NEW Panasonic Hotshoe mic has some tricks up its sleeve!

The NEW Panasonic DMW-DMS1 microphone is ideal for content creators and so much more…

As a Lumix fangirl, one thing I’ve coveted from other brands for a while now is a hotshoe controlled microphone. Cables are a faff, it isn’t really seamless when you turn the camera on, and dammit, the hotshoe connected ones are just COOL.

Enter, the Panasonic DMW-DMS1 microphone. What a boring name. But it is NOT a boring product! The mic (currently compatible with newer Lumix cameras, like the S1ii, S1Rii, S1iiE, S5ii, S5iix, with compatibility to come for the micro four thirds flagships G9ii and GH7 coming imminently) slides onto your hotshoe, and is powered entirely by the camera.

This means the mic automatically turns on and off with the camera and you don’t have one more thing to worry about charging.

The Panasonic DMW-DMS1 allows 32 bit float audio recording (with compatible cameras, I’ve been using the S1ii and it is fabulous!). 32 bit float audio is the biggest jump up I think you can make in the audio department. If you’re unfamiliar, 32 bit float audio means you no longer have to worry about clipping the audio. You can SCREAM and nothing will clip. It’ll all be useable. It’s blummin’ magic if you ask me.

If that isn’t magic enough? The new mic also allows up to 4 channel audio recording. And in the menu there are several ways you can use this. You can use it to record traditional backup tracks, which record at 20db lower than the main one (basically how we used to cope with the SCREAMING and UNPREDICTABLE noises prior to 32 bit float recording) or, interestingly, you can set it to record an ambient track in all directions. This could be super handy for any bits of natural sound design you want to add into your projects later.

Panasonic DMW-DMS1 is super user-friendly

There are some really user friendly mic patterns to choose from, and the diagrams on the light up buttons make it super simple, even if you don’t know your super cardioid from your figure eight. With this microphone you can direct the microphone forwards, backwards, or both at the same time. You can use it as a shotgun mic (super cardioid) which makes the direction of the pick up really focused on the space just in front of the mic, and cuts out a lot of the rest. There’s an option for just about any scenario, and I love how this works: no rooting round in menus, just one tap to change things.

On the side of the unit, we have the usual suspects: gain and limiter, and then some dedicated controls for wind reduction and noise reduction. It comes with a physical wind cover as well, and the microphone is on a little shock absorbing platform to keep out any camera movement sounds or footsteps.

The wind reduction uses all the mics to isolate the sound… it’s all very clever and works brilliantly.

Is the Panasonic DMW-DMS1 microphone for you?

This really is a compact piece of kit. It only sticks out as far as the “head” of the S1ii for example — it lines up perfectly with the Lumix logo on the front. I love that attention to detail!

I think this accessory has been a long time coming, and now that it’s here I can see this being a go-to for content creators, but it could be used for so much more than that. The sheer backup options and redundancy this microphone offers means it would be more than up to the task for professional creative work.

Want to record a brilliant clean track of the talent, but also want to record ambient sounds at the same time? No problem. Want to record in unpredictable dynamic environments and not have to worry about your audio clipping? Easy. Have some additional back up tracks as well as the 32 bit float version just in case.

With the figure eight setting you could even interview someone in front of the camera and know your questions from behind the camera are being captured too. Endless possibilities.

I think the Panasonic DMW-DMS1 ticks a lot of boxes for so many people. It’s a perfect mix of offering advanced features in a really user friendly way, and I for one am glad to see the L mount accessory line expanding!