It sounds like we have sim

It sounds like we have similar needs. I just bought the Audio-technica AT897 for the shotgun. I got a Sennheiser kit for interviews – one wireless lav, one wireless handheld, one receiver, one transmitter.
I haven’t used the stuff yet, but I’m confident it is of high quality and will suit my needs. I spoke to a lot of people at the last NAB convention and they steered me toward this gear.

The handheld has a removable transmitter so it can be used with XLR cable if I want to wire it to the camera and run a boom – useful if I run into radio interference or interview two people with only one lav.

It is not cheap! I’m hoping to do broadcast quality work overseas. I can’t afford equipment failure and bad sound has ruined a lot of footage. I’m testing and calibrating all my new gear before heading off to the rainforest. I’ll post again if I learn anything worth sharing.

Look at the different kits B&H offers.

Question for you – Why might I want a seperate digital recorder? As an old film person I am thrilled at getting away from synching a dual system. I have two cameras – I could use #2 to record additional audio.

I have a mike? for others reading this post (A question that will out me as a ‘newbie’ who shouldn’t be giving sound advice.)

Do I need to buy ferrets for my mikes? The lav didn’t come with any kind of windscreen at all, just a little metal thing I can’t manage to squeeze onto the cylinder, and the shotgun has the standard foam. Should I get one of those real hairy beasts? I might encounter some wind issues, but I’m not too keen on spending more money right now. However, if I need the gear . . .