Tina Phan

Canon T2i. 50mm. f/1.4 @ 1/60. ISO 3200

I went back to Austin last week for an internship interview. Afterwards, headed over to Spiderhouse and saw my buddy Scott. This is him playing with my new Rode mic on his T2i. This looks like it could be an ad for Canon / Rode Mics / DSLRs with video.

Canon T2i. 50mm. f/1.4 @ 1/60. ISO 3200

If that’s true, I guess that means this pic could be an ad for Scott Thomas.

Ever since I got into this whole shooting video business, the hardest thing for me transitioning from being just a still photographer to a videographer is getting used to audio. I’ve been dealing with audio problems ever since I started shooting video about a year and a half ago on the Canon GL2s from my Video Production and Visual Storytelling classes. Different types of mics, audio filters in Final Cut, decibel ratings, mono vs. stereo, having to monitor sound/wear headphones while shooting…all new and horribly confusing things to me (even now still). The first ever mini-documentary I made for my Visual Storytelling class had really bad sound because I’d accidentally switched it from stereo to mono thinking that the M near the headphone jack stood for manual.

From August 2009 through the end of this past April, I’d been shooting DSLR video with my Canon T1i which could only use the on camera mic (no input for an external microphone). The audio was ok, nothing spectacular, but when it came to outdoor shoots and tons of wind noise, there really wasn’t anything I could do about it. I bought the Canon T2i in May and finally, a camera with stereo mini jack audio input!

The first microphone I bought was the Audio-Technica ATR-3350 Lavalier Omnidirectional Condenser Microphone on Amazon for $23.99 in June. I guess you get what you pay for… the first time I used it was for an interview with a member of Close Your Eyes, a local Abilene band at West Texas Hardcore Festival in mid-June. After reviewing my footage, I realized the first 2 minutes were fine but then for the remaining 8 minutes all I got was static. Another interview afterwards was all static too. I really don’t know what happened because the battery in it was fresh. Bad wire maybe? I haven’t had the heart to use it again with fear of messing up an interview.

This is exactly why Canon needs to add a headphone jack and allow a way for users to monitor audio while shooting video. I’ve been looking at some of the BeachTek DSLR Audio Adapter/Monitors but those are pretty pricy at $400ish.

A couple weeks ago, I bought the Rode VideoMic Directional Video Condenser Microphone w/Mount to use with my Canon T2i. It has a mount to go into the flash hotshoe on my DSLR. I bought mine off of Amazon for $149.00 with free two-day shipping with Amazon Prime and it comes with a 10 year warranty once you register it.

Taken with Nexus One camera

Not going to lie, my tiny Canon T2i body looks redonkulous with the Rode VideoMic Directional Video Condenser Microphone and w/ the Rode Deadcat Microphone Wind Muff ($39.00 @ Amazon) mounted on it.

It’s a good mic, I haven’t had any problems with it. My only gripe is the fact that the mount makes the mic stick out about 2 inches past the back of my camera body and consequently very very hard to shoot stills while shooting video (unless you want a weird imprint on your forehead.)

I did a story on the Big Country Idol (local American Idol) singing contest last week, and a video using the Rode VideoMic. Check it out:

Tina Phan/The Abilene Reporter-News
Canon T2i, 1080 @ 24fps
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8
Rode VideoMic Directional Video Condenser Microphone

With all the background noise going on during the interviews, I probably should have used a high pass filter function on the mic.

Tina Phan/The Abilene Reporter-News
Canon T2i, 1080 @ 24fps
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8
Rode VideoMic Directional Video Condenser Microphone + Rode Deadcat Microphone Wind Muff

Also shot with the Rode VideoMic for this video on a group of Abilene Firefighters training for the Firefighter Combat Challenge in Lubbock. It was a windy day so I used Rode Deadcat Microphone Wind Muff
. I find it funny/morbid that Rode also sells a smaller windscreen called Rode Dead Kitten Windscreen (instead of dead cat) to go on the Rode SVM Stereo Condenser Microphone. Another interesting thing about the Deadcat windscreen: leave your mic on your desk at work and so many people walk by and pet its furriness.

[UPDATE]
Apparently this exists now so you can have both the Rode VideoMic and a windscreen for $149.00:
Rode VideoMic with Fuzzy Windjammer Kit