External Mic Question

[Ryan M. Johnson]

Hi all. Long time reader, first time poster.

First of all, is there a way to use the camera's microphone in conjunction with an external shotgun mic? I've looked through the manual and played around with the settings and have come to the conclusion that it's not possible, but I thought I'd ask just in case I'm missing something. What I'd like to do is place a wireless shotgun mic closer to the subjects I'm shooting, and use the xha1's microphone to get the sound from where I'm shooting.

I was recently considering selling my xha1, but thought better. During that time I noticed that a lot of used xha1 listings note the hours that the camera was used. Did these people keep a log or estimate, or is there a counter somewhere in the xha1 settings that keeps track of its running time? Sorry if this is a dumb question, but it seems important when selling the camera.

Thanks for the help!

[Janson Williams]

unfortunately its not possible, i have wanted to record with onboard mic as well, as for the timer, idk about that. i dont think so, its just an estimate of what the seller believes they used the camera for

[Richard Gooderick]

Originally Posted by Ryan M. Johnson

During that time I noticed that a lot of used xha1 listings note the hours that the camera was used. Did these people keep a log or estimate, or is there a counter somewhere in the xha1 settings that keeps track of its running time? Sorry if this is a dumb question, but it seems important when selling the camera.

It's not a dumb question. The Sony A1, for instance, records hours recorded and played. The Canon A1 doesn't. I love my Canon A1 but it does quite a few things worse than my Sony A1.
If the subject is not too far from the camera you could record the sound separately into a recorder and use the on board camera to sync the soundtracks in your NLE. If the subject is too far away the delay caused by the distance will make this difficult. Don't ask me how far is too far - I've never tried.
Or it might be more sensible to record your ambience into a recorder and your shotgun into the camera so that you can monitor the levels, but you would need to buy or rent another mic as well as a recorder.
You don't have to use a wireless mic if you don't want to. You could put it on a wire if your subject isn't moving.
However you say subject_s_.
Isn't it going to be difficult to record more than one subject properly with a fixed shotgun mic ie one will be off-mic? I think so.

[Ryan M. Johnson]

Thanks for the help guys. Good to know.