, HF10, HF11, HF100) have a mic jack - but no built-in manual audio control. There are external XLR adapters from BeachTek and juicedLink that have audio gain knobs. Plug the XLR mic into the XLR adapter; plug the XLR adapter into the 1/8" (3.5mm) mic jack on the camcorder. In the camcorder menu, you can select a "mic level" that will show the audio going into the camera - When you plugged the XLR adapter into the camcorder's mic jack, you are bypassing the auto mic gain. Use the knobs on the XLR adapter to control the audio levels going in.
3) Use a camcorder with manual audio control. The least expensive camcorder - of which I am aware - with manual audio control are the Canon HV20/HV30/HV30 and the Sony HDR-HC9. They also have a 1/8" mic jack if you want to use an external mic. When you drop into manual audio, a couple of meters pop on the screen. The audio level is not convenient to adjust.
4) Use an audio Field Recorder like those from Zoom, Edirol, Tascam, M-Audio, Sony, Marantz, Fostex... among others... When you edit the video just mute the audio captured with the video and add the audio captured by the Field Recorder.
Prosumer or pro camcorders like the Canon GL2, XL, XH, XLH series, Sony DCR-VX2100, HDR-FX1000, HVR- Z1, Z5, Z7, Panasonic DVX100, HVX200, etc, all have manual audio controls on the OUTSIDE of the camcorder.
In the cases of 2, 3 and 4, the meters should be around 3/4. Adjust the audio gain if it is higher or lower than this.
Please not that I listed ONLY miniDV tape and flash memory consumer camcorders. This is because consumer hard drive based camcorders have KNOWN issues with vibration. Loud audio environments as you have specified can cause enough vibration to have the camcorder sensors park the hard drive heads and not record video. This is to prevent the hard drive heads from scruffing the hard drive and crashing the camera. HDD camcorders are NOT recommended for high vibration environments - says so in their manuals. (They will also park their heads in low air pressure environments - so high altitude, anything over about 9,800 feet - will also cause the heads to park and no video will be recorded. MiniDV tape and flash memory do not have this problem, either.)
What is the difference in audio recording quality between tape and hard drive video cameras?
Q. I am searching for a new video camera so I can record live concerts for my band. Audio set up will be 2 condenser mics on an 8 foot boom patched into a single 1/8 inch mic jack on the camera. Would tape or hard drive be a better option to record to as far as quality? I am aware that hard drives hold more data. I am only concerned with audio quality.
A. The recording media (in this case tape vs hard drive) is irrelevent. They are both digital. HDD camcorder compress the vido (and audio) more...
You did not tell us what sort of music. If it is loud, your bigger issue is that hard disc drive camcorders can be impacted by the vibrations from the loud audio to the point of parking the hard drive heads to protect the platters. Neither miniDV tape nor flash memory based camcorders have this vibration issue.
It is also possible that the loud audio - even if it does not shut down the hard drive because of the vibrations - can be loud enough to oversaturate the audio track resulting in a muddy sound - and what seems to be static. This is because the camcorder's auto mic gain can't handle it. This cannot be fixed when editing and will happen with any mic. You need to control the audio gain.
Some consumer Sony camcorders have a "MicRefLevel" setting for "Normal" audio gain and "Low" gain for high volume environments. This is rudimentary, but will work. Better is the more granular manual audio control used by the Canon HV30 or HV40.
Hard drives might be able to hold more TOTAL data, but consumer hard disc drive camcorders generally record to much more highly compressed MPEG2 standard definition or AVCHD/MTS high definition files. Your goal for "better quality" *should* be less compression - not more.
Most decent condenser mics are XLR based. In order for them to be used with a consumer grade camcorder with a 1/8" (3.5mm) stereo audio-in jack, I would suggest using an XLR adapter like one from juicedLink (CX231) or BeachTek (DXA-6). In addition to more granular control of the audio gain, they can also provide phantom power to the condensor mics. Use of XLR-to-1/8" "tails" is not recommended - the jack is too easy to break in the camcorder. The XLR adapters are set up such a way that do not stress the jack/plug as much as those cable tails do. Also, if the mics are on a boom then they are likely to be using a cable longer than about 15 feet - which means you need to use shielded - balanced - cables... which means XLR.
If you insist on going the path with a 1/8" tail, be sure it is to two XLR jacks that provuide you with some left/right audio separation. Again, this is not the recommended path.
You should consider reading up on "X-Y mic placement" at wikipedia for optimizing the stereo separation with the mics you plan to use - or take a look at a RODE stereo mic or the design of the Audio Technica AT-822 or AT-825... or the Shure VP-66. The mic capsules are set up in the X-Y pattern making the mic head housings look fat.
You did not tell us what sort of music. If it is loud, your bigger issue is that hard disc drive camcorders can be impacted by the vibrations from the loud audio to the point of parking the hard drive heads to protect the platters. Neither miniDV tape nor flash memory based camcorders have this vibration issue.
It is also possible that the loud audio - even if it does not shut down the hard drive because of the vibrations - can be loud enough to oversaturate the audio track resulting in a muddy sound - and what seems to be static. This is because the camcorder's auto mic gain can't handle it. This cannot be fixed when editing and will happen with any mic. You need to control the audio gain.
Some consumer Sony camcorders have a "MicRefLevel" setting for "Normal" audio gain and "Low" gain for high volume environments. This is rudimentary, but will work. Better is the more granular manual audio control used by the Canon HV30 or HV40.
Hard drives might be able to hold more TOTAL data, but consumer hard disc drive camcorders generally record to much more highly compressed MPEG2 standard definition or AVCHD/MTS high definition files. Your goal for "better quality" *should* be less compression - not more.
Most decent condenser mics are XLR based. In order for them to be used with a consumer grade camcorder with a 1/8" (3.5mm) stereo audio-in jack, I would suggest using an XLR adapter like one from juicedLink (CX231) or BeachTek (DXA-6). In addition to more granular control of the audio gain, they can also provide phantom power to the condensor mics. Use of XLR-to-1/8" "tails" is not recommended - the jack is too easy to break in the camcorder. The XLR adapters are set up such a way that do not stress the jack/plug as much as those cable tails do. Also, if the mics are on a boom then they are likely to be using a cable longer than about 15 feet - which means you need to use shielded - balanced - cables... which means XLR.
If you insist on going the path with a 1/8" tail, be sure it is to two XLR jacks that provuide you with some left/right audio separation. Again, this is not the recommended path.
You should consider reading up on "X-Y mic placement" at wikipedia for optimizing the stereo separation with the mics you plan to use - or take a look at a RODE stereo mic or the design of the Audio Technica AT-822 or AT-825... or the Shure VP-66. The mic capsules are set up in the X-Y pattern making the mic head housings look fat.
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