got my em320e mic this week and dismounted it :D

first info:

• it has 2 capsules, one in the tip an another about 5cm (2inch) deeper

• it has 2 amplifier stages both with C1740 transistor

• pin 3 of the XLR is not connected (no balanced signal)

• it seems the deeper capsule is not supplied (not active) in the normal mode, only the tip one and I think both are supplied in tele mode (don't remember exactly)

I am thinking to supply it from GH2 - there seems to be 4.7V out of it (I didn't check myself that), and I think the 4.7V could give the signal more headroom - in tele position it sounds limited in both frequency and dynamic compared to normal. I need to add a wire from the audio signal pad to the supply pad, but I need to check it more before I do.

Maybe also change the capsules later. I found on farnell a capsule that goes 50Hz-16kHz

@balazer Thanks once again. I am getting my camera next week. I have the i river h140 recorder which has 40gb hard disk space on it.(fits into the pocket) http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1623026,00.asp.

I also have two excellent lapel microphones soldered together to a stereo pin with 10 ft of cable.Hope these mics might work on my gh2.Darren the audio professional who made these excellent mics talks about them on the dvinfo forum. http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/archive/index.php/t-42185.html

I can always keep going back to the " i river" combo as before to get additional "safe" audio track along with the on board camera audio.

Thanks once again for the help.

The Sony ECM-NV1 is not likely to work with 2.5 V if it calls for 48 V. But there's no harm in trying it with the cable you bought.

The cheapest way to get a dynamic mic like your Shure SM58 connected to the GH2 is with this transformer: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/589872-REG/Pearstone_8111240_LMT100_Low_to.html I haven't used transformers myself, so I'm not sure how well they perform. My guess is that a DC blocking capacitor would do better, but as far as I know you can't buy a pre-made cable with one. If you want to try building your own cable or modifying the one you bought, there's info here: http://www.rcrowley.com/CamAdapt.htm Don't try the Shure mic with the direct cable you bought. Dynamic mics can be damaged by external voltage.

Of course the most flexible way of hooking XLR mics up to the GH2 is with something like a Beachtek or JuicedLink, but those are for a different topic of discussion.

@balazer Thanks for the response. I am not able to get any details about the Ecm Nv1.It came with the pd170 camera. It is a uni directional condenser mic and needs 48v phantom power. Is there any diy tutorial somewhere to enable my shure sm 58 on gh2 ? I do have a Behringer Eurorack UB 802 mixer. But that will be a separate unit requiring a power source. It is not a portable solution for a one man shoot. Can you suggest some alternative ? I am not very keen on investing more at present.

@ Stonebat

Could you explain a bit more about "it works"? What kind of sensitivity/audio quality are you receiving from this combo? I am not surprised that you would get some audio trickling thru but I would be surprised if that sensitivity wouldn't drop off significantly since this is a phantom powered mic w/o phantom power.

Really curious - thanks!

I have the Sony ECM-NV1 microphone from my pd170 which needs 48vphantom power. I also have the Shure SM58. Can I use any of these on my Gh2 ? I ordered this cable (xlr female with 2.5mm male stereo plug.) http://www.kvconnection.com/product-p/km-x172-2310.htm. I thought of using my Sony mic or the Sm58.Both seem to be unsuitable. Any suggestions in using any of these on my Gh2 ?

I've never noticed AGC on the GH2.

The company doesn't know if that cable is going to work or not. What you need to know is how it's wired. But really, it's not that hard to rewire the cable yourself. It's just a bit of soldering.

gameb, the 2.5-mm angled cable I linked to previously works fine. Is that not what you're looking for? It's easier to put an XLR connector on a 2.5-mm cable than the other way around.

Anybody found a decent 2.5mm stereo angled plug? I tried several ones, some don't even fit due to their strange form, others don't make a 100% reliable contact when sometimes they are spinning due to cable movement - the only good one I found is "golden" but not angled. Anybody tried out this one? http://www.theaudioguru.com/products/2.5MM-MALE-RIGHT-ANGLE-STEREO-PLUG.html

Never mind about it. The RC35 isn't designed for the task.

zcream, with my shock mount config the mic is out of the camera's view with the Lumix 20-mm lens. I don't have any wider pancakes to test, but you'll note in my video that I show a few different ways of mounting the shock mount. The taller ways of mounting it should keep the mic out of the view of almost any lens.

Let me think about the sticking part, too.

@stonebat Well, silly me. You can of course suspend the mic further forwards, suspending the XLR plug itself (although the XLR plug is just a tad loose, so I will have to see if it picks up any sound). That way, you have much more clearance. There's still a little bit bumping possible, but much less! It would be even better if the cable went upwards. Here are some pics: