Anything better than NTG2 in strong wind?

Simon Denny · September 24th, 2009, 03:29 AM

Wow, thanks Guy.
I was thinking that my Rode was faulty. Can't believe that so much noise gets in the back XLR and the switch,

Cheers

Andrew Smith · September 24th, 2009, 08:26 PM

Guy,

Thanks for the link to the video on reducing wind noise. That was so worthwhile.

On a side note, I got seriously sidetracked with the rest of the juiced videos. Love the bit at the end where he does his 'call to action'. Closest thing to reminding me of Ferris Bueller in a very long time.

Andrew

John Gerard · October 12th, 2009, 02:48 PM

Hi all,

I just made a home made Blimp and I used Grizzly bear type Faux Fur. I did not Know what type to use. In a while I will post some pics of my design. I am using it on camera with my NTG-2, which is the model with the Battery compartment so it is pretty long. It appears to work well mounted on the FX7 camera no problems there. I am still testing to see how much wind noise it cut out. My blimp feels really light, I used the extra rubber bands from my Rode shock mount that I bought as a kit at B&H. I Zip tied them in an "X" pattern which is similar to the design of the Rode shock mount.

My question is what type of Faux Fur should I try next? I took video of the Blue Angles during FleetWeek San Francisco over last weekend. It was pretty windy, 9-20MPH most of the time. It is hard to tell if the Grizzly Faux Fur cut all the wind without more review of the video. I took some test video when the planes were not flying. I think the Grizzly Fur cut a little too much of the all around sound. Not just the wind noise. But, I think I am on the wright track I just need to keep trying other options.

;Just a quick note on the FX7. I used the Heavy Steady Cam mode on a tripod that I used as a mono pod by extending only one leg. The video was filmed from the top deck of my brothers 53 foot power boat in port at the dock. The video turned out great. I think better than what the local news showed.

P.S. This time I did remember to monitor the sound using Bose head phones. This I am pretty sure is what happened before. The Bose headphones are great but they don't block the wind noise so it is a little hard to tell what is wind noise from the Mic when monitoring. Other sounds from the Mic pick up well in the headphones. These are the model that do not perform noise canceling.

Thanks,

John Gerard

John Gerard · October 12th, 2009, 03:03 PM

I just watched the Wind noise test video from Juicedlink and that really is informative. Thanks Guy for posting the link.

John Gerard

Colin Rowe · October 15th, 2009, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vykintas Pugaciauskas

Hello,

I hate to start another 'which one do I choose' thread but after having two and a half years of ruined video in windy conditions with Rode NTG2 - the last straw came Saturday - I must get something at least marginally better for my next very important run-and-gun ENG shot in a hilly - and hostile - landscape.

All mics suffer from wind noise generated in every joint, switch or connection point. If a blimp is out of the question, you must tape or cover every problem area. See my post here. http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-xdc...mic-ex1-2.html Bottom of page

Renton Maclachlan · October 15th, 2009, 11:32 PM

I just did a test on my NTG2 about a metre in front of a 400mm fan on full speed.
I started with just the mic - noise wind terrible.
I added the sponge cover that came with the NTG2 - wind noise much the same.
Put on my el cheapo (but good quality) Indian blimp without furrie - noise cut quite significantly.
Put on furrie that came with the blimp - wind noise totally removed.

Switching mic from straight into wind to side on to wind, changed the noise level.

Cheap Indian blimp - good buy...

Vykintas Pugaciauskas · December 26th, 2009, 02:49 AM

Had some time to play around with the NTG-2 on XH-A1. Taping all the problematic areas as suggested never reduced the wind noise to an acceptable level.

It turned out that the noise is generated at the point where the mic touches the mic holder. I don't know if a shockmount would resolve the problem because I do not care. For my work I simply cannot carry with me a boxload of blimps, shockmounts or other gear, especially when for other mics you do not need those.

Which brings me to another conclusion. Not only not all mics are created equal for the wind as I said earlier, but that NTG-2 is plainly useless on XH-A1 in the strong wind. Other mics aren't.

