Do you folks use wireless headphones to monitor the audio while recording video? I find it happen more than one incident where I step away with the headphone connected to the camcorder. It can get ugly, though nothing bad happened to me yet :)

Do you folks use wireless headphones to monitor the audio while recording video? I find it happen more than one incident where I step away with the headphone connected to the camcorder. It can get ugly, though nothing bad happened to me yet :)
You too, eh?! I have no answer for your real question, but I just thought you'd like to know you're not the only one courting disaster (or, in my case, ridicule's more common) by forgetting you're wearing headphones... :-)

When working with a friend doing steadicam-type shooting on his independent projects, I have used an inexpensive FM transmitter and an FM Walkman receiver to monitor the camera that was receiving a wireless mic signal. The audio quality is surprisingly good, but the max range was only a little over 10 feet.
That was perfectly adequate for this no-budget function, but was not a professional solution.
The transmitter was a battery-operated Belkin model that's designed to transmit an mp3 player's headphone output to you car radio if the radio doesn't have an AUX input.
If I used a headphone extension cable between the camera output and the transmitter, even though it was bundled up it acted as an antenna and provided a few more feet of reliable broadcast range. Since I was always standing only a few feet behind him it worked fine and fit his budget, which was $0.

Most good field headphones have a coiled cable. So that gives you some warning when you start to walk away.

I use the Sennheiser MX W1. It's a little pricey and there is a slight delay in the signal but it works as advertised. I love it.

Woah! I really like the small platform of the MX W1 transmitter so that it can ride on the camcorder, but $500 is a bit too steep. I guess I'll keep looking around.

Thanks for the inputs, all.

Fred,

How do you power the MX W1 transmitter on your camcorder?

There is a rechargeable internal battery.

Keep in mind that if you are using a wireless connection to headphones, that if you hear a drop out or some other problem in the audio, you have to figure out if it was a problem in the actual audio, or just in the wireless connection to the phones. I want to be able to monitor my audio, not a wireless jump to some other device.

YMMV.

Rob

Wireless headphones are not a good idea.

Sony 7506 headphones are the industry standard. You want clean accurate sound, which the 7506' provide. They are cheap, durable, and have a long cable that coils. Wireless headphones are used for listening to music in your home. The most likely have a bump in the lows and the highs to tickle your ears. You don't want that when recording on a set. You want accurate.

Just try to remember that you are wearing headphones and you'll be fine.