Comments on: Finally! A decent Stereo Mic for my Kodak Zi8 HD camera

By: rick dalrymple

rick dalrymple — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 23:24:02 +0000

Thank Terry. I’m been so discouraged with trying to find a decent microphone, that i was considering returning the zi8.

I am simply trying to create educational video blogs, and need 5 feet (60 inches) of cord between me and the camera. You advise the mic comes with 39 inches. Can you buy an extender from Sony or radio shack without decreasing sound quality. Would you be so kind to respond at your earliest convenience. thank you.

By: Mick F

Mick F — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:12:57 +0000

hi there,

What settings did you use for FCP ? I’m trying to do the same with FC express and I can’t seem to get a project setting that doesn’t involve me having to render both video and audio.

It would be a great help to find out.

By: Isidra

Isidra — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:42:20 +0000

Hi Terry!

I bought the mic you had on your first blog and I love that it has a super long cord but you are absolutely right how easy it is to leave the power on. I will struggle along with it thought since my budget for this is what it is!

You know what? I used to LOVE the sound I got from my 30 gig video iPod’s stereo mic I bought for it. That sound was so good I would email clients voiceovers. Maybe they will get hip and make one with a cord…

By: terrywhite

terrywhite — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:41:28 +0000

I haven’t used FCP in years. No clue about how you would do that. Sorry.

By: Jon Haverstick

Jon Haverstick — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:20:50 +0000

Thanks for the recommendation, Terry! I’ve been using a RadioShack stereo lavalier, but it’s SO sensitive that it’s almost worse than the built in condenser mic on the Zi8!

My wife and I treated ourselves (well…actually, I treated ourselves) to a Zi8 last Christmas to do video tutorials for her blog at http://www.stampingpro.com. The external mic jack on the Zi8 was the deciding factor for going with that model over several others we considered. I just got an email from B&H last week that the remote for the Zi8 was finally in stock, so I now have one on the way, which will make doing her videos a little easier.

I do have a related question on editing the videos from the Zi8. I know you edit in Premiere, but I’m hoping there’s a simple answer that will apply to Final Cut Pro as well. When I bring movies from the ZI8 into Final Cut Pro (v7), and drop them into the timeline, FCP will allow me to match the sequence settings to the clip properties, ostensibly so the clip doesn’t need to render. However, it seems to be able to match everything but the audio properties of the clip, because I still have to render before I can play back the audio in the timeline. I’ve not been able to nail down the offending Zi8 setting to create a FCP sequence preset that would match the clip properties of the movies from the Zi8, so I wouldn’t need to render.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Jon