Can anyone tells me what is this for in FX7?

MIC= microphone input... for external mic.

Does it provide phantom power? Don't think so, right?

No phantom power on the FX7 1/8" input.

Hi
What is a phantom power?
Can you just plug in an external microphone in this input? and when you do, does the on-board one gets disconnected? There is nothing in the manual about this microphone input.

Stelios

Phatom power is a direct DC source that travels through the microphone cables to power certain microphones, such as condenser microphones. Phantom power is commonly found on audio mixers and professional type video camcorders. It is present on equipment using balanced microphone inputs; it would not work (someone correct me if I'm wrong) with an unbalanced microphone input that is used on consumer camcorders such as the FX7.

This is not a big deal, though, as most videographers use batteries to power their microphones. However, for condenser type shotgun or camera microphones (ones that require batteries), this is handy because it saves money on the purchase of batteries, but you don't have to worry about that because your camera does not have the phantom power capability.

As far as your microphone input is concerned, you are correct. You can plug in a wireless or other external microphones using the 1/8 inch mini stereo plug, and it will bypass the built-in camera microphone. Unfortunately, you will not be able to split the audio channels (one audio source on channel 1, another audio source on channel 2) as both channels will be occupied when a source is plugged in.

There is a solution, though. That is a microphone adapter, like the XLR-PRO from Studio 1 Productions. This little box attaches to the bottom of a camcorder. There is the same size thread on the bottom of the microphone adapter to attach the camcorder to a tripod or other supporter. Anyway, this particular adapter box from Studio 1 can accept balanced (XLR) or unbalanced (mini 1/8 inch) inputs. It is microphone or line (other audio inputs other than microphones, like an audio mixer or video/audio tape decks) switchable. It is also stereo (channels 1 and 2 split) or mono (channels 1 and 2 mixed) switchable, and it has independent level adjusters for each channel. What you won't find on this unit is phantom power, but hey it opens up more possibilities with audio for your FX7. These types of units usually retail around $220 USD. I think Beachtek is another company that makes these units, but I'm unsure of this unit's features.

Is the Rode Videomic a good external mic for the FX7?

Someone tryed it with the Sony?

Thanks John Bosco for your detailed answer. I really appreciate it.

Stelios