Hi Hedgehoggers!
I have a question. Because of circumstances beyond my control I’ve had to give up my Sony RX10 m3. I had to replace it with a Nikon Coolpix B600. Is it still worth it to try to get good photos? The Nikon is totally automatic, or “PHD MODE”. Press here dummy ! Only a joke but an old one. I’m going to miss having any control with it and the 1” sensor is real small. Anyway I won’t get many chances to use it anyway. I am living in a place where I cannot get out on my own and my Wife isn’t doing too well. She can barely drive. I need to get ideas for easy photo ops.
If you have any ideas please let me know! Thanks!

After a busy day yesterday with string quartet music in afternoon and orchestra in the evening, interlaced watched the Ukrain news in horror , I am catching up with the excellent advice from you UHHes that are much more knowledgeable in this area. I did study and learned something about the remarks - such as (un)balanced -and the advantage of a better recorder (Zoom H4 or 6 with XLR input) and the need for multiple microphone for better stereo, rather than the two mics of a H1, H4 or H6 themselves (if I decide to get H4 or H6: and what is the difference). it seems I may have to bite the bullet and learn to PP of audio into video recorded performance and learn the program (it may not be worth for me to get Adobe, and certainly not going to invest in a Lumix H6 - it's not a matter of not affordable but I am not worth it knowing how lazy I am.
Thank you all for for your time, wisdom and patience with me.
One of the items I am missing in the posts however was advice on the kind of external microphone you would recommend without having to schlepp larger amount of additional preamps - after all I am already driving 12 hour from LA to Arcata and bring violin, viola, luggage, music stand and multiple suitcase with chamber music, not to speak about fitting my wife into the car too (not that she takes that much room I must add).
:) Andre

It seems the OP may care about optimal sound and may want to do more than place a small stereo condenser pair in the flash shoe. I am glad you mentioned MP4. If the OP does record sound separately and chooses to add it to the video after the performance, it is important to use uncompressed (PCM or WAV) encoding rather than MP3 in order to synchronize the two, even without using Time Code since MP3 recordings do not hold accurate time beyond a movement or two. I had good luck with long performances with WAV files recorded separately from the video. It can be a challenge getting the audio lined up when adding in post with bowed string instruments. Having a piano or getting a player to tap the stand with her bow before the concert starts helps a lot. If the audio signal is plugged directly into the camera that will not be a concern. FWIW, I bought a small Sony mid-side stereo camera mic (ECM-MS907) just to try but it was very noisy. It might do in a jazz club but never for chamber music. If the only option is a flash shoe mount, Rode mics are relatively quiet. They are just not a good audio solution unless you can set up the camera close to the ensemble and away from the audience, good for audio but not often a good choice from a fixed camera video perspective.