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Question

Casio camera buzz noise in video recording

Oct 9, 2011 2:15AM PDT

The video recording of my Casio Exilim EX-ZS10 is good except for the sound. There's very loud buzzing noise. What can I do to remove it? The sound of the scene I was recording was not very loud. I didn't do any special setup. The loud buzz is heard at playback on either the camera or laptop. Thanks for help.

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Casio ZS10
Oct 10, 2011 12:39AM PDT

I looked and looked and can find very little about the ZS10.
It is a fairly new model and that is some of the problem finding information.
It is also an entry level camera (under $100) and none of the big review websites will review entry level cameras.

I suspect the buzz noise you hear may be inherent because a $100 camera probably has a 25 cent microphone.
The only way to find out, is to get your hands on another camera of the same model and see if it gives the same result.
But I suggest you start with Casio.
Your camera is probably still under warranty with Casio.
Call their service department and ask for help.

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Answer
May be due to sound volume
Oct 10, 2011 5:40AM PDT

I used this camera to take a few other videos in the dance studio. Half have this noise problem. What's common to these bad ones is that the music is definitely louder. So next time I think I'll use a tape or something to partially cover the microphone.

I cut the video to a tiny piece and uploaded it here (Warning: The noise is very annoying!):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42544189@N03/6231364765/in/photostream

Is the music too loud? Any standard way to gauge that? Do you think the loud sound is too much for a low-end camera? If not, I'll try to convince the store this one is defective, and a replacement may solve the problem. Thanks a lot.

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Distortion
Oct 10, 2011 7:23AM PDT

Thanks for posting the video clip.
It sounds as if the music is overdriving the audio circuits.

Digital Cameras microphones are sensitive.
If you are outside, you can often hear wind noise. (the wind blowing across the microphone).
Either the music is too loud or the camera is too near the source of the music.
The camera microphone has a very basic automatic gain control.
It can raise the gain if the sound source is too weak but it cannot reduce the gain if the sound is too loud.

Some cameras let you adjust the microphone manually (but most do not).
A few cameras will even let you use an external microphone (very few).

I would say your camera's sound is probably normal for that model camera.
Get as far away from the source of the music as possible,
You can try putting something over the microphone, it might muffle the sound

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