Rant! :(

[Andeh13]

Just bought a Hitachi HD camcorder off Ebay, from Argo's Outlet. Looks good, was cheap, full 12 month warranty and when it turned up it produced some fantastic HD videos... The only problem is it doesnt record any sound with the videos, or it does but at incredibly low volumes. I shouted into the mic & could just about make it up with the laptops volume up high!

Reason I bought it is my Grandma is very very ill, and I am about to go on a weeks holiday with my Daughter (her first holiday) and I was hoping to record everything to put on DVD for my Grandma when I got back. Would also have been nice to have all the memories of her first holiday or myself to watch in the future.

I am furious and gutted in equal measures, no time to return it, no chance of getting it fixed 9we fly out sunrise on Tuesday) & a weeks worth of memories to remind me how gutted I am not to record them! No one is to blame, its just bad luck but I am so hacked off that it was to happen now, the day before I fly out! Ill have a nose in Dixon's at the airport to see if there are any cheap cameras there, but i wont be able to find any cheap HD camera in there for anything reasonable (high sub £100). 7

edit: I take it back, Dixons wont be open. We fly out at 7am on Tuesday aaaargh dammit!!

[Gerrard]

Bit of a hassle, but could you use something else to record the sound whilst filming (mobile, dictaphone or something) and then combine them both back at home? Have you also looked to see if there's a "Mic In" socket on the camera?

[Andeh13]

I could do that!! If I record the video on my camera and the sound on my mobile (it has a voice recorder, hopefully it will work in speaker phone mode) I could then sync them afterwards. I presume I would be able to advance/retard the audio so it linked up with the video better?

Any good programs that would allow me to do that? thank you thank you thank you!


(no mic in slot on the camera)

[jim]

I think you should be able to do it with virtualdub, I'm sure I have in the past

[GoNz0]

has it got a mic in socket ? worth trying a headset mic to see if its the built in one thats faulty ?

if so you should be able to grab a cheap mic that fits the accesory socket ?

[jim]

(no mic in slot on the camera)

has it got a mic in socket

I'm guessing that's a no

[Gerrard]

I could do that!! If I record the video on my camera and the sound on my mobile (it has a voice recorder, hopefully it will work in speaker phone mode) I could then sync them afterwards. I presume I would be able to advance/retard the audio so it linked up with the video better?

Any good programs that would allow me to do that? thank you thank you thank you!


(no mic in slot on the camera)

You could do a basic combo with Windows Movie Maker (free), but I'm not sure how easy it would be to get it precise. I doubt it would have any advance features for doing stuff like that.

[GoNz0]

I'm guessing that's a no

what model is it ?

[Andeh13]

Thank you all for the suggestions!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HITACHI-D60PT-...ht_2518wt_1139


Hitachi D60, fantastic bit of kit, the videos came out really well! Just need to get this audio sorted!

[GoNz0]

i have to ask, is the volume turned up in the menu ?

[Behemoth]

I was wondering the above myself, although never known a camcorder that you'd need to turn the volume up for recording.

[GoNz0]

well i read a manual for an older 5mp model that had playback volume and did wonder with it basically being cheap that the volume controlled the inbuilt speaker and the output to tv/pc etc.
the volume was in the menu system and not a button and the jog dial thingy.

[mcmiller]

if the audio is just really quiet you can just use a program like cool edit pro to turn it up or buy a flip cam they are less than £100 and pretty decent

[Andeh13]

I have tried turning the sound up loud in the menu, gone through every setting & every page of the manual & cant find anything that could adjust it! I will keep digging though, it definitely records it but it is beyond quiet. I doubt I'd be able to amplify it, especially with the 'noise' that gets recorded.

[roachcoach]

There's no easy way to say this without sounding like a Grade-A ******...but you're not holding it such that the mic is obscured/blocked?

[Andeh13]

Nope, mic is on the fold out screen, pointing forwards!