How good are 1/8" to XLR adapters?

I'm looking to buy my first camera and I'm dealing with whether to go with SD or HD. I was looking at the DVX100a however the HD camera's have great quality. The one thing is that I want full use of all of the controls as learning the camera is important as I try to learn the filmmaking craft.

The one thing I'm seeing is that most of the HD cameras that are in my price range (2000 below) and that have manual controls (focus, shutter, white balance, etc) dont have an XLR. Any shorts or docs that I do will be mic'd directly into the camera. How good are the 1/8" to XLR adapters or adapterboxes? I'm just real hesitant to using the phonejack's for mics. Is it something to worry about? Worth dealing with because of the fact I'm shooting in HD?

Any HD cameras that do have XLR but still reasonable price (around 2,000)
 
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You will probably be using a condenser mic. Condenser mics use a capacitor with a fixed charge near the diaphragm. Having a constant fixed charge means it needs an external power supply, either a battery or an external charge from the pre-amp/mixer/recording device. The electricity from the external device is referred to as Phantom Power.

Using an adapter to an 1/8" pin connection means that you will have to use a mic that uses a battery. When the battery starts to lose its charge it causes distortion, so you will be replacing batteries often.

Boxes like the Beachtek DXA-6A and the juicedLink CX231 (both are about $300) are mini-mixers that provide phantom power. I've used the Beachtek and it works fine; the juicedLink is relatively new but I've heard good things about it. Adding a few hundred to the price of the camera with XLR audio inputs will obviate the need for one of these boxes.

BTW, DO NOT plug the mic into the headphone jack.
 
ok,
now I was looking at the SONY HVR-A1U. Someone said that it's not 'true' XLR because it uses the adapter box thats plugged into a jack. Is this box phantom powered? Will it do everything I want as far as mics?

Any recommendations of HD cameras with XLR's? It seems like the only ones that do are the shoulder mounted. Which kinda seem a bit big to use for different things, but maybe the route I need to go if it offers everything I'm looking for.
 
Okay, I'm an audio guy, not a camera guy. I have not been able to find much information about the audio implementation of the A1U. As far as I can tell the audio module and it's connection to the camera are proprietary. From the little I could find about it (any corrections would be helpful) that means that you probably would not be able to use any other audio system without having the audio box attached to the A1U (which would be redundant), nor could you use the audio module with another camera. I have not been able to find any specs about the audio module (S/N ratios, pre-amps, AD/DA converters, etc.).
 
Okay, I'm an audio guy, not a camera guy. I have not been able to find much information about the audio implementation of the A1U. As far as I can tell the audio module and it's connection to the camera are proprietary. From the little I could find about it (any corrections would be helpful) that means that you probably would not be able to use any other audio system without having the audio box attached to the A1U (which would be redundant), nor could you use the audio module with another camera. I have not been able to find any specs about the audio module (S/N ratios, pre-amps, AD/DA converters, etc.).


Thanks, I'll probably just get in contact w/ Sony

It seems that audio is the least important on all these entry level cameras...usually it seems hard to find info on it
 
Yup, the audio is just a bonus for convenience, in professional filmmaking you record it separately.
 
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