Audio recording challenges -- anybody used a blimp on camera or with wireless remote?

[Garfield]

OK, no problem, I'll call you crazy... "You're crazy!"

Just kidding Gary, LOL!

That's quite a serious-looking rig you've assembled there. Please be sure to give us your comprehensive feedback along with some audio samples once you've got some stuff to share. Also, would you mind sharing the cost breakdown?
Thanks, cheers and happy audio recording,
Rudy

Hi Rudy!

The only thing the blimp does is cut the wind rumble noise at the cost of the loss of some high frequencies. I'll figure out how to regain the frequencies later, but I've never been able to successfully suppress the wind noise until now, and the blimp does exactly that.

I don't intend to do an A:B comparison because I don't need to -- here's a short clip I shot today in very breezy conditions. Had I tried shooting with a regular shotgun and dead cat nothing would have been salvageable even using low frequency cut-offs and turning on the wind supporession setting in my Z9.

Here's another "feature" clip I put together from today's shoot as well. The background noise is still a big problem and I need to learn how to filter it out but there's little to no discernable wind rumble which in my experience is almost impossible to eliminate.

The total cost was $365 USD + shipping from B&H for the Rhode Blimp, the Rhode universal blimp mount adapter and a heavy-duty Rycote 3/8" cold shoe adapter, so it was relatively inexpensive considering there's really no alternative if you want to eliminate wind noise from field recrordings.

 

[Rudy Pohl]

Hi Rudy!

The only thing the blimp does is cut the wind rumble noise at the cost of the loss of some high frequencies. I'll figure out how to regain the frequencies later, but I've never been able to successfully suppress the wind noise until now, and the blimp does exactly that.

I don't intend to do an A:B comparison because I don't need to -- here's a short clip I shot today in very breezy conditions. Had I tried shooting with a regular shotgun and dead cat nothing would have been salvageable even using low frequency cut-offs and turning on the wind supporession setting in my Z9.

Here's another "feature" clip I put together from today's shoot as well. The background noise is still a big problem and I need to learn how to filter it out but there's little to no discernable wind rumble which in my experience is almost impossible to eliminate.

The total cost was $365 USD + shipping from B&H for the Rhode Blimp, the Rhode universal blimp mount adapter and a heavy-duty Rycote 3/8" cold shoe adapter, so it was relatively inexpensive considering there's really no alternative if you want to eliminate wind noise from field recrordings.

Hi Gary,
Thanks for the info and the samples. Good luck with the field tests.
Rudy

 

[uday592]

Ok, so call me crazy but here's what the Rhode Blimp/dead wombat looks like mounted on my Z9 patched into the F3...

Just out of curiosity how much does the whole thing weigh

 

[Garfield]

Just out of curiosity how much does the whole thing weigh

The blimp weighs 1.2lbs and the F3 weighs 0.7 lbs, then you have to add the mic, cable etc. It obviously weighs more, but not overly so if being added to a caged Z9 and long lens. Obviously not ideal for a short lens.

 

[uday592]

Has anyone tried Xvive audio U3 set wireless plug in system with a condenser microphone as preamp for Nikon Z8 or Z9?

 

[Garfield]

So for those that may be interested here's my latest audio setup. I've moved the mic/Rhode Blimp/Zoom F3 off the camera to a tripod and am wireless transmitting the audio to the camera using the DJI transmitter/receiver. As long as the batteries are fully charged they'll essentially last all day. This setup is working really well.

This lightens and simplifies the camera setup at the expense of having to carry a separate tripod, which is no problem for static shooting scenarios. I've decided to sell the Z9 and just rely on the fantastic Z6III and Z8 since they're both lighter and more flexible.

This also paves the way for adding a parabolic dish to the mounting arm and recording to the second channel on the F3 along with the sennheiser 416. I'll pursue this idea next nesting season since this one is nearly over.

Cheers!

 

[Calson]

An inexpensive and lightweight light stand works very well as a support for microphones and for sound recorders in the field.

 

[Garfield]

An inexpensive and lightweight light stand works very well as a support for microphones and for sound recorders in the field.

Yes, as long as the legs are adjustable, otherwise they can be difficult to work with when on uneven ground like hillsides etc.

 

[uday592]

I want to try the Xvive U3 with Senheiser MKE600. Is there a way to attach the receiver to camera

 

[uday592]

I am very tempted by the F3. The only other contender for me is a Tascam X6 which also records 32 bit but also has inbuilt ambient mics and a 3.5mm input both of which I find useful. But the F3 seems to have slightly better quality preamps, is more robust and a lot more compact. Decisions.

