FX1 motor noise

[Georg Herbet]

Any of you FX1 owners notice motor noise (tape) that is loud enough to be picked up by the onboard mic? Any other noises?

[John Poore]

Yep I've noticed a lot of noise. In one shoot, in a cave, which had very little background noise, I had a sennhieser mounted on the forward braket, not my usual preference, but that's just the way it was. The motor noise sounded like a dodge viper with the exhaust removed. It can be a noisy little camera. Particularly the zoom.
Use a lot of rubber on any mike bracket you mount. I did a few tests and most the noise is vibration carried throught the cam frame.

Ps to get rid of the noise, try using FCP's Band notch filter set at a frequency of 1750 or so.

[Nick Hope]

I've recently noticed my Z1P tape carriage getting much noisier after about 6 months of use. The internal mic picks it up a lot during quiet scenes.

Anyone else? Worth getting Sony to check this out for me?

[Matt Davis]

Originally Posted by Georg Herbet

Any of you FX1 owners notice motor noise (tape) that is loud enough to be picked up by the onboard mic? Any other noises?

Ooh, that wonderful Sony 'iiinggggg' in the background. Like nails down a blackboard. It's the sound of Cain...

I believe there's an option in the Audio menu to engage 'Noise Reduction' for the on-board mics (which IIRC plays havoc with external mics FWIW). The noise this reduces is that wretched 'ing' sound. As I'm always using external mics, I just can't remember the specifics (and I don't have it to hand).

The other sound I hate is that "wu-oop" sound of the zoom servo at full tilt. This appears to be more serious as it doesn't come through the mic - its a sort of bleed through. I'm now using the 'manual' ring and never crash zoom when recording useful audio, so again I can't be specific - it's just a no-go area from past experience.

I once swore I'd put the wretched thing in a masher, then I realised that the independent limiters and audio setup on the Z1 were really rather good compared to others I've tried, so I've forgiven it - but external mics, a funny bracket thing to extend the distance between the camera and my CS-1, and a close/boom/lav mic wherever possible.

Useful bracket by Rycote (can't find it on Rycote site): http://www.mdma.tv/images/cs1-front.jpg - it usually sticks out further than that. Had been shooting in a building site, hence the condition! :)

You can still hear it in dead quiet situations, but mostly goes unnoticed.

[Richard Iredale]

You might want to have someone take a look at it. Every camcorder with a tape system uses a spinning drum, and that drum noise is only a few inches away from the onboard mic. Worse, the noise is not only acoustic but is also transmitted through the chassis.

I've concluded that Sony must use a notch filter for their on-board mic in order to mitigate the whine as much as possible, but perhaps something in the mic assembly is out of spec so more whine is picked up. My own FX1 is reasonably quiet, but if the audio gain is cranked way up one can definitely hear all sorts of things. The other three camcorders I own and every other camcorder I've ever had all suffer from the same condition.

If you have the option, go with an external microphone with a decent shock mount.

[Tom Hardwick]

The OIS system (vari-angle prism) on my old VX2k was pretty noisy in action too, but I haven't noticed the vibrating internal elements of the Z1's OIS at all.

[Sho Wada]

Hi all.

I have been thinking of buying an used FX-1 and the other day, I got to use it.

I noticed that when I put down the FX-1 on a flat surface such as a table, and used handle zooming (set to slowest), I can feel very small vibration around Z70~Z90. Not much noise but the vibration.
If I use handle zooming while on hand or the zoom ring, the vibration is too small so that I cannot feel.

Is this normal noise problem? or something else?

Any advises would be appreciated.

Thanks
Sho

[Tom Hardwick]

No, it's not normal, but then again it doesn't sound as if it's a problem - yet. It may be that some grit has entered the mechanism. It might get worse, it might not. Can you hear anything with your ear up close?

tom.

[Sho Wada]

The owner of the "problem FX1" has sent it to SONY to get it checked.
Just received a phone call from SONY and they told him that there is no problem with the camera.

I have found a thread about a similar problem with V1J.

I own V1J and there is no vibration during the zooming. No noise either.

Is FX1 worth buying now? I need a second camera which is better than V1J in low light situation.

[Tom Hardwick]

Originally Posted by Sho Wada

Is FX1 worth buying now? I need a second camera which is better than V1J in low light situation.

Only you can answer that. Only you know the price being asked. Factor in a repair/service cost and how does the deal look now? Buying second hand is always risky - that's why you shouldn't pay too much.

[Sho Wada]

I ended up buying the used FX1 since it has been checked with Sony.

HOWEVER there might be another problem.

please read
"grain without gain? FX1"

Thanks all for your advices.

Sho

[Tom Hardwick]

give us a link, and we might just do that