High pitched buzz

[Freeroamer]

I've just noticed a high pitched buzz that's in all of my footage. It's not very loud, but once you've noticed it, it becomes annoying. I assume the sound comes from the tape drive and is picked up by the body mounted microphones. Hopefully this is a mechanically transmitted vibration and not electrically induced? I had already ordered the accessory Canon boom mic in an attempt to reduce wind noise, but haven't received it yet. Will this external microphone also reduce or eliminate the buzzing sound?

[Erik Bien]

Check out this thread for tips on removing the motor noise. If you're referring to the Canon DM-50, it doesn't have a suspension mount and doesn't sit as high above the camera as many on-camera shotguns, so it seems to pick up more motor and handling noise than others. But anything should be an improvement over the built-in mic.

[Freeroamer]

Check out this thread for tips on removing the motor noise. If you're referring to the Canon DM-50, it doesn't have a suspension mount and doesn't sit as high above the camera as many on-camera shotguns, so it seems to pick up more motor and handling noise than others. But anything should be an improvement over the built-in mic.

Thanks. I checked out the thread and agree that for $1000 we shouldn't have to live with this problem. As stated before, this is my fourth camcorder and the first with noticeable motor noise. Yes, I did order the DM-50 mic but not to cure a camera noise problem, just to help me deal with the constant strong winds we have here.

Putting the camera close to your ear in a quiet room, the noise is very noticeable, so it is a mechanical problem. High pitched sounds are more directional in nature, so I'm wondering if an improvised microphone shield would work. Will have to wait until I get the DM-50 to experiment with that. Meanwhile, I can try some of the other suggestions in the thread and see what effect they have. This issue will have to be solved somehow or the camera will be rendered useless for serious work.

[Erik Bien]

Uhm, okay ...

It's a consumer camcorder. Its onboard mics and preamps suck roughly as much as most camcorders in its size/weight class (okay, maybe a little more than most). But, since it has a jack for an external mic, that problem is surmountable.

If that isn't "serious" enough, you can always use a separate digital audio recorder and take the camera out of the equation entirely.

[Ben_Martin_Box]

Hi,

Well to avoid such problems I just bought this RODE Video Mic http://www.rodemic.com/?pagename=Pro...oduct=VideoMic.

But now I got a very annoying problem!

If I mount the mic directly in the shoe adapter and connect it to HV20 I have no problem at all but if I mount the Mic in a boom pool and use an extension cord I get this very loud and annoying “hummm” noise.

My fist reaction was to blame the 5 m length extension cord I used to connect the mic to the camera but I tested some other extension cords and I get the exactly the same result!

Anyone experienced this problem when connecting extension cords to the HV20 mic red input?

[Erik Bien]

Hi Ben,

You have just discovered why the pros turn up their noses at unshielded headphone-type cable: it can be very susceptible to picking up electrical noise. For the short hop from the hot shoe to the camera it's rarely a problem, but longer runs can be. A couple of things that may help:

1) Unplug your camera from the wall and run on batteries.

2) Make sure your mic cable is routed as far away from any cords carrying power as possible.

3) If 2 isn't possible, at least try to have the audio cable cross the power cable at right angles, rather than running parallel.

[Freeroamer]

Check this thread for what I did to solve the camera buzz problem. It wasn't my idea, rather something suggested by another forum member. Don't know if it would work for everyone, but it sure worked for me:

http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?p=22728

[Ben_Martin_Box]

Wow, just to let you guys know!

I just bought a decent Hi-Q shielded stereo cable (6 meters long) and 2 stereo gold/metallic jacks (male/female) and iron solder the jacks in the extension cord.

I then connected the RODE Video Mic and "voilá" completely noise free!
Good by "humms"!

I was curious about the previous extension cord I bought (already assembled) in the electronic shop.
So I cut it and just discovered that it was a very poor quality cable.
It was not shielded at all.
The cable is made of 3 individual wires with no copper shield around them!

Maybe some of you that are experiencing same problems have poor quality extensions cords as well!