Topic: recording music with a Canon PowerShot S5 IS

[dallman]

I actually recorded a Bonnie Raitt/Jackson Browne concert yesterday (at a John Edwards campaign event) using my Canon G7.  One problem is it's very inconvenient to set the levels manually since you have to go through some menus and then return to the recording page.  I used AGC and was not real happy with the effect.  On the plus side, it's very stealthy, since it just looks like you're  holding a little camera.

You ARE holding a little camera...
Sorry, I couldn't stop myself.

[cybergaloot]

Ok, I bought one of these cameras. The first couple of outings when I tried recording with it, things didn't work out. The first time I forgot to set the mic gain and it clipped like all hell. Setting the mic level is down in the menus and not very convenient. So is the actual full sound-only controls. There is a quick voice memo button but it is not the same thing.

The second time the bass, drums & guitar came out fine but every once in a while the vocals did something weird. Is sounded kind of like a blown speaker but just on the vocals. I haven't had time to go back and listen to the regular recordings I made of that show to compare it to the camera recording to see if maybe it was a PA problem I didn't notice at the time.

Anyhow, based on a short sampling of a more recent show, things came out much better the third time around. NO, this camera will NOT replace good gear. I didn't think it would. But, it looks like you can get a listen-able recording for those times when you can't openly record. One annoyance though is that there is a red LED on the back that flashes the whole time you are recording. I may have to tape over that thing.

Also as noted before by another person, the damn lens cap will not stay on. There's a reason, its designed to fall off if you turn on the camera and the lens extends while forgetting to take the cap off. But its still a crappy design. The solution there seems to be to go on eBay and by one of the filter kits with the extension tube. My old Fuji came with a similar tube and it gives you something to hold while shooting. Very handy.

I'll post a link to a sample next week sometime.

[neutrino]

I actually recorded a Bonnie Raitt/Jackson Browne concert yesterday (at a John Edwards campaign event) using my Canon G7.  One problem is it's very inconvenient to set the levels manually since you have to go through some menus and then return to the recording page.  I used AGC and was not real happy with the effect.  On the plus side, it's very stealthy, since it just looks like you're  holding a little camera.

I recorded several clips of Gwar with my G7. I didn't think it was all that difficult to manually adjust the recording level. It's pretty damn surprising how good concert video can look with this camera. Coupled with the fact the you can adjust the recording level manually so your audio isn't all blown out, makes it very cool..

[cybergaloot]

Check the Powershot S5 IS though. Stereo mics, 44.1/16 wav files, 2GB file size limit, SDHC cards ...

[chitaper]

I have an S5 IS. It records sounds better than my S2 IS did. The S2 IS would clip up a storm and was pretty much useless for loud sounds. The S5 IS is noticeably better, but I haven't yet used it on really loud sounds. I used the S5 IS for this Steve Earle video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As0XCEjFxpQ

[Outrageous]

I used the S5 IS for this Steve Earle video...

That's a very decent result.

[chitaper]

The North Mississippi Allstars from last night, very loud! The S5 IS did OK, and much, much better than the S2 IS:

Allstars video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9budhJ8jRU

Compare/contrast with this Amy Winehouse done woth the S2 IS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=587nVdlIPbY

[cybergaloot]

The North Mississippi Allstars from last night, very loud! The S5 IS did OK, and much, much better than the S2 IS:

Allstars video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9budhJ8jRU

Luther's gettin' shaggy! And Chu needs to quit chewin' (me too). So, did you just let the mics set their levels automatically or did you preset them manually?
--
Walter

[cybergaloot]

Here's a sample I recorded with my S5 IS in audio only mode (originally at 44.1/1 wav): http://home.comcast.net/~cybergaloot/sample.mp3
Even though I manually set the mic level and they looked good according to the camera's "meter", I think it still needed to come down a bit. This was also a loud show.

[chitaper]

Luther's gettin' shaggy! And Chu needs to quit chewin' (me too). So, did you just let the mics set their levels automatically or did you preset them manually?
--
Walter

The mic levels were on auto.

[cybergaloot]

After using this camera to record in a few different settings, its better than nothing for that purpose but doesn't work well for high SPL music, such as electric blues bands. What I haven't tried is recording acoustic music with it yet. A digital camera  will never be a high quality audio recording device but then that's not it's intended purpose. But hopefully digital camera makers will improve on this feature in the future.