Jump to content

Wooden Camera VX Skateboard Mic: Ridiculous or sublime?


Jim Feeley

Recommended Posts

So this showed up in my email box today. I can't figure out if this is for real, or are they just 31-days ahead of Lectro's announcement? I mean, Wooden Camera is legit, but...uh... how does this compare to a Schoeps MSTC 64?

 

skateboardmic.png

 

"Why does this product matter? The Sony VX1000 was introduced in 1995 and changed the way skateboarding videos looked and sounded. The internal microphone design was particularly good at recording clear skateboard noises compared to previous Hi-8 cameras. Since the move to HD, there has been no standard for audio capture in skateboarding which is why no two skate videos sound the same. Let's make it sound like 1995 again."

 

 

34-second demo/tease:

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Skateboarder here of 18 years

 

The signal to noise ratio of skateboarding was perfect for the VX1000 microphones build.  Very sounds how it looks.

 

The sony vx1000 is the Nagra of skateboarding world. In the skateboard industry it is all instagram and HD video as the norm for sponsorship and media consumption starting around 2015.   To put in scope about how sought after and nostalgia driven the market behind the VX1000 is, I will point you in the direction of Spirit Quest , made by Colin Read.    He made the skateboard video linked below and it blew up, got him a directing job for Radiohead and tossed his ass into our film making world.     This video went against everything the industry stands for in terms of media, yet won multiple best video of the year awards in skateboarding magazines...(Independent skate video of the year..... Nike and corporate sponsors pay so much to advertise they would have had a hissy fit if they lost to an independent skateboard film maker)

 

https://spiritquest.vhx.tv/

 

The VX1000 mic was superior to the GL series in close up audio capturing. The Canon GL mics were trash with everything sounding like it was hot and tinny.  The VX1000 mic has been chased after ever since the Panasonic DVX upgrade started happening.   No prosumer camera was able to replicate the decibal range and quality of the vx1000.  Even the Sony HPX onwards were not as full sounding.  

 

If this is an on the mark clone of the OG VX1000 mic that is really really cool.

 

I've been using my gopro with my ZMT3ph and a 416 on a pistol grip while working on my @grill_skates projects and would probably use this to get my old school VX1000 sound back.

 

Would i put this on a ZMT and care about this on a job? No.... unless someone needed to mimic a VX1000 handle and we couldn't find any.   

 

Hopefully some of you can enjoy the video we worked on!

I'll be in SF skateboarding next week if anyone wants to grab a beer!

 

Edit : $300 is a lot,  I've replaced broken VX mics for friends cameras I have broken off with my skateboard for $40. Wonder if there is a way to roll up the ribbon cable from the old ones and put an 1/8th stereo cable on the end.

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Signal to noise perfect for skateboarding?  You need need a specific S/N to record wheels rolling on concrete a few inches away?  I did a huge amount of post production of various docs (incl skateboarding ) with VX1000 footage when the cameras were first available, and can tell you that the characteristic sound of the whole system is very harsh, distorted and jagged.  This has much more to do with the camera's mic preamp, AGC and audio ADC than the crappy little handle-mic does, since the camera continued to sound like itself even when other mics were plugged into it.   It's passing from the ranks of commonly used cameras was cause for celebration around here.  Fetishizing old technology of such questionable quality is more or less the same as people rhapsodizing about how great 1970s-80s TEAC quarter-track reel-to-reel recorders sound compared to current digital machines.   It's a sort of "collectorism", and just makes it harder for everyone down the line.  And...do these folks actually like the look of the footage from those wretched things?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Philip Perkins said:

Signal to noise perfect for skateboarding?  You need need a specific S/N to record wheels rolling on concrete a few inches away?  I did a huge amount of post production of various docs (incl skateboarding ) with VX1000 footage when the cameras were first available, and can tell you that the characteristic sound of the whole system is very harsh, distorted and jagged.  This has much more to do with the camera's mic preamp, AGC and audio ADC than the crappy little handle-mic does, since the camera continued to sound like itself even when other mics were plugged into it.   It's passing from the ranks of commonly used cameras was cause for celebration around here.  Fetishizing old technology of such questionable quality is more or less the same as people rhapsodizing about how great 1970s-80s TEAC quarter-track reel-to-reel recorders sound compared to current digital machines.   It's a sort of "collectorism", and just makes it harder for everyone down the line.  And...do these folks actually like the look of the footage from those wretched things?

 

 Solid knowledge. Meant skateboarding is so loud, a semi crappy camera itself sounded pretty true to what you hear as a skateboarder I guess. 

 

People enjoy picasso , some people enjoy clip art .  Who am I to say?  It is fun, which is the core of skateboarding.

 

i would consider all factors high production value and true to the audio values of being in the experience for the editor to choose .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmm. Wikipedia says that the VX1000 was famous because of its fisheye accessories. Makes sense, my brother has been shooting stakeboard photos since he was 16 (that was 1984) and I never saw him using a regular lens :) Actually I always poked fun at him about the guys show in the air upside down.

 

http://www.confuzine.com/tag/jaime-marcos/

 

I'll ask him anyway out of curiosity. 

 

I also wonder, will it be a similar design to the Sony ECM-MS907?

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...