WHAT I want is decent camcorder audio. I have an $800 (full retail) Sony Camcorder, but when I'm shooting on the dock or on the flightline, the built in microphone sucks wind (literally!). Silly me, now I see that I should have paid $900 (full retail) to get a Sony with an Active Hot Shoe or $1100 retail to get one with a mike jack.
I had all of the power of the Internet at my fingertips, but I still screwed up a hi-tech purchase. (Yeah, like it never happened to you!) They told me that the HC32 I bought a few years ago has "audio-in" and it does, but that's only if I'm using the camera on its fixed stand to record a full audio/video stream from some fixed source through something called Sony iWire. Not really my idea of an "mike in" jack.
So, now I'm back to the search for an affordable camcorder with mike audio in. I posted the question on LinkedIn and got a nice response suggesting a new Sony camcorder with a hot shoe and the Sony ECM-HW1 Bluetooth mike.
This rig has a bluetooth receiver that screws onto the hot shoe and a microphone / transmitter combo that you are supposed to wear in a strep (like an iPOD) on your arm. I went to the Sony store and looked at it. The microphone is omnidirectional and the whole thing doesn't scream Dependable High Quality to my RF-oriented brain. It's not the close talking I need for flightline or on the water.
So, then I found a Sony VMC-K100 Hot Shoes (sic) Microphone Adapter. Hey! Just what the doctor ordered. I'd still have to get a new hot shoe Videocam, but I could spend $250 less than one with a pin jack and just slap on this adapter with its mike jack and plug in my own wired mike!
Way cool, right? Well, no. You had to read along a little further to see
Important Notice!
This item has been discontinued and is no longer available. Please call for more information.
Now I know why THIS GUY did a great DIY mod on a Sony "boom microphone" that is worthy of the old Popular Electronics articles. He tore its guts out, backward engineered the interface, and put in a pin jack. My hero.
The bottom line is that we are captive inside the decision-loop running between the design-sales-marketing departments at Sony, Canon, etc. "Oh, you want high quality AUDIO, eh? Then, be prepared to pay!"
A mike-in jack in a low to mid range camcorder is "all" I want. Don't need no HD. Don't need no 1080i. Sigh!
I have convinced myself that it is best to give up on the Hot Shoe stuff and just plunk down $800 online for the Sony HC9.
That's the LEAST expensive Handycam with an audio jack. It's more bells, whistles, and capabilities than I need, but maybe I'll grow into it. Yes, I know that the new Canon FS11 is a fine camera available for $599 and that it has a mike input jack. But, I can get a Sony HC9 for $800 online and get the damn jack I want. Of course, the guys in the Sony store say they expect a "replacement" for the HC9 "before the end of March"... but that's the same marketing department that brought me the jack-less thing I'm using now!
Let's see, if I can just cut back on driving 10 miles a month, I'll "save" enough in gas to pay for it in no time! Here I am, just doing my part for consumer spending.-- FJD
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