I am a frequent traveller and a major purpose in travelling is making a video of the trip. I have been doing it for 16 years. I have recently purchased a Sony HVR-V1P. A very nice camera but difficult to carry. I am trying to reduce the size of the bag required by exchanging the microphone for a compact model. A smaller, lighter bag will make a big difference on a two month trip.
My question is in two parts. Firstly, can someone recommend a bag. By the way, I live in Australia.
Secondly, I would welcome any discussion/recommendations on what other mic I may use. I was looking at a very compact mic that fitted the shoe and measured perhaps 2.5 x 2 in (60 x 50 mm), but I have lost the thread. I have a vague idea it was a Sony mic but cannot locate it now. I think the cost was about $150.
I am aware that the quality of my sound may suffer somewhat, but I have found over the years that I use very little native sound as it is generally little more than noise.
Thanks for your help.
John A

Try two, the first got eaten by something.

Why not ditch the on - board completely and buy a small digital audio recorder that can be placed closer to the sound action (if any).

No cables, no wireless hassles and better yet, no on - board mic.

Just a thought.


CS

PS: I know I should know where Nowra is, refresh my memory.

It is nowhere as small as what you are looking for but the Rode NTG-2 I use on my Sony V1U works great. I use Petrol PCPR-1 cases for my two V1U's.Fits a V1 great with plenty of room for accy's and will fit in an airline overhead baggage space.

Thanks for your response. I consider the on-board mic to be pretty adequate for my purposes when travelling, but the problem is that when walking around Europe or whereever with a group for two months requires that my camera bag be not too heavy. That is my main reason for trying to limit size (and weight). If I can get the on-board mic off there and replace it with what I am looking for I can fit the rig into a bag about 14 inches long.

I have had a V1 and a Z7, I used to turn the mic the other way round in the holder when putting it in the bag, it meant I could have a smaller bag.

John,

Try this thread: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/all-things-audio/29188-tiny-mike-question.html

I had the same problem with my Sony V1. Even a short NTG-1 mic on-camera meant that you had to get a bag that was much bigger than the camera if you wanted to keep the mic on all the time - it takes up a crazy amount of space. I had a backpack that was massive, just to accommodate this, and of course the result was that I didn't want to carry it anywhere.

One idea I thought of was to get some sort of offset bracket for the mic, to make the whole rig more compact. Check out the pictures of Claudio van Planta's V1 here: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-hvr-v1-hdr-fx7/114011-bbc-long-way-down-claudios-v1.html

In the end, I went for the "big bang" approach and bought a smaller camera instead...!

I have had a V1 and a Z7, I used to turn the mic the other way round in the holder when putting it in the bag, it meant I could have a smaller bag.

That is a solution I can use at home but not when I am travelling. I need to be able to grab the camera and get the shot before it disappears or I have to move on. There are no set shots when I am on the move and no time to make adjustments to the camera.

John,

Try this thread: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/all-things-audio/29188-tiny-mike-question.html

I had the same problem with my Sony V1. Even a short NTG-1 mic on-camera meant that you had to get a bag that was much bigger than the camera if you wanted to keep the mic on all the time - it takes up a crazy amount of space. I had a backpack that was massive, just to accommodate this, and of course the result was that I didn't want to carry it anywhere.

One idea I thought of was to get some sort of offset bracket for the mic, to make the whole rig more compact. Check out the pictures of Claudio van Planta's V1 here: http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/sony-hvr-v1-hdr-fx7/114011-bbc-long-way-down-claudios-v1.html

In the end, I went for the "big bang" approach and bought a smaller camera instead...!

Thanks for the idea Mike. I will look at the idea of setting the mike back with a supplementary bracket. I already have the smaller camera (two in fact) but the V1 has the quality.

Sennheiser MKE 400 Compact Video Camera Shotgun MKE 400 B&H