ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

8 years, 5 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

Have a look at the Zoom Handy range, nice devices for the prices.

8 years, 5 months ago - Franz von Habsburg FBKS MSc

Nagra is the professional brand. I had the original reel-to-reel and then bought the baby hand held digital which is brilliant. It works perfectly with the standard Sony mics. Just google Nagra and also look on bblist.co.uk for professional used kit.

8 years, 5 months ago - Glyn Carter

From experience, I'd say certainly avoid consumer recorders like dictaphone devices. And not even to go for the basic hand-held models (eg Tascam DR-40, Zoom H4). The pre-amps aren't powerful enough to give a strong signal. Therefore you have to boost it in the audio edit, which means you boost the "noise" as well, which you can't get rid of. It's only marginally better than DSLR internal mike & recorder, unless you can get the mike right up under the speaker's nose. This may be OK for documentary, but obviously isn't acceptable for narrative.

Bad sound will ruin your film. If you can, use a sound recordist who has their own kit (and ask what it is). They'll tell you all about signal:noise ratios!

8 years, 5 months ago - Joe Conneely

Holly,

Sadly you get what you pay for though the good news is that well looked after sound kit lasts a long time versus quickly outmoded cameras.

When I started doing sound a few years ago now I took advice off a number of fellow students on the filmmaking degree I was doing plus other sound recordists. Their advice was to get a basic kit of:

Sennheiser MK416 shotgun (of failing that a Rode NGT3) - you can get cheaper models but these are "quality workhorses"
for many professionals
Boom pole that was sturdy and extendable to three lengths ) I bought a Konig & Meyer alloy
Rode (or comparable) sound mounts for the shotgun on the boom to mitigate vibration and sound transfer when using boom
Rycote/Rode foam and fluffy for use on shotgun (internal and external) to reduce wind and mic movement noises (if you can get a "zeppelin/blimp" wind shield with fluffy 'deadcat"cover for outside shoots even better)
Two pairs of Sennheiser radio mics G2 or G3 series (lots of old G2 where only Are Channel 70 863-865 Mkhz) are still around.
Mixer/recorder with good pre-amps - currently Tascam seem to be making the running at the lower price end and regarded by many I spoke to as better that Zoom.
XLR cables and sturdy set of headphones (I ended up with Sennheiser SD25 MkII)
I could not afford this lot new at the time (easily over £3,000!) so over a few months I carefully bought second hand on eBay and specialist sites such as BB List. Final cost ended up being just over £1,500 but I know I was lucky with price paid for some items. Look out for kit being sold by upgrading or retiring sound recordist so you know well looked after or by someone who bought new for shoot but has ended up not using and now trying to sell, so you know nearly new/good condition.

Also as recommended by others talk a lot to others and learn from them and get some insights on what is good or bad about items. Buy too cheap and I fear in sound quality recorded you will quickly find you have largely wasted your money.

Best of luck!

8 years, 5 months ago - Benjamin Crawford

Hi Holly,

I follow a really interesting group on facebook about field and sound recording. The person who created it also runs a blog on which he broke down the handheld recorder market... I found it really useful when buying my own first piece of equipment...

http://jezrileyfrench-aquietposition.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/a-quick-guide-to-hand-held-recorders.html

Best wishes

8 years, 5 months ago - Mick Dow

If it helps I can describe my kit which was recommended to me by my college tutor. Mic - Second hand Sennheiser 416, Mixer - Second hand SQN-4s, Recorder- New Fostex FR2
This basic kit has done me very well. The only thing I would recommend buying new would be the Fostex field recorder. The most important thing is to get a quality Mic and a good mixer with good limiters.

8 years, 5 months ago - Matt Thompson

Hi Holly, I am an experienced radio producer and have made shorts too. My advice would be get someone who knows how to use the equipment and not worry too much about the techy stuff. That said I think the Tascm DR60 is perfectly good provided the levels are monitored by your sound recordist. http://tascam.com/product/dr-60dmkii/ Any noise can be skimmed off later or masked with atmos. You will need a shotgun mike- here is a useful guide to Rodes which are cheaper http://philipbloom.net/blog/shotguns/ . If your subject is not too far away you could consider the rode videomike pro. For distant subjects you will need a radio mike - again I would use rode. These will not be totally top of the line for sound but certainly extremely good. If you are outside you must get rycote or rode blimps. Wind is a real problem,

Do think about hiring equipment.

Whatever you do you need to have one person who knows about sound listening to everything as you are rolling.

Finally..... Instead of a radio mike you could use a mike that plugs into a iphone http://www.rode.com/microphones/smartlav But remember you will not be able to monitor this as you record. Best of luck Matt

8 years, 5 months ago - Tristram Anyiam

If you want good audio you must pay the price unfortunalty. I was in the same dilemma, so i saved up and bought a sound devices 633, problem solved!

8 years, 4 months ago - Toufique Ali

Tascam DR-60D MKII
Used it on many a production - £159.00 on Amazon. Just buy it. simples.

8 years, 4 months ago - John Lubran

As a multitasking producer for over three decades I've successfully used a very wide range of sound kit including some outrageously low cost mics and simple one man set ups with a short shotgun fixed mounted on the camera in a
suspension mic carrier. Had over 50 broadcast docs doing that. The most important tool is a good pair of ears and the trained/acquired ability to discern faulty audio. Watch out for the deceiving headphone preamp, usually on cameras themselves, which don't reveal distortion. Watch those level meters.

All the technology we use in film making has become increasingly cost and qualitively effective. Whilst the 'Rolls Royce' equipment is lovely to have and work with they're mostly superfluous to actual requirements and often serve as props in the pursuit of the perception of professional provinance.