VIXIA HF R800, external mic not working

[YSG]

Hi everyone

I have a HF R800 mainly to record lectures, I also have a regular external mic,

when i plug in the mic, it stops to record audio, if I unplug the mic then the machine does record audio

also the mic works on other machines

please advise

Thank you

[EastKyFF]

Thanks for your thoughts. The Bluetooth mic has a transmitting mic with a receiver. I clip the mic on my lapel and connect the receiver to the external mic jack on the camera. It worked great, but the mic was sort of big and clunky and didn't look that great so I bought the lapel mic thinking I would wear the transmitter out of sight with the lapel mic plugged into it. First time I tried it, the camera's external mic jack quit working, so I ditched the lapel and tried to go back to what I had used before, but now it won't work either.

[brclarke]

I am assuming that you are simply recording to an SD card and not out via an HDMI cable to streaming software. If so, do you have the recording level meter onscreen? Is there a possibility that you have reduced the mic volume level in Settings to zilch? Is the input volume set to A or M? Does the camera's internal mic levels work? Plugging in external mic is automatic. Assuming all settings are correct, and you connect a mic that has been verified to work in your computer or other device, and you internal mic is working, then it could be that the mic jack is not being enabled when you plug in. Other than that, I don't think there is anything else you can do.

[debiC2]

crawlins, so a lavialier mic plugged into the camera won't work by itself?

[brclarke]

Generally, no, unless it is a battery powered lavalier or a wireless lavalier mic where the powered receiver plugs into the camera.

[brclarke]

Hmmm, must have fixed it.

[danielrosehill]

As others have pointed out, the lavalier microphone needs to be powered. The camcorder isn't capable of providing phantom power.

[romulo560]

I found that if I go into the "Home" menu of the Canon Vixia hf 4800, and then go to "Other Settings" and then go to the menu under the wrench icon, and then go to "AV/Headphones" and choose "Headphones", this took the static problem away and I was able to connect my Zoom H4N sound recorder to my Vixia and record without static. However, the sound technology within the Vixia is not as sophisticated as the Zoom, so there is still a quiet hiss and the Canon can't take very loud sounds or else it peaks. I'll have to record audio seperately and put the audio and video together in post.