Canon T3i: constant hissing noises. What can I do?

[LilyMarie]

I have a problem with my Canon which appears to have gotten worse over the past months.
The background noise in videos that has always been there has become louder, more obvious and the tone has also gotten higher. :?





I've been looking into buying an external microphone, but it looks like good ones are expensive and apparently nothing can eradicate the noise completely.

I use Sony Vegas to edit my videos. Is there a way to reduce the noise in editing?
Or do you know an external microphone that actually gets rid of this? :help: I'm pretty lost.
Or maybe someone knows a DSLR forum where a person that's not a pro at all gets help and doesn't immediately get trolled like there's no tomorrow? ^^

 

[JerryBoBerry]

If you do need to try an external mic you might consider this one. (it comes with an extension cord too if needed)

I bought it for another model who was having bad crackling sound issues with her webcam. It works GREAT. I also bought one for myself to record lectures on my tablet in classes. It's a bit more uni-directional so it picks up sound better from straight on out to around 30 degrees either way. And it will still pick up sounds from the sides but those will be a bit more muffled.

And for the price it's not too bad to try.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MYPPPE/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[krukstyle]

I think the first step is to make sure that the sound is coming from the camera itself--you may have already done this--by ensuring that there are no other appliances/electronic devices operating in the area you are recording (computers, air conditioners, refrigerators, etc.). It would be ideal to test the camera in a completely silent area--as the mic on the camera is going to pick up stuff that a human ear wouldn't normally notice. Since you said the problem is getting worse, however, I agree that the sound is probably coming from the camera itself.

A unidirectional mic like the one Jerry suggested may certainly help as you can point it away from the camera--which will most likely eliminate a good bit of the camera's noise. The camera's internal mic is most likely omnidirectional, and since it's pretty much inside the camera, it's going to pick up the camera's noise.

Regardless of your equipment, unless you're able to create a truly silent recording environment, there is going be at least some hiss and noise on your recordings. The only option you have is to use editing software to remove the hiss and noise. The good thing is that since this particular noise seems to be a high pitched electronic noise, it should be relatively removable as a noise filter (high-pass, low-pass, or notch) should be able to eliminate that particular frequency. A good technique is to always leave a silent portion at the beginning or end of your recordings that only features the hiss/noise. Many editing suites offer noise analyzers that will analyze the noise section and attempt to eliminate the noise. This should be pretty effective, but removing the noise completely can lead to some pretty unnatural sounding recordings (i.e., this will work great for a recording of a voice, while a recording featuring ambient noises will sound really... electronic), so you may need to experiment to strike the proper balance.

Unfortunately I'm not familiar with the Vegas software you have, but a quick google search provided a few promising videos (not sure which version of Vegas you're using--so can't really tell if these are helpful). If you have any questions--just give a holler. :-D

 

[Mr_Wilde]

Definitely get an external mic as discussed in this video. Unless you are skilled in post processing I would go external. It just more work for you to do if you have to start editing sound after everything is recorded. I would tell you to update your firmware if you haven't already but the upgrade does nothing to correct the existing audio issues with the factory built-in mic.

http://vimeo.com/29172095