- Fitri Aiyub
SONY ECM-G1 Review : A Compact Combo | ASMR
Never mind any sort of image quality obsessions if audio quality doesn't fit the bill. Some actually say its a 50-50 ordeal for filmmakers looking into telling any compelling story. I for one have been a huge advocate in prioritising music and audio to enhance the viewing experience but then again, I'm aware that I'm no audio engineer nor did i know anything about "sound" when I first started my career.
Coming across the Sony ECM-G1 reflected back on my early days as a videographer with nothing but one camera and one lens. Yet after multiple projects, the videos I made pretty much turned out the same and with little to no depth of what I was trying to show. Sooner or later, the B-roll / music trope just didn't cut it for me neither was I growing as a creative or attracting the right audience or clients.
After binge watching countless of tv shows on Netflix, car reviews on YouTube and pretty much everything that begs the "what inspires you?" question I came across in networking sessions, it was clear that I had huge missing flaw from what I was making, compared to what I was consuming. And that was Audio.
Fast forward about a year later into my freelancing career, I got myself the RODE Video Mic Pro+ paired with a separate purchase of my first audio recorder - the ZOOM H1N. And just like that, a whole new world of storytelling was introduced and I've never looked back. Something about making a video which doesn't let you feel as if you're immersed in the visual and audible story, seems like a huge disrespect to the filmmaking gods and might just bore any living human being out there.
Experiencing many other projects thereafter, I couldn't care much of who actually noticed the separate foleys I spent making over sleepless nights, it was always about what told the story best.
The SONY ECM-G1 might not be a tool to advance any of those things i've mentioned, but it could be the start of someone elses perception in the world of sound. Especially when priced at only RM599 or $148. After all, if you're just starting out, you're more likely to resort to using the onboard mics anyways. As a supercardioid microphone, it only has diameter range of 14.6mm and doesn't exactly conjure the best lows or mids but does superbly when auto levelling decibels if connected via the hot shoe mount.
I even took the chance to cheaply rig the mic into a race car's engine bay to capture the clanks and whistles out of rotary engine. Considering how small it is, its the perfect mic to stick and attach to wherever you can imagine, but just to note for you gaffers out there, it doesn't come with a 1/4 inch thread mount and is solely made to be compatible with most Sony cameras. It's bigger brother, the Sony ECM-B10 would be better choice coming with 3 selectable pickup patterns while also priced much higher at RM999 or $248.
So it really depends what camera is at your disposal at the moment and what type of audio quality you're hoping to get. If you're the kind to do most of your vlogs with something of the likes of Sony ZV1 or ZV-E10, then yes.. It would be the perfect combo for all your vlogging needs.
Written by Fitri Aiyub