Alexi was one of a few other performers: dancers and singers. These young performers were amazing… goosebumps territory! So much talent developed to near perfection at such a young age. I hope to post the other performers soon.
After negotiations with the theatre ushers, I was allowed to use a tripod but only if I stood at the very back of the auditorium (fire regulations). Unable to hook up to the house audio, I had to make do with shotgun mikes.
So I lined up a Sony a99/Tamron 70-200f2.8 combo with a RodePro mic, a Sony HXR-NC30 with its dedicated shotgun mike, and a Zoom H4N set to 90 degrees. Two video and three audio captures… one of these had to work right.
I combined the two video captures but the audio in this video is strictly from the Sony HXR-NX30: an awesome surprise! This little number is a gem. I turned off all the IS (internal stabilization). But I did forget to specify spot metering and it was a pain in post to bring down the highlights. Mildly successful except from 1:10-1:30… I couldn't do much about the blown highlights.
I'm beginning to trust this NX30 for its audio, for its sharpness, its low light capability, and although not used here, its amazing (and unique to Sony) Active Mode IS (some gyro mechanism). The IQ (image quality) out of the NX30 beats the much larger sensored a99. And being a videocamera, handling and ease-of-use is of course better than the a99 (videocamera form factor, no down-sampling/line skipping).
I am just so pleased with the audio capture... the video was a given. Some wonderful lessons learned here such as: 1) critical to support a 70-200 on the lens itself and not on the camera body, 2) always have a small LED flashlight, 3) have dedicated headphones for each device, 4) more to come...
