Plugging a mic into 5D Mark 2

Apologies if this is a stupid question. I've never really filmed video on my 5dmk2 before today, and tried to attach a mic to it but the camera would not detect it. Is there a setting or something I need to set so that it detects the mic? Or is it plug and play? I am on the latest firmware.

Hoping that I don't need to send this in for repair.

Thanks!

Hello Friend


It appears that using an external microphone on a 5D2 is certainly not a plug n play proposition. You need to configure some simple settings on your camera.

I haven't tried an external mic on my 5D2 before so this may appear like the blind leading the blind At a recent Canon show in London I purchased an excellent DVD entitled Stills In Motion by Drew Gardner which is available through www.fstopacademy.com. It offers step by step instructions, suggestions and advice on this subject. Having viewed part of the DVD I'll summarise the setup procedure below. It is not much different to ordinarily setting up shooting video on your camera but comes with additional explanations.

To begin with

1. Switch on your camera putting the on switch to the double position

2. Using the Mode dial, set the camera to Manual


Go to the camera's shooting settings

1. Select the correct video system for your region or the region which you have been asked to shoot for

Assuming you're in the US, it's NTSC

2. Then select Live View/Movie Function set up

3. Scroll down to Movie Rec size

Select 1920x1080 which is Full HD ( you can always downsize later if you wish )

4. Next, select the frame rate to shoot at. This is important as frame rate is related to mains power frequency.

In the US where power runs at 60Hz the frame rate is 30P. Same for Japan

UK and EU which runs at 50HZ is 24P

Note - Choice of frame rates is dependent on where you're in or for which country you are shooting for. So if you are in the US but shooting for a client in the EU, you need to select 24P. If you are shooting for someone else, get them to confirm which frame rate they would like you to shoot at.


Setting Sound

In Live View/Movie Function

1. Scroll down to Sound Recording

2. Select Manual


Saving Settings in My Favorites

1. Go to the green My Menu Setting in the Top line of the menu bar

2. Press Register

3. Scroll down to Live View/Movie Functions

3. Press Set and OK

Note - if you have not set up your Live View/Movie Functions before, you can do this directly in My Menu by first selecting Register and then scrolling down to Live View/Movie Functions and proceeding as above.


Ther you are, instructions from a blind man I think I've included everything there is to know. Feel free to come back to me if you're stuck. You can connect up and plug in your ext mic.

Happy Shooting