Andrew Smith · December 26th, 2009, 03:19 AM

Vykintas,

Seriously. Bite the bullet and do the job properly with the proper gear (only one blimp required). Charge extra for an additional person to do the sound if you need to. Educate your client while you are at it.

Andrew

Steve House · December 26th, 2009, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vykintas Pugaciauskas

Had some time to play around with the NTG-2 on XH-A1. Taping all the problematic areas as suggested never reduced the wind noise to an acceptable level.

It turned out that the noise is generated at the point where the mic touches the mic holder. I don't know if a shockmount would resolve the problem because I do not care. For my work I simply cannot carry with me a boxload of blimps, shockmounts or other gear, especially when for other mics you do not need those.

Which brings me to another conclusion. Not only not all mics are created equal for the wind as I said earlier, but that NTG-2 is plainly useless on XH-A1 in the strong wind. Other mics aren't.

Why do you say that with other mics you do not need shockmounts, blimps, etc? I have a Schoeps CMC641 that absolutely requires a shockmount to prevent pickup of handling noise and even indoors it needs the foam wind shield to avoid rumble from air movement. Outdoors without wind protection .... no way. No one is going to say that it is a bad microphone because of it needs to be used with those other pieces of gear in order for it to perform up to its full ability.

If you know of some magical microphone that can give good results on speech from the camera position that does not require a shockmount and does not require full wind protection under high wind conditions, how about sharing its name with us? You've been stubbornly struggling to get acceptable results with the Rode for over 6 months now - why haven't you traded it in on that wonder mic yet? Could it be because such a thing doesn't exist?

You don't need a box-load of mounts, blimps, etc You have one camera and one mic, all you need is one mount, one light-duty wind protection to handle the air movement of panning, etc, indoors or outdoors when there's no signifigant wind, and one full wind kit for heavy duty use under heavier wind conditions, to fit that one mic. That's hardly a box full and careful choices of gear with common combonents let those pieces do double and triple duty. One carefully chosen kit is all you need. Rycote makes an adapter that allows you to use their outstanding Invision lyre series of shockmounts (which will fit a wide variety of different mics, by the way, so even if you have a whole box of mics you probably only need one mount for all of them) on your camera. Look at their Universal Camera kit for starters.

I still don't understand why you are so adamantly opposed to using the same solutions that news and doco crews working all over the planet under the harshest of conditions use to bring home acceptable footage. The principle for success is simple - get the right tools for the job at hand without compromising and use them properly without taking shortcuts.

Sherif Choudhry · December 26th, 2009, 05:37 PM

Hmmm, what does the original poster mean by "wind", perhaps he means that the NTG2 isn't good at recording fart sounds? Perhaps rode mics arent tested under his severe "wind" conditions.... hahaha omg sorry i couldn't resist that....i know its in poor taste, but his responses were giving me wind.... oh i must stop.....hehehe.... forgive me

Vykintas Pugaciauskas · December 27th, 2009, 07:32 AM

Alright, looks like I need to disclose what I mean by strong wind.

I sometimes travel to Afghanistan for the news work - as a one man band (i. e. I am a reporter doing cameraperson's work as well).

The wind you get there is not farting. Unless, Sherif, you fart yourself there (or worse).

Andrew, I guess you would now understand that not all people use their XH-A1 for shooting weddings. Extra person would simply not fit into the humwee. And the "client" of those who you are accompanying and who might be about to shoot at you (not with the camera) would hardly be educated to wait until you all jump in there.

When you have to carry the things that you have to carry on your back there, you always think twice before taking even a small additional piece of kit.

The shockmount - or any other parts sticking out this much - would probably last the first couple of days before being broken off by the inevitable rough handling. This is also why the blimp is also out of question. In the conditions where your humwee suddenly hits three feet of dust on the ground and you cannot see your outstretched hand you would not want to loose an additional second by fighting to tuck your gear away into a bag.

Steve, I mentioned the ECM-670. No problems in the same conditions.

That's also a reply to Allan's post (#9). Thank you very much for telling me to forget recording outdoors when the wind is blowing.

