RedRockMicro noise: Letus quieter?

[Gints Klimanis]

I have a RedRock M2. The motor noise is problem for closeup video. I was looking at the Letus Extreme as it advertised silent operation until I noticed a phrase in the RedRock manual stating that it too is nearly silent. Is the Letus actually silent? Is it possible that I have a noisy M2? I haven't used it much since I bought it, but I remember the sound to be about as loud now as out of the box.

On another front, has anyone tried muffling the M2? I'm thinking about encasing it in a plastic box, possibly lined with vinyl or wax, possibly even lead sheets. If RedRock sold a muffler solution, I'd buy it.

[Timothy D. Allen]

I own an M2 and have used it a multitude of times, and I've never had a noise issue.

I did meat a guy one time who said he was having noise issues, but he always had the M2 plugged in. I have never ran the M2 off a power supply so perhaps running off a battery makes it quieter? Any chance you're powering yours off an AC adapter??

[Gints Klimanis]

Hi Tim, I'm powering off the battery. If you're doing close-up work in a quiet environment, don't you hear the motor? I'm using an off camera-mic (BLUE Dragonfly) , and it picks up too much of the motor sound. Don't you hear the motor a few feet away? Perhaps my M2 is just loud. There is a tutorial on the RedRock site to adjust the motor to quiet it. I'll give it a try.

[Christopher Drews]

I constantly use the LEX and it is noisey. Sometimes, (not often anymore) I am forced to mount a mic in the HVX arm - It always picks up the constant buzz / hum of the LEX.

-C

[Timothy D. Allen]

Originally Posted by Gints Klimanis

If you're doing close-up work in a quiet environment, don't you hear the motor?

I don't. Honestly though, when I'm doing close-ups I'm using a longer lens so my subject is even farther from the camera, and because it's a tight shot I'm able to put the mic closer.

There was a time I was doing kind of a close-up "fisheye" look where I had a 20mm lens right up on my actor, and I had the mic up close as usual, and still... no noise.

Can't say this has ever been a problem for me.