Shotgun mic selection

[Anonymous]

I have a Sony HDR HC1. I know it’s not the best camera on the market, but it served me well and I get a good image out of it. My problem is that lately I’ve been looking at purchasing a new shotgun microphone for more control and hopefully better quality. In film school we used shotgun mics attached to mini preamps. The preamps alone cost about $200 CAD. Sony has their own mic which attaches to the Sony shoe mount and only costs $100. I’m trying to decide what is more cost effective for what I’m doing. I am also a low income student still employed at Safeway. I do freelance videography of events and weddings. Suggestions? Has anyone compared the two or link me? Thanks! =)

[Anonymous]

Anything that directly mounts to a camera directly is going to pick up a little bit of camera noise. Plus, I don’t trust microphones made by camera manufacturers, mainly because these are the people who install those wretched built-in microphones in the first place.

Personally, I would invest in a good mic, and a mini recorder to capture the audio. Sure, you’re looking at spending as much as a grand on that, but the truth is, if you’re already struggling with video quality, exceptional audio quality is your key to getting noticed.

Cheers.

[XTR-91]

Like jim said, my advice is to invest in a good yet reasonably cheap shotgun microphone (around $200). If your camcorder has a mic input, that’s great. If not, you will also want an external digital recorder… these aren’t cheap either.

[Anonymous]

My camera has a mic input and I’ve recorded to it via school equipment before; so I know it works. After reading a bunch of reviews and watching some test videos, I think I will have to settle with the Sony shotgun microphone for now at least. My income is really low due to getting an useless education. I appreciate all of your input, but in the future I intend on purchasing a higher-up prosumer camcorder (hopefully with changeable lens’ like the newer Sony camcorders). Thanks again for all your help.

[Author]

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