As a serious conclusion though, the forum in the end was useless in answering my original question (which I think I formulated quite clearly). I had to find the answer myself. But thank you to all who tried to help me.

Andrew Smith · December 27th, 2009, 07:52 AM

Ahh. Well now we know a little more about your requirements and working conditions. This makes a difference.

I'm curious .... would you consider carrying a can of compressed air for a quick de-dusting of the lens before shooting? Or would that sort of thing take too long, given your working timeframe to get the shot done?

Andrew

Vykintas Pugaciauskas · December 30th, 2009, 04:55 PM

Compressed air can is an extra. If I take it along, I leave it in the car or at the camp. I wipe off the lens with a cloth while on the go and use compressed air to clean the entire body of the camera when I have more time. Trouble is, the can usually does not last too long and taking a second one for longer patrols/operations/assignments would be a burden. In terms of space-to-efficiency ratio, nothing beats wet napkins.

Andrew Smith · December 30th, 2009, 07:30 PM

Keep an eye on your cans of compressed air, lest they be viewed as "portable air-conditioning" in the heat of summer.

On a side note, a CO2 fire extinguisher and its nozzle is very handy for instantly cooling down a can of drink.

Andrew

October 12th, 2009, 02:48 PM	#33
John Gerard Major Player Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Berkeley, CA, USA Posts: 227	Home Made Blimp Windscreen Hi all, I just made a home made Blimp and I used Grizzly bear type Faux Fur. I did not Know what type to use. In a while I will post some pics of my design. I am using it on camera with my NTG-2, which is the model with the Battery compartment so it is pretty long. It appears to work well mounted on the FX7 camera no problems there. I am still testing to see how much wind noise it cut out. My blimp feels really light, I used the extra rubber bands from my Rode shock mount that I bought as a kit at B&H. I Zip tied them in an "X" pattern which is similar to the design of the Rode shock mount. My question is what type of Faux Fur should I try next? I took video of the Blue Angles during FleetWeek San Francisco over last weekend. It was pretty windy, 9-20MPH most of the time. It is hard to tell if the Grizzly Faux Fur cut all the wind without more review of the video. I took some test video when the planes were not flying. I think the Grizzly Fur cut a little too much of the all around sound. Not just the wind noise. But, I think I am on the wright track I just need to keep trying other options. ;Just a quick note on the FX7. I used the Heavy Steady Cam mode on a tripod that I used as a mono pod by extending only one leg. The video was filmed from the top deck of my brothers 53 foot power boat in port at the dock. The video turned out great. I think better than what the local news showed. P.S. This time I did remember to monitor the sound using Bose head phones. This I am pretty sure is what happened before. The Bose headphones are great but they don't block the wind noise so it is a little hard to tell what is wind noise from the Mic when monitoring. Other sounds from the Mic pick up well in the headphones. These are the model that do not perform noise canceling. Thanks, John Gerard

October 12th, 2009, 03:03 PM	#34
John Gerard Major Player Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Berkeley, CA, USA Posts: 227	wind test video I just watched the Wind noise test video from Juicedlink and that really is informative. Thanks Guy for posting the link. John Gerard

December 26th, 2009, 05:37 PM	#40
Sherif Choudhry Major Player Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: London Posts: 222	NTG2 and Wind Hmmm, what does the original poster mean by "wind", perhaps he means that the NTG2 isn't good at recording fart sounds? Perhaps rode mics arent tested under his severe "wind" conditions.... hahaha omg sorry i couldn't resist that....i know its in poor taste, but his responses were giving me wind.... oh i must stop.....hehehe.... forgive me

September 24th, 2009, 03:29 AM	#31
Simon Denny Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,409	Wow, thanks Guy. I was thinking that my Rode was faulty. Can't believe that so much noise gets in the back XLR and the switch, Cheers

September 24th, 2009, 08:26 PM	#32
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,065	Guy, Thanks for the link to the video on reducing wind noise. That was so worthwhile. On a side note, I got seriously sidetracked with the rest of the juiced videos. Love the bit at the end where he does his 'call to action'. Closest thing to reminding me of Ferris Bueller in a very long time. Andrew

October 15th, 2009, 11:32 PM	#36
Renton Maclachlan Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: New Zealand Posts: 1,180	I just did a test on my NTG2 about a metre in front of a 400mm fan on full speed. I started with just the mic - noise wind terrible. I added the sponge cover that came with the NTG2 - wind noise much the same. Put on my el cheapo (but good quality) Indian blimp without furrie - noise cut quite significantly. Put on furrie that came with the blimp - wind noise totally removed. Switching mic from straight into wind to side on to wind, changed the noise level. Cheap Indian blimp - good buy...

