what adapter to plug an ME66 straight into the camera?

[Denise Wall]

I have quite suddenly and unexpectedly had the opportunity to order a 7D, which will arrive on Wed. As a still photographer, I've had a number of Canon DSLRs including a 1D MkII, and have a nice collection of lenses (zooms and primes) including several L lenses. I also already have a Canon XH-A1 and a Sennheiser ME66 that I use on a shock mount. I've been doing video off and on for about ten years.

So my question is, what adapter are people using to plug a mic like my ME66 straight into the camera? I will more than likely use the XH-A1 for sound right now, and may get something external to the DSLR in the future. I understand from the little bit of reading I've been able to do the limitations of using the DSLR audio but I'd still like to have the option.

I'm sorry if I've missed the answer to this adapter question. I did a search, downloaded the manual, etc., and I can't seem to find the answer. Thanks for any help.

[Khoi Pham]

You have to find a xlr to stereo mini plug 3.5mm, but the built in mic is pretty good.

[Roberto Lanczos]

Originally Posted by Denise Wall

what adapter are people using to plug a mic like my ME66 straight into the camera?

I had an ME66 years ago. I thought it was garbage.
my expectations were to high i guess.

Didn't knew anything about EQ, compression or dessing.
It's a wonderful mic.


Here's what you can do:

get a 3.5mm adapter like Khoi suggested, and a stereo splitter also.

In the left channel you plug a cheap MP3 player and let it roll with a pink noise
compressed like hell.

In the right channel, you plug the ME66 (using the K6 module with batteries),
since you don't have portable phantom power.

Adjust the volume of the pink noise until you get levels like this:


Why?

The pink noise prevents the cam from using the auto gain compensation,
so the sound on the other channel ( in this case you ME66 ), will be sort of
rough. No compression or Limiting.

This will give you amazing flexibility in post with the sound completely RAW.

For dialogs, adjust the pinks noise with the MIC at the distance you're planning
to record. This way you'll be able to control the GAIN of the ME66 that's getting
into the cam.

Open up your sound in your NLE editor and try to match levels like showed in the picture.


Hope this helps.


Until next time,
I'm Roberto.

[Sylus Harrington]

Originally Posted by Khoi Pham

You have to find a xlr to stereo mini plug 3.5mm, but the built in mic is pretty good.

Thats the one. We used this conversion kit in the recording studio shoots and it worked great. Just be carefulo of the heavy weight on the XLR conversion as it will drag down the cable and loosen the connection - and you will lose audio input quickly. We had to purchase a 4ft stereo cable so the bulky converter would rest on the ground.

[Denise Wall]

Thanks for the info. I'll try it out.

[Brian Brown]

If your sound is critical, like in an interview situation or for other dialogue, I don't think the 7D is ideal, even with the workarounds mentioned, because you can't monitor your audio.

You'd best be served by using your XH-A1 as a field recorder until you want to spring for a Zoom, Tascam, or Marantz (actual) field recorder.

And bless you if you shoot with both these cams and can find a way to A/B cut between the 7D and A1. I have both cams, and tried for awhile, but the 7D footage just blows away the A1's for what I shoot.

And I did use the A1 as a big field recorder until I scraped up enough $ to buy the Tascam DR-100. It's great. And my A1 doesn't see much use anymore. Just stays in its big Pelican case and look at me with sad eyes. <sniff>

Have fun,
Brian

[Denise Wall]

Ug. And here I thought this wouldn't be such a hard transition except for learning the video aspect of the 7D.

I will more than likely only play with any sound ideas related to using the 7D for a bit before I ever think about using anything other than the tried and true A1 for sound. But I'm worried I'm going to like the idea of just using the 7D whenever possible and will soon be leaving my A1 home alone.

[Chad Soriano]

Denise,

I ran into that same problem with my XLR shotgun. I used the above adapter from B&H and it works like a champ. I used a ECM-44b,RE50B and the Azden with the adapter on the Rebel T2i. I talk about the adapter and show a video sample of the device in action on my blog...

Chad Soriano PhotoBlog: The Canon EOS Rebel T2i Video Review

[Derek Reich]

Hi, Denise
I can certainly understand you wanting something better than the built-in mic on the 7D. (anything would be an improvement!)
I also tried to connect my ME66 and found that while it worked well, (as described all you need is an XLR to mini adapter plug) it was just too cumbersome and heavy for the hot shoe. Still wanting better nat sound from the camera, I finally settled on the Rode Video Mic.

Amazon.com: Rode VideoMic Directional Shotgun Mic w/Mount: Musical Instruments

 

Amazon.com: Rode VideoMic Directional Shotgun Mic w/Mount: Musical Instruments

For the money it's a great little mic, and provides much improved nat sound with little effort. The main limitations with the audio on the 7D (other than the annoying inability to override auto gain) is syncing audio if you're doing a lot of interviews or dialogue. But as already mentioned in this post, the 7D is not ideally suited for that, you use a video camera for those shoots.... but for a 'B' camera on a video shoot, or even a dedicated camera (with some caveats) the 7D is an incredible video camera.
Happy shooting

[Denise Wall]

Thanks Chad and Derek. I've been so blown away with the still photography aspect of the 7D I've barely explored the video yet. However, I have shot a couple of short clips just to get my feet wet. I can tell already I'm going to like it and will be using it a lot. Although I'll try the adapter with my ME66, I'll probably quickly move on to an external sound system besides the A1.

Thanks to all for your help.