Episode 6 | Backcountry Filmmaking and Photography

[Backpacking Light]

Companion forum thread to: Episode 6 | Backcountry Filmmaking and Photography

Backcountry filmmaking and photography used to required thirty or more pounds of gear. Here’s how to produce great media at minimum weight!

[Kenneth Knight]

Ryan, I have treid the Rode VideoMicro and really want to like it. But I have found a fair amount of low hiss seems to be present. I didn’t hear that in the latest podcast so am wondering how you have the microphone connected to your iPhone when you use it. I do know the hiss can be removed in post-processing but dealing with that is always irritating as it adds an extra step to any workflow.

By the way, you might want to look at Ferrite for audio editing. It is, in many  ways, the audio editor equivilant to Luma Fusion which I agree is a great app for video work.

The real hard part about backcountry recording, video and audio, is that sometimes you just do not have the time to get the shot when other people are around pushing you to “get a move  on” as it were.  At least that has been the case for me and I am not trying to make a complex film like Chris.

For what it is worth I think I first heard of Byrnje from Peter Vacco years ago. It is remarkable that it works. Too bad what I currently own does not fit me that well.

 

[Ryan Jordan]

Ken, you may have a bad mic, a bad cable, or a bad USB on the host – these are all sources of hiss.

One of the main reasons I use the VideoMicro (this version) is that the noise floor is almost nonexistent.

It’s a great mic for recording outdoors (shock mount, directional, and has a dead cat windscreen), and I only used it in the podcast because I was recording into an iPad (my computer is away for repair right now). (Otherwise I use a different studio mic that does a better job of flattening the vocals).

To connect the VideoMicro to an iPad or iPhone I use a TRS/TRRS cable, and plug that into a TRRS->Lightning cable, which then gets plugged into the iOS device.

[Kenneth Knight]

Yeah, I thought of all those noise sources. It certainly does sound quite good outside and that is the primary reason I have it too. I have actually tried swapping out all those items. At least I thought I had. Maybe I will just try again.

I have actually tried swapping out all those items. At least I thought I had. Maybe I will just try again

Of course,I probably won’t put too much effort into it because unlike you really nobody listens to the things I put out. And, I must admit, I don’t actually put out that much these days.

[Kenneth Knight]

By thecway, I have been considering buying a Shure Motiv MV88 for outside use. A bug plus is the direct connection to an iPhone which means less fiddling about time.

As Chris implied audio is ever changing.

[Gunnar H]

Regarding power strategies in cold weather, I have a Sony RX100 IV with crap batteries that die very fast when filming when it is cold, I can often not even get the whole sequence. I have solved this by having a Power Bank warm close to the body and powering my camera directly from it with a micro USB cord, giving enourmous amount of reiable power compared to a tiny camera battery. The cord is inserted in the camera also when I am not using it so I can start filming quickly. It should at least in theory also allow for a more efficient use of the energy stored in the Power Bank since it is used directly without being stored in the camera battery, but I am not sure there is any real gain there. This works so well for me that I so far haven’t been bothered to get better batteries.

Regarding Brynje (or brynja in Swedish), this garment has been in extensive use in the Scandinavian countries for long time up until the 80-ies when it became something mainly old people use. It was then the name of the garment rather than a brand name. They certainly work, but you could get marks from it in the skin under the hip belt from the nylon/cotton versions that where common then. To use merino wool instead seems like a good idea.

[J-L]

Ryan, you said that water resistance is one of your key criteria for a camera; however, the Sony RX100 line that is recommended seems to have no water resistance or weather sealing. Am I missing something about the camera?

[Ryan Jordan]

Correct – the RX100 has no water resistance. I can’t wait for this feature to come out on this camera…(hoping)

[Paul Trulove]

Ryan

To prolong the life of Li-ion batteries, mid to shallow discharge is strongly indicated.  Fully discharging a Li-ion battery between charges will actually minimize its life.  Please see the tables provided in

https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

The only battery type where 100% depth of discharge was necessary was the NiCd because they developed discharge memory.  Li-ion cells are not subject to this effect.  The general recommendation for Li-ion batteries is to charge them whenever possible.  The only caveat to this is that you don’t want to leave them in the 100% charged state for extended periods of time (e.g., weeks to months) because of potential electrolyte breakdown.

 

 

 

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