Ok, so call me crazy but here's what the Rhode Blimp/dead wombat looks like mounted on my Z9 patched into the F3... I

I am very tempted by the F3. The only other contender for me is a Tascam X6 which also records 32 bit but also has inbuilt ambient mics and a 3.5mm input both of which I find useful. But the F3 seems to have slightly better quality preamps, is more robust and a lot more compact. Decisions.

I got the F3. So what are the settings that needs to be turned on Z8 for this set up to work. When I turn video recording on in Z8 the F3 does not come on.

 

[Garfield]

I got the F3. So what are the settings that needs to be turned on Z8 for this set up to work. When I turn video recording on in Z8 the F3 does not come on.

AFAIK the F3 doesn't receive signals from the Z8 ... or any camera for that matter. You have to turn the F3 on by pressing its "ON" button and just let it transmit through its line out. (Make sure you put batteries in first!)

 

[mgull5]

Ok, so call me crazy but here's what the Rhode Blimp/dead wombat looks like mounted on my Z9 patched into the F3...

Hi - I stumbled upon this while attempting to recreate essentially what you did here, though I have zero background when it comes to audio recording and setting up rigs like this.

I have the following items:

Nikon z9
600mm TC
Sennheiser MKE 600
Rycote Super Blimp
Z9 Tilta Rig
Zoom F3

I'd like to set the mic up on top of the camera like you've done to record birdsong primarily. However, it seems like I may be missing a couple of bits and pieces to properly rig this up in the way I intend to. If you're able to share what other accessories you used to attach the blimp and f3 to the rig, that would be much appreciated.

 

[Alistair]

Hi - I stumbled upon this while attempting to recreate essentially what you did here, though I have zero background when it comes to audio recording and setting up rigs like this.

I have the following items:

Nikon z9
600mm TC
Sennheiser MKE 600
Rycote Super Blimp
Z9 Tilta Rig
Zoom F3

I'd like to set the mic up on top of the camera like you've done to record birdsong primarily. However, it seems like I may be missing a couple of bits and pieces to properly rig this up in the way I intend to. If you're able to share what other accessories you used to attach the blimp and f3 to the rig, that would be much appreciated.

This is my method (Smallrig cage and Smallrig F3 plate with cold shoe adapters at each end). I only record a second copy to the camera for sync purposes but this may not be best practice.

 

[Garfield]

Hi - I stumbled upon this while attempting to recreate essentially what you did here, though I have zero background when it comes to audio recording and setting up rigs like this.

I have the following items:

Nikon z9
600mm TC
Sennheiser MKE 600
Rycote Super Blimp
Z9 Tilta Rig
Zoom F3

I'd like to set the mic up on top of the camera like you've done to record birdsong primarily. However, it seems like I may be missing a couple of bits and pieces to properly rig this up in the way I intend to. If you're able to share what other accessories you used to attach the blimp and f3 to the rig, that would be much appreciated.

I have the rhode blimp, not the rycote super blimp. They appear to be similar, but you're going to have to find a way to adapt the super-blimp to a cold shoe mount. I was able to buy a short rhode adapter and a third-party cold shoe adapter for this purpose. You'll also need a cold shoe adapter (monitor mount works fine) to mount the F3 to your camera cage (I assume you have one, but if not you'll need two cold shoes to mount to two items this way).

Other than that, it's pretty simple -- plug the XLR cable into one of the F3's inputs, then a TRS cable from LINEOUT to your camera's AUDIO IN. You'll need to set the F3 for phantom power -- it's AA batteries supply the power to the MKE600.

FWIW I no longer use this setup mounted to the camera as I found it a bit too unwieldy. I've also since sold my Z9 and now use a Z8 without a cage.

This year I'm trying a new setup which consists of a stand-alone omindirectional stereo setup into the F3 recorder that Morten Hilmer posted a video about a few months ago. The problem with relying on the blimp is that it's just a mono signal and I want stereo. So I mounted my MKE 416/Rhode Blimp to the tripod with the omnidirectional mics. The XLR to XLR cable cable from the MKE 416 plugs into a rechargeable in-line battery that supplies phantom power to the mic. The output is via an XLR to TRS cable that plugs into a DJI wireless mic, which transmits the mono signal to the receiver on the camera that is plugged into the camera. So the F3 is recording omnidirectional stereo continuously which allows me to scrape clean ambient sounds in post, while the camera only records audio from MKE 416 when shooting video. I just merge the three channels in post. The only downside is since the blimp is mounted on the tripod it doesn't point in the exact direction I'm shooting, but I'm so far away from the subject that it doesn't really matter.