Does Nikon L840 have an external mic jack?

I recently got a Nikon L840 camera (my first camera ever) and I was testing out the audio/ microphone quality and noticed it wasn't really good, so I was wondering if I could connect a microphone or buy cables to connect the microphone to the cable and to the camera.

No. Many compact cameras don't.

Your only option is to have a separate sound recording system and then synch later in post.

No.

The mic is fine - get it closer to the audio source. The problem is when the mic is in the right place for the audio, video framing is not what you want. This does not mean it is a bad mic… The least expensive video capture device with a mic jack is the Canon HF R600 camcorder. There's a very limited placement/capbility of the camera that provides decent audio and video capture.

If you got the L840 bridge camera for video, you got the wrong tool for your requirement. It is designed for still image capture and happens to get video as a convenience feature.

For separate audio recording as mentioned by "flyingtiggeruk", I use a Zoom H5. The Zoom H1 may meet your needs.

Agree, you need to record the audio separately and dub it over the video in post. Don't feel too bad about this, even high-end DSLRs have pea-sized mics that are just downright awful. It's what you get when you use a still camera for video. Using a camcorder will yield far better audio.

No. It's a lower end point and shoot.

I have the same camera and thought the same but once you transfer the video to a phone or computer the sound quality is fine

Thanks for the audio discussion.