December 26th, 2009, 02:49 AM	#37
Vykintas Pugaciauskas New Boot Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Vilnius, Lithuania Posts: 7	Had some time to play around with the NTG-2 on XH-A1. Taping all the problematic areas as suggested never reduced the wind noise to an acceptable level. It turned out that the noise is generated at the point where the mic touches the mic holder. I don't know if a shockmount would resolve the problem because I do not care. For my work I simply cannot carry with me a boxload of blimps, shockmounts or other gear, especially when for other mics you do not need those. Which brings me to another conclusion. Not only not all mics are created equal for the wind as I said earlier, but that NTG-2 is plainly useless on XH-A1 in the strong wind. Other mics aren't.

December 26th, 2009, 03:19 AM	#38
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,065	Vykintas, Seriously. Bite the bullet and do the job properly with the proper gear (only one blimp required). Charge extra for an additional person to do the sound if you need to. Educate your client while you are at it. Andrew

December 27th, 2009, 07:32 AM	#41
Vykintas Pugaciauskas New Boot Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Vilnius, Lithuania Posts: 7	Alright, looks like I need to disclose what I mean by strong wind. I sometimes travel to Afghanistan for the news work - as a one man band (i. e. I am a reporter doing cameraperson's work as well). The wind you get there is not farting. Unless, Sherif, you fart yourself there (or worse). Andrew, I guess you would now understand that not all people use their XH-A1 for shooting weddings. Extra person would simply not fit into the humwee. And the "client" of those who you are accompanying and who might be about to shoot at you (not with the camera) would hardly be educated to wait until you all jump in there. When you have to carry the things that you have to carry on your back there, you always think twice before taking even a small additional piece of kit. The shockmount - or any other parts sticking out this much - would probably last the first couple of days before being broken off by the inevitable rough handling. This is also why the blimp is also out of question. In the conditions where your humwee suddenly hits three feet of dust on the ground and you cannot see your outstretched hand you would not want to loose an additional second by fighting to tuck your gear away into a bag. Steve, I mentioned the ECM-670. No problems in the same conditions. That's also a reply to Allan's post (#9). Thank you very much for telling me to forget recording outdoors when the wind is blowing. As a serious conclusion though, the forum in the end was useless in answering my original question (which I think I formulated quite clearly). I had to find the answer myself. But thank you to all who tried to help me.

December 27th, 2009, 07:52 AM	#42
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,065	Ahh. Well now we know a little more about your requirements and working conditions. This makes a difference. I'm curious .... would you consider carrying a can of compressed air for a quick de-dusting of the lens before shooting? Or would that sort of thing take too long, given your working timeframe to get the shot done? Andrew

December 30th, 2009, 04:55 PM	#43
Vykintas Pugaciauskas New Boot Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Vilnius, Lithuania Posts: 7	Compressed air can is an extra. If I take it along, I leave it in the car or at the camp. I wipe off the lens with a cloth while on the go and use compressed air to clean the entire body of the camera when I have more time. Trouble is, the can usually does not last too long and taking a second one for longer patrols/operations/assignments would be a burden. In terms of space-to-efficiency ratio, nothing beats wet napkins.

December 30th, 2009, 07:30 PM	#44
Andrew Smith Equal Opportunity Offender Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 3,065	Keep an eye on your cans of compressed air, lest they be viewed as "portable air-conditioning" in the heat of summer. On a side note, a CO2 fire extinguisher and its nozzle is very handy for instantly cooling down a can of drink. Andrew