Consumer Camcorder microphone set up. I need advice.?

Question

Here's what I want to do. I want to shoot interviews or roundtable discussions using 2 - 4 low cost consumer video cameras. But I want good audio. How do I set up a 4 microphone system on a limited budget and have the audio feed into all two to four camcorders. (Or maybe I don't need to feed the audio into all 4 cameras. I'm just guessing the editing will be a lot easier if I do feed into all cameras at once.) Wires are okay. I don't need wireless. How do I do this on a very limited budget?

Answer 1

It depends on where the cameras are located, but if their mics can pick up the audio, then you really only need one camera with the mic(s) connected.

To set up multiple mics, you need a mixer. Why do you need 4 mics?

The MAIN camcorder needs to have a mic-in jack. Connected to the mic-in jack on the camcorder will be a mixer. Connected to the mixer will be the mics.

This is the cheapest, decent, mixer I could find:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Behringer-Xe...

You will need an adapter that goes from the mixer's Mains out to the 1/8" mic in jack on the camcorder. Then you need mics...

If all the folks talking at the table are close enough, you may be able to use a field recorder (like a Marantz or Zoom or M-Audio) and not worry about the mics because these field recorders have built-in mics. Just get the recorder close to the people speaking.