3 Mic systems for HVR-Z1U

[Simon Denny]

Hi Yung.
Have you thought about the Rode NTG - 1, I use this on my Z1 with a dead cat for more windy days and this sounds great.The only problem is if mounted on the Z1 the end of the dead cat comes through on the top right hand side of the picture, so you would need to mount it back a bit with some sort of extender mount which i'm looking into as i write.

Cheers
Simon

[Ty Ford]

So, back to square 1.

Why do you think you need a shotgun. Please provide a lot of details.

Regards,

Ty Ford

[Dan Keaton]

In terms of details:

Will you be shooting both indoors and outdoors?

Or will you be shooting outdoors only?

Shotgun micrphones generally do not work well indoors but work well outdoors when there is nothing to cause the sound to be reflected back to the microphone.

Supercardiod or Hypercardiod generally work well indoors and outdoors.

[Guy Cochran]

There is a Shotgun Shock Mount for the Z1U that will help push the mic up higher. It's called the RODE SM5.

It's also threaded for 3/8" and 1/4"-20 if you ever wanted to use it at the end of a boom pole. http://dvcreators.net/rode-sm5-shockmount/

[Ben Syverson]

Shotgun, on-camera... this is just asking for trouble. There's no point in investing a bunch of money in a setup that will sound worse than the stereo mic built in to your camera.

If you need to do wedding interviews, get a good handheld condenser or dynamic mic. If you need to get the vows, grab some lavs. A hypercardioid will be good for sit-down interviews and narrative/scripted work. It all depends on what you mean by "general shooting."

[Yung Mah]

Originally Posted by Ben Syverson

Shotgun, on-camera... this is just asking for trouble. There's no point in investing a bunch of money in a setup that will sound worse than the stereo mic built in to your camera.

If you need to do wedding interviews, get a good handheld condenser or dynamic mic. If you need to get the vows, grab some lavs. A hypercardioid will be good for sit-down interviews and narrative/scripted work. It all depends on what you mean by "general shooting."

I plan to use a shotgun strictly for outside, I will doing personal stuff like a hot balloon documentary, concerts, outdoor venue stuff, auto races.

Wireless lav, self explanetory, it's a given

I was hoping to use a hypercardiod on camera to basically replace the on camera mic system, any thoughts on this. Wedding interviews, etc.

[Steve House]

Originally Posted by Yung Mah

I plan to use a shotgun strictly for outside, I will doing personal stuff like a hot balloon documentary, concerts, outdoor venue stuff, auto races.

Wireless lav, self explanetory, it's a given

I was hoping to use a hypercardiod on camera to basically replace the on camera mic system, any thoughts on this. Wedding interviews, etc.

Unless you plan on shoving the camera right into your subject's face, whether you put a gun or a hyper on the camera just doesn't matter - it'll sound bad either way. When recording dialog or interviews, etc, the mic needs to be very close to the subject - short guns 2 to 3 feet, maybe 4 if you have a top-shelf mic and you're lucky, hypers 18 to 24 inches, as general rules of thumb. That's almost never going to be anywhere close to where the camera needs to be for good images. While there are situations where an on-camera mic fulfills the bill, they are far fewer than one might hope. For example, if you're interviewing the pilot of a hot air ballon while aloft with him, you'll be close enough to an on-camera mic to have a shot. But if you're interviewing the same guy on the ground standing beside the basket before launch, your camera position will probably be too far away from him for an on-camera to sound very good.

[Yung Mah]

Originally Posted by Steve House

Unless you plan on shoving the camera right into your subject's face, whether you put a gun or a hyper on the camera just doesn't matter - it'll sound bad either way. When recording dialog or interviews, etc, the mic needs to be very close to the subject - short guns 2 to 3 feet, maybe 4 if you have a top-shelf mic and you're lucky, hypers 18 to 24 inches, as general rules of thumb. That's almost never going to be anywhere close to where the camera needs to be for good images. While there are situations where an on-camera mic fulfills the bill, they are far fewer than one might hope. For example, if you're interviewing the pilot of a hot air ballon while aloft with him, you'll be close enough to an on-camera mic to have a shot. But if you're interviewing the same guy on the ground standing beside the basket before launch, your camera position will probably be too far away from him for an on-camera to sound very good.

What in your opinion would be a good over all mic to be use on the camcorder, or should I stay with the onboard mic.
Thanks

[Steve House]

Originally Posted by Yung Mah

What in your opinion would be a good over all mic to be use on the camcorder, or should I stay with the onboard mic.
Thanks

That's really hard to say - depends on your budget. If you are interested in Sennheiser, I'd look to spending the extra bucks to move to a 416 over the ME66. If the >kilobuck area is too pricey, you might want to A/B compare the Rode NTG-1 to the ME66 - even though it's cheaper, some people like its sound better. Whatever you get engrave on the back of your glasses the limitations of on-camera mics in general and use it appropriately.