Would getting an external mic for our DSLR help with background noise?

R.O.S.S.I · 16 Oct 2013 at 10:46

Hi all, we've got a Nikon D3100 at work which I'm tasked with using to take photos and do some video with.

I'm beginning to do a series of "Meet the Staff" videos where its one to one interviews with the camera but its picking up a lot of background noise and there's always a low level fuzz/hum. Is that due to the onboard mic being not that great and will buying an external add on microphone help me with this?

I'd ideally like it to just capture what is being said with as minimal background noise as possible!

Something Else · 16 Oct 2013 at 19:50

I don't think the d3100 has an external mic input unfortunatly.

You could record sound with a secondary audio recording device and then overlay the audio ontop of the video?

More work though. Do you have a decent phone you could use instead?

Nexus · 16 Oct 2013 at 22:52

But in answer to your question, a professional microphone will make a night and day difference. They obviously differ also on what audio you want to pick up, whether you want encompassing sound, a slight reduction in background noise, or directional for a single voice. You can also get things like mufflers which will reduce sound, particularly noise like wind.

pecnarf · 17 Oct 2013 at 00:04

if you don't mind the a little hard work, then I suggest getting a virtual sound broad software. separate the audio from the video file, then load the audio track into the virtual sound board so that you can edit out the background noise's. then it a simple matter of re-syncing the audio with the video which any video editing software can do. it not the best method but would be cheapest plus new skill to learn editing audio.

Oddball · 17 Oct 2013 at 07:56

best way to do it without lots of expensive equipment is to buy an audio recorder (zoom h2n is a popular one) and record the audio seperately.

in order to sync up the audio and video in the edit, set both the video and audio recording and then clap loudly in front of the camera.

you can then see the spike in the audio and line that up with the hand clap on the video track.

alternatively get a camera with a microphone input

Oddball · 17 Oct 2013 at 08:32

best way to do it without lots of expensive equipment is to buy an audio recorder (zoom h2n is a popular one) and record the audio seperately.

in order to sync up the audio and video in the edit, set both the video and audio recording and then clap loudly in front of the camera.

you can then see the spike in the audio and line that up with the hand clap on the video track.

alternatively get a camera with a microphone input

mrk · 17 Oct 2013 at 09:13

Someone at a wedding had one of those stereo dictaphones and from what I could see the audio was excellent. Think he paid £50 for it too so definitely a relatively cheap way to get stereo sound into your videos and apps like movie maker will allow you to add audio streams no problem.

R.O.S.S.I · 17 Oct 2013 at 11:55

Ah pants, completely didn't even think to check whether it had an mic input - just had a look and indeed it doesnt

What a pain in the bum!

So the best bet is to get a separate recorder and record the audio on that and then sync it back up to the video in my editing software, bit of a pain in the bum but it could have been worse!

Bones · 18 Oct 2013 at 09:08

If you are looking to do this as cheap as possible you could use your phone with a mic plugged into it. You would need a microphone adapter, which can be picked up for a couple of quid off the bay and a microphone. I know it works with iphone, search for "iphone microphone adapter".

If you have the budget get a Zoom H1, that what I use and its great.

K.C. Leblanc · 18 Oct 2013 at 12:20

R.O.S.S.I said:
Ah pants, completely didn't even think to check whether it had an mic input - just had a look and indeed it doesnt

What a pain in the bum!

So the best bet is to get a separate recorder and record the audio on that and then sync it back up to the video in my editing software, bit of a pain in the bum but it could have been worse!

If you record a hand clap or a bang at the start of the video it's usually very easy to spot in audio tracks and match up.

R.O.S.S.I · 6 Nov 2013 at 12:42

Think we'll look at getting the Zoom one. Just out of curiosity, if we do then get a camera that takes an external mic will I be able to use the H2N as an ext mic for it?