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I have 2 cameras with on-board microphones (Nikon D5100, Canon Powershot G7), and I'm predictably having problems with high wind noise, and when recording short clips at gigs (with permission) with very high audio levels. Does anyone know how I could generally reduce the overall audio level? I've considered sticking felt tabs over the mic cover but this I feel is not the way to do it.

I suspect that I'll end up recording the audio on another device, but this is yet another thing to carry, and go wrong, so, advice please!

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Adding some felt or faux-fur is a good place to start. Felt will probably attenuate, but may not help much with the wind noise. Faux-fur is great at killing wind noise, but doesn't attenuate much.

I don't have any experience with their products, but the windscreens pictured at TheWindCutter look good. Also take a look at the Rycote Mini Windjammers.

You will definitely have more control over your audio by moving to a dedicated recording device, but you will still need to solve the wind noise problem. I use the ADPCM2 windscreen with my Sony M10.

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    A "dead cat" will do the most for you; most of the folks I know who do field recording very definitely prefer the dead cat to kill the wind noise. Noise reduction will sometimes work, other times not - for instance, if you're recording an inherently-noisy source, like surf, noise reduction will not work well at all.
    – Joe McMahon
    Feb 13, 2012 at 23:04
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It would be best to use an external mic that can be positioned where less wind would strike it. A hand-held recorder, like the Zoom H1 recorder (under $100.00) would be an affordable choice for most people. Hand-held recorders have built-in microphones and also a jack for using an external mic. These recorders have adjustable record levels that can be set for best results (most cameras don't have this feature).

Whenever recording in windy conditions, you should cover your mic with a good fur windscreen.

www.thewindcutter.com can supply you with windscreens for any external microphone. We also have highly effective WindJackets for hand-held recorders. For your cameras built-in mic, we have Stick-On WindCutters.

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You can't repair wind noise after the recording is done. I actually have a Kickstarter page for a product I'm making designed to solve this problem, using the same faux-fur principles as "dead cat" noise suppressors but for small microphones. I think it would help a lot.

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  • How can we know these work? As far as I can tell from the kickstarter page they haven't been released yet.
    – Warrior Bob
    Apr 2, 2012 at 3:15
  • They do work and I stand behind my product. I have a masters degree in sound and have worked in radio for over 30 years.
    – Mark
    Apr 3, 2012 at 23:23
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    I didn't realize this was your own product; that would certainly explain how you'd know if it worked or not! This is a legitimate answer but please disclose your affiliations in the future. I've gone ahead and edited it in for you on this one :)
    – Warrior Bob
    Apr 4, 2012 at 15:01
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You might want to try out the noise reduction filter in Adobe products. All Adobe video products have the filter - Premiere Pro, After Effects, to name a few.

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