N82: Audio recording when taking videos
The Nokia N82 is too sensitive when taking videos… but only with the sound that it records. I think it could even record a whisper. But again, this is only evident when taking videos.
The good thing about this is that you’ll have better sounding videos. And i was surprised to hear the N82’s speakers when playing a video.. The audio output is loud! Its louder compared to playing music or playing an audio file.
And I found out that the N82 is different from other mobile phones. It has a limit to the “noise” that it can record.
I watched a concert a couple of weeks ago. I was confident on taking videos of the performances. only to find out that the audio or the recorded video was bad - it was distorted and the sound became garbled. I was surprised to know this. I’ve been recording performances using other phones but i didn’t have this problem.
Check out the video sample illustration i made after the break,
So remember, when taking videos using your Nokia N82, lower the audio recording volume when in “noisy” environment so that you’ll have better results with your video. Also, if you want to record a sound, i suggest you use the video recorder instead of the usual voice recorder because the output is better.
I hope Nokia can include in their firmware update to also increase the sound output of the speakers when playing music and level it to the loud sound that we can hear during video playback.
Oh, the N82 is a great tool for Podcasting!
UPDATE:
Readers are asking how to lower the volume when recording videos. However, it seems that the Nokia n82 does not have an option to lower the volume of the audio while recording.. either by recording an audio or recording a video.
This is a big FLAW in the unit.
I thought i had lowered the volume when I was viewing the playback.. it turns out that i only lessen the audio of the playback and not while recording.
But don’t loose hope. There is an answer. The answer is just to lessen the “noise” being recorded. And what do you do when you hear noise? You cover your ears right? The ears of the Nokia N82 is the microphone…
Yes you’ve guessed it right.. cover the microphone. its at the bottom of your phone. I tried it just now and it worked to lessen the noise being recorded. Try it.
Hope this helps.. and hope nokia would release a firmware update soon.
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Comments
I have also tried to record at a concert and had the same experience. the sound came out terrible! In all other circumstances it works fine.
But for your tip about turning down the audio recording volume while recording. How does that work? I don’t think it’s possible. When I touch the volume keys they are used to zoom in and out.
I am so disappointed with my N82. I was willing to put up with the fiddly buttons and horrible font in order to get a great camera in low light for use in pubs and at concerts etc and also high quality videos at concerts. The photos are certainly good but after T in the Park when I played back my videos I was so gutted to find that the sound quality was terrible. You can hear the good quality recording but over it there’s a horrible noise that just spoils the whole thing. I am now trying to swap my phone for another as I have only had it 2 weeks. My problem is what do I go for that will be (almost) as good for camera quality and picture quality of videos? I have opted for the Nokia N95 8GB but wonder if I will just be plagued by the same noise quality as with the N82, or if the photos in low light are so much worse that I will regret my change. I need advice please.
None of the current crop of devices (or indeed many camcorders) handle loud sounds well (e.g. at work concerts) - welcome to the digital age 8-(
Thanks for taking time to answer mate. In your review above you say re the distortion of the N82 ‘I was surprised to know this. I’ve been recording performances using other phones but didn’t have this problem’. I realise that none of the phones are excellent, however, as I have to choose another and would really like one which could do a semi-decent job at concerts (my samsung d600 did a fairly decent job with no distortions) I wonder if you could advise if you have experienced as much of a distortion with the Nokia N95 8GB and if so, whether another, such as c902 gave the same problem. Thanks for your help.
Jock Brown,
the distortion is caused by the N82’s sensitive audio recording.
Check my update above to know how to minimize it.
With regards to the N95… it has a function of lowering the audio recording volume.. and is not that sensitive like the n82.. so i did not experience any distortion problem.
[...] recording a concert for example, where the noise levels will be much higher, he offers a tip of lowering the audio recording volume to ensure you do not get too much distortion. One of Migs’ other tips is to actually use the [...]