Sounds of "cheap, cheap" echo all around

My friend wanted me to shoot the documentary for his independent film on my Sony TRV103, a digital-8 camcorder. His rehearsals took place on the stage of his theater. Its echo chamber ambience revealed my camera's audio inadequacy. The sounds captured proved to be more noise than dialog and what words did come through were faint and hollow. I needed an external mic to improve sound quality.

Most modern videocams have a mount (called a shoe) that provides power and holds an external mic. Given my camera dated back to a president who preferred to make love and not war, my shoe was simply a powerless mount, which narrowed my limited choices to the cheapest: the MZM1.

What does it look like?

The plastic body is barely larger than two triple-A batteries stacked end-to-end. One half holds a single battery and the other contains the mic itself. As you can see in the photo, the battery end also bulges with a three-position switch: Off, Norm, and Zoom. Under the bulge is the "camcorder shoe mount" a flimsy disc that you tighten or loosen to attach the mic to or remove it from the shoe. Sprouting from the bulge is an eight-foot cord ending in 3.5mm stereo plug An included "wind screen" (which is actually a foam glove) fits around the mic end.

How do you use it?

The MZM1 is best used with a pair of headphones on your camcorder. Otherwise, there's no way of knowing if the mic is on or if the battery is still working. A couple of my shots turned out silent because I forgot to turn on the mic and wasn't listening to the sound pickup via earphones.

Surprisingly, since it looked so cheap, the unit works as advertised. The ambient noise lessened considerably and the voices grew louder and more solid. (The effect wasn't spectacular but given the price, it was noticeable.) This was especially true in zoom mode, which focuses the pickup to the front of the unit. In fact, if I wanted to catch a conversation between two people on either side of the camera, I had to move the switch to norm or the video would contain only half a conversation.

One tip: if you need to lessen background noise from crowds, wind, or echo, put the foam windscreen on the mic.

Why just two stars? And why the recommendation?

I expect more solidity from a three-star or higher product. The slightly built housing feels like it would collapse under a sudden gust of creativity. The lack of a power light rivals the ergonomic design of a naked mole rat. And the main body wobbles precariously on the tiny attachment screw. I have to treat the MZM1 more delicately than any other piece of video equipment, carefully removing it after each shoot and storing it in a makeshift plastic case.

I'm recommending it mildly nevertheless because of the lack of other choices for improving sound the way it does. But then my audio pick-up was never great to begin with. Those of you with better built-in mics will be disappointed.

Details

Price $41.99
Low impedance
Type: Electret Condenser
Sensitivity: -50dB +/- 5db unbalance (Normal) 0dB=1V/PA
-46dB +/- 5db unbalance (Normal) 0dB=1V/PA
Frequency Response: 100-10KHz
Dynamic Range: 80db

© 2006 by alocsin