Rebel T2i: Audio Option Comparison

A couple months ago, I posted a quick audio test for shooting video on a Canon Rebel T2i/550D. Today, I decided to shoot another quick T2i audio comparison that includes using the onboard mic, a Røde NTG-2 shotgun microphone, and a Zoom H4n digital recorder.

I know it’s not super pretty, but I think you can assess the difference between the options. If’s it’s helpful to you, let me know and I’ll try to post more videos of this sort.

P.S. If you want a little more info, leave a comment or check out my audio setup post.

Audio Testing with the T2i

With any new setup, it’s important to test it’s capabilities and limitations. Over the past couple weeks I’ve started testing the Rebel T2i to see what I can do with it. Today’s test has is about some basic audio.

The Canon T2i comes with an internal mic like all the other Canon video DSLRs. It’s pretty crappy. If you handle the camera at all, the internal mic picks it up. It’s really of little use except for home movies.

With my setup, I didn’t want to record the audio on a separate unit and spend tons of time syncing audio in post. To get better audio, I purchased a Røde NTG-2 shotgun mic with a shockmount that can be mounted to the camera’s hot shoe. The reason I went with the NTG-2 was because of two factors: cost + battery-powered. I wanted something that I didn’t need to use phantom power with. I also got an XLR to mini cable so I could plug it directly into the camera with no XLR adapter box.

In the video below, you’ll see what the audio was like with the Røde NTG-2 and with the camera’s internal mic. Two things to note before watching. First, yes… I forgot to white balance. Second, the first clip is with the NTG-2 plugged directly into the camera; the second clip is the same as the first, but cleaned up in post; the third clip is the camera’s internal microphone.

Conclusions

I the amount of noise from the mic into the camera is pretty bad. And I don’t want to take the time in post to clean it up, while losing overall sound quality because of it. However, it is still a better solution than the internal mic because it is directional and you get a cleaner audio of your subject.

If I can manage before I head out on a trip to Ethiopia where I’m going to be filming, I’ll try to get ahold of one of the Beachtek XLR adapters. I’ve read a bit about them and they help reduce the noise quite a bit.

UPDATE: I ended up getting a Zoom H4n digital recorder instead of the Beachtek adapter.