GL1 microphone. tech question

[Brendan Denneus]

Hey, new to this forum. but have been browsing around for awhile
I have a gl1 and its missing the microphone. i have an extra one handy. But i have no clue where to start unscrewing to get inside the handle area to install the mic. Anybody here experienced in this area?
Thanks

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/8269/cimg4119oe8.jpg

[K. Forman]

I wouldn't bother with it, as the stock mic is pretty bad anyways. Most folk just use a shotgun on the accessory shoe.

[Brendan Denneus]

what sucks is that the external mic jack is broken too. so i wanted to take the mic from my other gl1 and put it on this one and then get a shotgun mic for the gl1 with the working jack.

[Don Palomaki]

Actually, the stock mic is fairly good for a build-in mic. Problem is no mic is going to sound very good if more than a few feet from the talent, and more direcitonal mics reduce potentially unwanted sound from the sides. The stock mic is stereo wiht cardoid pattern 45 degrees to left and right of center, so pick up is fairly wide.

Getting to the mic capsules is a substantial undertaking. It goes something like:
remove bottom cover (6 screws)
remove left cover (6 screws)
remove top cover (3 screws)
remove the "U" cover (red plastic around LCD pivot)
remove handle unit (8 screws)
Then you disassemble the handle unit
remove excessory shoe sprint
remove a cable protector plat at back of handel (2 screws)
separate handle top and bottom (7 screws)
Working on the handle top
remove accessory shoe (2 screws)
remove one screw from a connector CN453 to remove the mic unit.

Note that the screws are various sizes abd typoes, so be careful to keep them in order and in the proper locations.

You can order a service manual from Canon parts with photos, etc. that might help in the process

Good luck

[K. Forman]

My problem with the stock mic is, and always has been, that it picks up everything behind the cam, and little in front of it. My XL1s was the biggest culprit. I shot one wedding, maybe 7-9 feet slightly to the side of the B&G. The camera picked up every disposable camera click and pop 15 feet behind me, but not the vows.

[Don Palomaki]

Many B&G whisper their vows, can't even be heard clearly by their parents, much less a camcorder at some distance. About the only way to get their voices with any degree of reliability is to put a wireless mic on the groom and hope the bride did not totally lose her voice. (Hmmm, is the a coorelation between how softly she speaks her vows and how well he can hear her voice later?) I've observed that even putting the mic on the officiant may not be good enough to get some B&G 's voices.

Camera shutter noises will be picked up because they tend to carry well and stand out from other background/ambient noises. Also a single point stereo mic such as on the GL1 and XL1 typically has about a 270 degree combined channel pick-up pattern, with significant rejection (greater than 10 dB) only in a narow cone (perhaps 60 degrees wide) to the rear of the camcorder. See the specs for the AT825 at their web site for an example. Shotgun mics will have much narrower pickup pattern (perhaps 120 degrees wide) and higher rear/side rejection.

Unlike most human ear-brain systems, microphones are dumb, and cannot differentiate among sounds except by their loudness at the mic diaphram. Sound wave loudness-distance follows an inverse square law. Thus the camcorder operators whisper can be as loud (or even louder) to the mic than a normal voice 10 feet away.

[K. Forman]

You know Don... you are one of those people I truly envy, because of your strong technical understanding of the equipment. I am the other side of the coin, fighting the machine to produce what I see and hear. I bet you were also good at algebra and calculous, weren't you? It was all Greek to me ;)