On 26/2/07, graywolf, discombobulated, unleashed: >In your list of considerations you left out rental availability. Very >important for the things you use so seldom that buying is not sensible, >and when you need a substitute because yours is in the shop.
Absolutely. If my camera breaks, my first port of call is to the hire company to pick up the replacement, then to my job. At some point I will have to drop off the camera to the repairers. By an astounding coincidence, the hire company is also the repairers ;-) In my job, time is of the essence and measured in minutes, not hours. You're entirely correct, and rental availability is a crucial consideration. It was a major determining factor why I chose my equipment supplier. They fix it when it breaks, and loan a replacement. Literally one-stop-shop. > >Funny, I have been looking at mixers and have about 90% decided upon the >Yamaha too, although apparently a lot lower spec'd model than you. I >have a couple of obsolete portable stereo cassette decks that I want to >use them for field recording. Next up are microphones, and here I could >use some advice, I have a couple of Nady's whose main virtual is that >they were essentially free with the cables I needed, and whose main >fault is their -76db sensitivity. I am thinking I would eventually want >to have a pair of dynamic omnidirectionals (EV 635a?), a pair of >condenser cardioids for each deck, and a couple of shotgun mics. Does >that seem right? I also find it somewhat ironic that adapters to mount >mics on my photographic stands are rather expensive, but not quite as >expensive (by a couple of bucks) as buying mic stands. Hell's teeth lad ;-) I'm no audio specialist - I've had a enough training and experience to get me by. I have a Sennheiser MKH-416 (directional) as the main mic in a Rycote Softie windgag with a wireless plug-on transmitter at the base. It lives on the side of the camera and eats 9v batteries like you wouldn't believe. I buy 9v and AA's by the hundreds. Otherwise I have a Beyer omni stick-mic for 'joining me now live here at the scene' Kermit the frog reporter stuff with another plug-on transmitter, two standard Sony ECM-77B lapel mics (hard wired) for boring studio type setups (to be honest they never come out, instead I use...) and a pair of Sennheiser small lapel mics that are each attached to a wireless transmitter. One is kept in a small pouch and is used several times a day, matched to the camera's on-board receiver (same freq as the 416 and the stick mic, though only one can be used at a time), and the other lives in a bigger pouch with its matched receiver and brought out for a two-handed wireless setup - although not often - I can only monitor and adjust the level of one mic/receiver combo while filming. I set the other level and leave it - usually the reporter as they tend to talk at the same level. Punters vary from Hamster Sneeze Soft to Wounded Klingon Death Bellow and you have to ride it like a Mustang with a rocket up it's arse sometimes! I suppose it depends what you're going to mic up WRT what you need. I have a friend who is a freelance sound recordist who knows much more about audio than I do, I could chuck your email past him if you like, see what he says..... -- Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ || (O) | People, Places, Pastiche ||=====| http://www.cottysnaps.com _____________________________ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
