How to fix the problem of connecting the Rebel t3i to Yeti Microphone?

Question

My rebel t3i camera is not connecting to the blue yeti mic. I did all the steps to connect it to the camera. but the camera wont pick it up. These are the steps:
Connecting the 3.5 male to male cable to the camera output and the mic headset output. then connect the mic to the computer to power it. then i turn on my camera and change it to recording. Lastly, change the recording setting to manual and lower the volume to almost to 0 ( its like one more to the right from 0). It worked for a short time then the camera stopped connecting with the mic. When i use my mic on my computer, it works perfectly fine. Im thinking its either the mic or the camera. but my camera is new so im not sure. PLEASE HELP. I really need to know what the problem is and how to fix the connection of the mic and the camera.

Answer 1

The problem is not the mic. The problem is that a USB mic is not designed to be used with an analog audio input. That it worked at all is surprising. That it does not work is what I would expect... the other reason I would not expect it to work is you are connecting the mic to the camera's audio output. That will never record any sort of audio - it is used to connect a headphone for monitoring what the camera's mics hear... you need to connect to the mic input on the camera.



When you use your mic on your computer, presumably using the USB port, I would expect it to "work perfectly fine" as that is how it is designed to be used.



And last - which has nothing to do with your audio problem - you are using a digital still capture device to do video. Link to the camera's manual at Canon:

http://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/0/0300004720/02/eosrt3i-eos600d-im2-c-en.pdf

Real video capture devices don't have overheating / auto shutdown issues (pages 151 & 163 ) or file duration limitations (page 151) among other, known, published, problems. Note that page 147 makes no mention of using any USB mic... This does not mean the T3i and other low-end dSLRs can't capture good video - they can, but there are workarounds you need to deal with. Your mic issue is the easiest of the problems you have (i.e., use a mic that actually is designed to use a 3.5mm connector).

Answer 2

So complicated!



If you want to use a mic with your camera, simply plug the mic to the camera. Your mic should connect directly to the camera or not at all. If the connector is wrong, change it. Don't use adapters.



Finally, " It worked for a short time then the camera stopped connecting with the mic" looks like a busted camera part there to me already.

Answer 3

Indeed you need to buy a mic which is intended for use with a normal camera input. No point in trying to muck about with "powering up" etc, when a mic designed to input direct to camera will do the job with no fuss.



And indeed for good video camerawork, use a device designed for movie work, i.e. a camcorder.