Wind Blimp mounted on Camera rig?

[C. L. Mason]

I need a run and gun setup. I film in some pretty tough (and windy) environments and I have a project coming up where i will need to shoot solo. I am wondering if anyone has used a setup that uses a shotgun mic with Blimp windshield mounted on their rig? And if so which Blimps would work best in that setting? Is it practical/usable to have a big blimp mounted on the camera? Thanks in advance.

 

[Clayton Taylor]

Never tried a blimp. I used a mic holder -> hot shoe mount -> outrigger side handle with a custom made 6" xlr cable run to my Wooden Camera's A Box. Had a sennheiser shotgun mounted with a wind screen on it. Obviously it's very directional with the shotgun - I shot on sticks and it was strictly a scratch/reference track. You may want a different mic but that's what I did.

 

[Todd T]

It would help to know if you are trying to recording dialog or just ambient sounds.

Considerations with using a camera mounted shotgun for dialog are (1) camera noise, and (2) background noise from sources behind your subject.

Shotgun mics, although directional, still pick up some sound from the rear and sides. This will include breathing from the operator running handheld, and fan noise from the camera.

Other than that, you would need to figure out if the size for the mic and blimp would be workable for your configuration.

 

[Terry VerHaar]

Sound recorded with this configuration will be pretty unusable for most purposes unless you actually mean to be recording ambient sound; wind, footsteps, airplanes, traffic. I can't imagine conditions under which you will get good voice recording. Specific circumstances will vary greatly so YMMV.

Practically speaking, I am not sure I'd bother with the blimp and I'd just put a foam windscreen on and call it a day.

 

[Brody_B]

I need a run and gun setup. I film in some pretty tough (and windy) environments and I have a project coming up where i will need to shoot solo. I am wondering if anyone has used a setup that uses a shotgun mic with Blimp windshield mounted on their rig? And if so which Blimps would work best in that setting? Is it practical/usable to have a big blimp mounted on the camera? Thanks in advance.

Any mic, shotgun or not, that is far from the source or mounted on cam, is not gonna give you any focused results. If you are doing dialog by yourself, you would need to have a battery powered lav on the subject. If you are capturing ambient then placed on camera is fine, and any blimp that will fit your mic will do it. If its super windy that day, add a dead cat to your blimp. Also make sure you use a HPF. May be a little cumbersome but will work fine.

 

[C. L. Mason]

Thanks for the input all. Yes, it's mainly for ambient sounds and some spontaneous lose up dialogue. I realize for quality dialogue I am going to need to have a separate mic. I guess i should do some testing of the Blimp vs just mic and foam. I have used the Rode Blimp with an external recorder on top of a mountain in a very windy environment and it worked great. Just wasn't sure if it was physically feasible to mount it for solo work.

 

[Tarquin Cardona]

Stereo Video Mic X seems to work really well for what you are saying you want to do with loose D and Ambient.

 

[Mark Spraker]

I'm not sure if you already have one but if you use the Rode Blimp the Universal Blimp Adapter will let you save some weight by bypassing the pistol grip.

 

[C. L. Mason]

Ah that's a great tip. Thank you.