GEAR MINI TESTS
We get our hands on the hottest gear, fresh from the box – including a Sony sound bundle, pair of Nanlite innovations and clever motorised slider
WORDS ADAM DUCKWORTH
SONY UWP-D27 TWIN AUDIO KIT £1546/$1230 sony.com
latest Sony mirrorless and cinema cameras, and the signal is transferred that way. The MI shoe can also provide power to the receiver, so if the battery runs out you can still keep recording. It’s in simplicity that the Sony system wins out, because as soon as the URX-P41D is slid into the MI shoe and switched on, the camera recognises it and sets all audio controls accordingly. You’re not left having to dive into menus to change levels, for example. Even setting up the system is easy, as it includes one-button NFC automatic channel-setting mode and auto gain functions. To pair the receiver and transmitters, hold them next to each other and they sync almost instantly. If you don’t mind auto gain setting any mic-level adjustments, you will be ready to shoot two people talking simultaneously within seconds. At Pro Moviemaker, we used the older Sony analogue twin-transmitter UWP system for years, and it’s nice that the UWP-D27 is backwards- compatible with it, as well as Sony DC-WL800 and third-generation
Sony pioneered the all-in-one wireless audio solution, and this fourth-generation version is the best yet. It’s smaller, lighter and more advanced than the kit it replaces, and uses digital technology to make it even easier to improve audio quality. The system is based around a pair of Sony UTX-B40 wireless audio transmitters that each come with a high-quality Sony ECM-V1BMP omnidirectional lavalier mic. These transmit to the new Sony URX-P41D – a two-channel, camera-mount wireless receiver. Bundled together with some accessories, Sony calls it the UWP-D27 twin audio kit and it saves some cash from buying everything separately. You’ll also want the £39/$65 Sony SMAD-P5 multi-interface adapter. This kit provides the easiest and most reliable way of recording from one or two wireless lav mics to a single receiver. Although many third-party systems now offer this, the Sony set-up needs no cables between the receiver and camera. The receiver slides onto the multi- interface (MI) shoe found on all the “It’s in simplicity that the Sony system wins out, because as soon as the URX-P41D is slid into the MI shoe, the camera recognises it”
SMALL AND MIGHTY The latest Sony receiver is lighter than older models at just 159g
UWP-D transmitters. The new kit is smaller and sleeker, with a battery compartment on each unit that takes AA cells. These fit into a small tray that’s protected from the elements via a rubber door – a vast improvement on older units, which had no sealing. The transmitter and receivers use the same battery compartment, so if one goes down, you can use the one from the transmitter, as this will be powered by the camera’s MI shoe. This has saved a shoot on many occasions, in my experience. With a runtime of around 4.5 hours, there is a decent amount of recording. The UWP-D27 offers digital signal processing for top-quality audio and analogue UHF transmission, with advanced reception technology for reliability, even under difficult shooting conditions. Sony says the
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