Due to celebrate its 100th anniversary in three years’ time, Olympus has announced two versions of its latest digital audio recorder, the LS Pocket, that can also be hooked up to your digital camera (including its own PEN and OM-D models) for more professional audio when shooting video. Photography Blog was at the London launch to get hands-on and trial the device…

As photographers we tend to obsess about the image. Move into shooting video too, however, and we have to broaden our outlook to consider the whole package. Immediately there is the need to also achieve good quality audio – unless we’re shooting a silent movie (!)  – so as to avoid letting the imagery down.  Nothing screams ‘amateur’ more – or jolts us out of the narrative of what we’re watching – than bad sound. Good sound, and preferably great sound, is of key importance.

Depending on what we’re doing, our camera’s small built in microphone might suffice. But it is a bit like sticking to the standard zoom bundled with our DSLR or CSC when we bought it, rather than investing in a dedicated prime lens. To get more professional audio, an external microphone or recording device of some sort is crucial; and these need not cost the earth or be prohibitively cumbersome. A case in point is the new Olympus LS Pocket, a high-res audio recorder.

In fact there is not just one, but rather two new models – dependent on what capacity you’re going for. The LS-P1 is the 4GB model, offering stereo microphones, and the LS-P2 is the 8GB, though this can be supplemented and extended via the insertion of a microSD card.  The LS-P2 also offers something a little different, in that it incorporates three microphones. “The reason being is that when you start to shrink a recorder, you start to lose the ability to capture sound with the range of frequencies that we all hear,” explains Olympus’ Product Manager Ben Ford. “The third microphone just captures bass, all the way down to 20 hertz.” Power for the LS Pocket pair comes courtesy of a single rechargeable cell, and handily the units feature an extendable USB port built into the base, negating the need to carry extra cables with you. At the London launch early June, Olympus provided sample units hooked up to its OM-D E-M5 Mark II and a live band setting in which to try the combination out.

As well as photographers and videographers shooting live concerts and performances – and doubtless musicians wanting a handy, relatively inexpensive way of professionally recording their work – other applications and audiences for the LS Pocket include social media and video podcasts.

Social Media Savvy

“Our cameras are now featured heavily on social media,” the company’s David Ivins, Director of Consumer Business for the UK, tells us. “If you look at Instagram, quite often the photos will have been taken on an Olympus camera, usually the Olympus PEN. But the people who do more of the video content – the ‘vloggers’ as they call them – are finding that sound is becoming more important. And what the ‘LS’ enables us to do is create high quality sound to go along with high quality pictures.

Olympus is pitching this audio recorder as offering better than CD quality audio. “Which is typically four times better than the level of quality you’re getting when streaming or downloading audio,” Olympus’ Product Manager Ben Ford promises potential purchasers. “High res audio is even better than that; what you’re getting is audio that, in camera terms, is like a ‘Raw’ image. This is uncompressed audio. The sound you can capture, when you play it back, will seem as if you're in the same room. The market is really broadcasters and ‘vodcasters’ using the product with their DSLRs and CSC cameras, journalists wanting to record their interviews, and of course students. ”

The LS Pocket features a lightweight yet sturdy aluminum construction – so it shouldn’t come a-cropper if you accidentally knock or drop it in the heat of the action. It’s also much smaller than Olympus’ first digital audio recorder launched way back in 2008, says the manufacturer, at almost half its size. Despite this, the battery is claimed to last for a whopping 39 hours and its zoom microphone facility ensures that it can record from a distance; so arguably ideal for anyone not standing in the first few rows at a gig. Wireless connectivity to speakers and headphones is also provided.

“With the OM-D you will be able to achieve broadcast quality video, especially with the 5 axis image stabilization built into the camera, and better than CD audio combined,” adds Olympus’ Ben. “We’re the only manufacturer who makes cameras and audio. The device is small enough to sit on top of the camera and will deliver better quality audio than the microphones that feature not only in our cameras, but in £4,000 or £5,000 SLRs as well.”

It should be reiterated that users of the LS Pocket are not restricted to Olympus only cameras; this is a more versatile, flexible device. Suggested retail pricing is currently £169.99 for the LS-P2 and £109.99 for the LS-P1.

https://www.olympus.co.uk/site/en/a/audio_systems/audio_recording/sound_music_recorders/ls_p2/index.html

Image Gallery

Click on a thumbnail to see the full version.

Your Comments