Eric,

What you're getting here is the nod to "go McGyver." It's from the TV show in which they had to improvise a lot to get the job done. While problem solving is certainly part of the fun, you do have to look at yourself the way others see you at some point. If you only work by yourself, there's less of a chance that others will see your creativity as some sort of Rube Goldberg behavior affliction gone horribly wrong.

Regards,

Ty Ford

PS: You'll probably get more slack for strange gear in Portland, Maine than in Portland, Oregon.

Ty,

Portland doesn't seem to have high standards for audio. I called around the top video rental houses looking to rent some nice mics (Schoeps, 416...), and the ME66 is as high-end as it gets around here. If you were to paint the painters pole, few locals would notice the difference.

For sure, when people buy gear, they need to consider the client/customer/audience. If people you care about only see your work through the lens, you can get creative with your choices - only the end result matters. If your client works behind the lens, presentation, industry standards, reliability, and reputation are as important as the finished product.

Eric:

That was such an amazing deal on the 4073a, that I got one too for my audio kit. It's a nice mic. The included foam windscreen is somewhat effective, you can live with it for now. Be sure to do some experimenting with the low cut switch. It cuts out a lot of wind rumble/handling noise you don't need. You can also use the EQ to cut back rumble in post. The 4073a is super sensitive, I have captured some really great stuff with it.

I would be interested in your thoughts on the 4053 when you get a chance to use it awhile.

Jeff

Hi Jeff,
I have a shoot lined up at the end of this month. I plan on posting to the web, audio clips of both the 4073 and 4053, from the shoot. I have not experimented too much with either of these mics yet. I will post my recordings of both in this forum. What will be interesting for me to compare to see how much the sound improves/falls off with distance and placement between the two.

The 4073 will be mounted to the camera and the 4053 will be out of frame on a mic stand (1.5 feet away).

I also have my old Fostex MR-8mkII, 2 - channel recorder that I may use as an external recording devise so that I can still record with the on board camera mic. The mkII can use Phantom Power which is nice/essential.

I also bought a Sony ECM-HW1 Wireless as an impulse buy after I heard the sound quality of one. It uses Blue Tooth and I guess it would be classified as a lavaliere but when I tried to use it while clipped to someone's body, there were way too many pops and body noise. If it is placed on a table or hidden in a prop, it sounds great and has a good transmission range back to the camera. Unfortunately, the ECM-HW1 doesn't work with my camera, as far as I can tell. When I looked up the documentation, it had specific, consumer camcorders that it works with. Bummer, but I think I can either buy an older model of one of those cameras pretty cheep and keep it handy to use in a pinch when I need to place a mic 40 feet away. Or just sell the thing and buy and actual wireless lavaliere system. It is not an immediate need at this point.

Sony ECM-HW1 - B&H - $95 w/shipping

Eric

PS
Thanks for everyone's thoughts and ideas on the make shift boom.