External Microphone problem

SquaretheJon

SquaretheJon

Hi,

I recently got a Canon hf200 camcorder and I really like the quality of it. However, when I borrowed a friend's headset to use as an external microphone and tried it out, it did not work, no sound came out of it. I read the instructor's manual on how to use an external mic, and it told me "when an external microphone is connected to the camcorder (shows icon of camcorder with 2 dots) [wind screen] will automatically be set to [OFF - (then shows a icon that has OFF/microphone sign)]"

Sorry if that's confusing, but thats what it says, and I don't know if I'm supposed to turn the wind screen ON, and if so, how would I do that?

I just want sound coming out of the external mic. Is this problem fixable?

Thanks
 
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I'm confused...you want sound coming out of the external mic? Do you mean you want to record the sound coming INTO the external mic, or you want to hear what the camera is recording through the headset?

If you have an external mic you want to use to record sound, plug it into the external mic jack. If you want to listen to what is being recorded, plug headphones into the headphone jack.
 
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Sorry for the confusion.

I just want the microphone from the headset to pick up sounds. It has something to do with something turned OFF. I am using the headset as an external microphone to pick up sounds more clearly. I'm not sure why something is turned OFF on my consumer camera. Do you have any suggestions on how to fix it?
 
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I'm still confused, so let's see if I've got it straight...

You or the talent is wearing a headset microphone.

The headset mic is plugged into the mic input on the camera.

You are not getting audio from the headset.


If the above is true we still need the following information:

The make/model of the headset.

The make/model of the camera.

The connector(s) being used to connect the headset mic to the camera.

The make/model of any mixers, preamps, etc. that you may be using.

If anything else that may be connected to the camera.

What you have already done with regard to problem solving/troubleshooting.



It could be a problem with impedance, phantom power, levels, settings, connectors, convertors or even something as simple as a dead/tired battery.

Give it all to us in clear, concise, excruciating detail.
 
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I am using a friend's headset, it is a Cyber Acoustic AC-634.

I am using my consumer camcorder, Canon hf200.

I put the RED mic plug in the RED mic input of my camcorder. When I do so, towards the bottom right I see an icon that says (OFF/(microphone sign)). Then I figured out, that that is the Wind Screen setting. But when I plugged the microphone in it turned off all audio, so the microphone is not picking up any sounds. As soon as I take the mic out, the icon goes away and the built-in microphone continues to pick up sound. My problem is that, when I put the mic in the mic input, I want the microphone to be able to record sounds more clearly, but instead, the microphone seems to be "muting" all sounds. That's the best way I can describe it.

So I went to the settings, and went to the Wind Screen setting, and it gave me two options: automatic, or OFF. Either one I set it to, sound is picked up. But again, as soon as I add the mic to the mic input, no audio is being recorded. I see a horizontal bar on the bottom left corner that shows the frequencies of sound (when it's loud, the bar goes high (right), when it's soft noise, it stays close to the left). The bar had levels (green, yellow, red) So when I put the microphone in the input, all the colors disappeared. But the bar remained.

I'm not sure what's wrong. If you need more clarification, just ask.
 
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