Did we not answer this on AVForums?
Hi All,
First post!
I bought a Panasonic HC V700 a few months back purely for the availability of an external microphone input. This is because at the rugby club we used to record and commentate on our matches!
We tried this again and it does work, most of the time... However, we bought a microphone with a larger jack than the panasonic's 3.5mm input. So we bought a 3.5mm adapter to connect to the camera effectively.
If we ever record without the external microphone plugged in it seems more sound is picked up by the internal mic. You may as well just stand next to the camera and talk into it!
In addition to this if the external hand held mic is plugged in, no sound is picked up at all from the internal mic (is that normal for all cameras?).
Sometimes the microphone seems to be plugged in, but presumably the adapter to connect the larger jack into the smaller input has disconnected and no sound is picked up AT ALL from either the internal or external mic. Presumably, the camera thinks the external mic is connected but because it isn't no sound is then picked up. It is very annoying!
So my questions are:
- Can this camera have internal and external microphones on at the same time so all sound is picked up?
- Is there less sound picked up than an external mic should have because the microphone is connected via an adpter before going into the mic input? Therefore should we buy a microphone with a 3.5mm jack instead?
Sorry for all the ramblings - I'm a noob and I don't fully understand what I'm doing!
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Chowhound
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