Soup up your digital still camera’s HD video sound—Don’t use the built-in mic!

Invest in a good microphone (or two) so your sound quality does justice to your DSLR’s HD video.

High-definition videos are the hot topic these days, thanks to a new generation of digital SLRs that record HD videos. More and more still photographers and photojournalists are starting to capture moving images in addition to stills. But what about the sound? Does the quality of the audio that you’re capturing do those stunning videos justice?

This week, we’re going to look at the tools you need to capture high-quality sound to accompany the videos you shoot with your HD Video-capable DSLR.

Built-in Mics = Low-Definition Sound!

The chances that the microphone that’s built into your camera (even high-end models such as the Canon 5D Mark II) will record high-quality sound are laughably small. If you’re serious about capturing good sound, you need a mic that isn’t built in.

The disadvantages of built-in mics:

• They are omnidirectional, so they pick up ambient sound.
• They faithfully record focus motors and camera-handling noise. Very distracting!
• They give you no control over what sounds will be recorded.

The advantages of built-in mics:

• They are built into the camera. It’s better than no sound at all, right?

So, what’s the alternative? If your camera has a microphone jack, you can attach any hand-held or off-camera microphone. If not, you’re out of luck. Keep this in mind when shopping for an HD Video-capable still camera!

There are many flavors of off-camera mics and all of them will give you better sound than a built-in microphone. Let’s start today with Handheld mics.

• Handheld Mic Guide
• Choosing a Lavalier Microphone
• Choosing a Camera-Mounted Microphone
• All About Off-Camera (remote) Mics
• USB Mics for Voice-Overs and Podcasts