Wind protection for camera-mounted Oktava MK012?

[Brian Liloia]

I am looking into purchasing the Oktava MK012 to replace my Rode VideoMic. However, I am in need for some wind protection options for the mic, since I will be doing significant outdoor shooting on an upcoming doc project. Since I am a one man show, I will need to mount the microphone on the camera.

Is the Rycote Baby Ball Gag appropriate for on-camera mounting? Is the BBG, combined with the WindJammer a good solution?

What about other options?

Thanks!

[Andrew Dean]

I have an MK012 and a BBG. It would depend on the camera as to whether or not you could physically mount it to your camera. The BBG covers up most of the mic itself. You only have a little bit of room for the mount, so the bbg is really really close to wherever you choose to mount the mic. If your mount is close to the lens, the bbg might block the view.

a BBG + windjammer is a pretty good wind protector. However, the back of the mic is exposed to the wind. The oktava is hugely sensitive to handling noise, and i'd be a little worried that heavy winds across the cable/back of mic would be enough to cause problems.

I have the BBG for interiors. The mic is so sensitive that even boom motion or an a/c current can cause wind noise. I havent tried it outside, (got a shotgun for outside) so i cant say for sure there would be wind vibration transmission, but i feel like i need to at least mention the possibility.

So i gotta ask, why would you want to camera mount an mk012? The mk012 rocks on a boom and indoors, but on camera? Unless you are cramming the camera up the nose of the subject, i cant imagine the oktava would sound much better than a videomic.

-a

Originally Posted by Brian Liloia

I am looking into purchasing the Oktava MK012 to replace my Rode VideoMic. However, I am in need for some wind protection options for the mic, since I will be doing significant outdoor shooting on an upcoming doc project. Since I am a one man show, I will need to mount the microphone on the camera.

Is the Rycote Baby Ball Gag appropriate for on-camera mounting? Is the BBG, combined with the WindJammer a good solution?

What about other options?

Thanks!

[Brian Liloia]

Hmm. Yes, I forgot to mention I have a DVX100B.

The problem is, I am a one man show, and that rules out the possibility of having a boom. I am looking for the best mic setup (that I can mount to the camera, since there is no other way, I suppose) that will provide for my needs both in and out of doors. Since the Oktava gets a lot of praise for its indoor and outdoor capabilities, I was hoping there was some arrangement (BBG? different shockmount? etc.?) I could come up with that would perform well mounted on the cam.

If you have any other suggestions, I am all ears!

(Perhaps I should pick up an XLR adaptor for the VideoMic and run some sound quality tests before I go out and buy another $200+ mic setup...)

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

One-man show or not, unless you're shooting with the camera exceptionally close to the subject with a wide angle lens, you cannot ever get "good" audio from an on-camera mic.
Get a standard microphone stand with a boom on it, and use it to place the mic close to your subject. Or use a lav. Or find a student that is wanting to learn the art of booming and pay them nothing, just expect some errors.
Microphones are like hand grenades; they need to be close to their target to do their job.

[David Ennis]

And I'll add that the VideoMic was engineered to own the camera mounted niche. Whenever I'm forced to use it for primary coverage (rare), or stick it on my number two or number three cam (often), I always feel it gives me a better track than I had the right to expect. Any investment to replace it in its role is likely to lead to disappointment. Rode's "Dead Cat" wind muff works pretty well too.

[Brian Liloia]

Thanks for the words. The fact that I am on a super(-duper) low budget kinda throws me off a bit, too, but I will look into the idea of using a stand.

If anyone can recommend a solid lavalier, I am open to suggestions. Wireless would be nice, but I am not looking to spend more than $350 on sound equipment (whether it be an Oktava with wind protection, mic stand, or whatever). I realize that is a very low figure.

I plan on doing some on-the-go interviewing with the subject out of doors, so in that case I will definitely need a camera-mounted mic.

[David Ennis]

Brian, for $350 you could get a Rode VideoMic and an Audio Technica Pro 88W wireless system. The 88W is a VHF system, so it may pick up TV or Radio interference in some settings (always test first), but is a solid performer otherwise. The audio you'd get could only be beat with a good mic and a boom pole operator.

Meanwhile, the VideoMic will give surprisingly good results even at 8 feet or so, certainly good enough to go with roving interview footage, where the video cues tend to make the viewer's ear more forgiving. Thus, it would be a good backup for the wireless.

In lieu of the wireless, you could get a Sony Hi-MD minidisk pocket recorder and a lav mic, and not worry about RF interference. The audio recorded by you camera's on board mic or camera mounted mic serves as a reference for easy synching up the audio in post.