maximpactphotography

I ‘ve been actively applying the wireless Rode Newsshooter Kit to supplement the 2 Filmmaker Kits I’ve had for some time, allowing excellent ENG sound production directly into my Panasonic GH4 4K mirrorless camera covering major events in California. The latest were 2 protest events in Los Angeles and San Francisco, against the incoming Trump regime. In Los Angeles, I had assistance with handheld mic interviews from one of my still shooters, Carmen Rosales and my old friend Mark Chambers did those honors at San Francisco International Airport, during the anti-Muslim ban event. Jim Garrett was the B-roll GH4 shooter in Los Angeles, and he has collaborated with me on editing and writing.

I was very impressed by the build quality and water resistance of the transmitter unit in driving rain at Los Angeles- I was concerned that the unit would fail at any time due to being soaked for hours, but it never missed a beat and the sound was remarkable when connected to my Sennheiser MD-46 dynamic microphone inside of a plastic bag.

It’s very convenient that the Newsshooter and Filmmaker receivers are identical, so that I can switch between them any time  simply by matching the channels with the corresponding transmitter or lav mic. There ‘s up to 40 v phantom power on the transmitter, more than enough to provide great gain for a Shure SM 58 or the Sennheiser dynamic mics; I can also use my lav mic with the transmitter and actively monitor its output using the headphone jack near the USB power jack. In addition, it can be powered by standard Sony FPS batteries as well as ubiquitous AA batteries.

Because it runs on wi-fi instead of RF, I have found it to be extremely reliable in field use even when surrounded by cell phones and other devices- and no need to manually match any frequencies. I can use up to 8 units at at time on individual channels.

My opinion: if you have $500 to spend on an XLR wireless system, this is by far the best option I have ever seen. Avoiding use of cables in an ENG environment has proven to be a significant advantage from the standpoint of safety, mobility, simplicity and reliability.

We’re going to be using the Newsshooter and Filmmaker Kits extensively, for continuing to document the rise of resistance to the Trump regime over the next several months.