Shoulder mounted mic in frame

[Jeff Bilman]

Hi,
I read over at camcorderinfo (the post was a year old) that someone bought an Azden SGM-X for their Sony TRV22 and because of the TRV22's design the mic actually came into the field of view.

Now I know from reading these boards that the two mics I'm choosing between: Azden SGM-X, Sennheiser MKE-300 are not the greatest and that mounted mics are not the way to go, but it's my only choice at the moment logistically. Also if I could afford it I'd get a better camcorder, however, at the moment I'm stuck with the above options.

1. What I would like to know is if indeed the Azden and the MKE300 will get into frame - has anyone else experienced this? The MKE300 is about an inch longer so I figure it will go into frame if the Azden does.

2. Hopefully someone will answer me, no, the Sennheiser won't go into frame with your camcorder, but if it does, what are my options? Some sort of mounting bracket? I don't want to spend too much - the Sennheiser itself is enough. The other question therefore with a mounting bracket is they seem to screw into where the tripod goes. Can I still therefore use a tripod and a mounting bracket at the same time?

Thanks (first post, it's a really informative site).

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

Welcome to the forum, Jeff!
I wish I could provide some answers for you...I have no experience with the TRV22, and so all I can tell you is that my very recent experiences with the Azden could be found in the dictionary under "suck." I know you can get a decent sound from the MK300 without too much trouble. That's all I can tell you, since I don't know the focal length or space of the TRV. Are you dead set on having the mic on the cam? If possible, it should be off anyway.

[Jeff Bilman]

Thanks Douglas.
I'm surprised actually that I can't seem to find any on-line stores in the US that offer the MKE300D which, from all accounts, is better than the standard MKE300. The store I found in the UK was selling it for a ridiculous price though.

As for having the microphone mounted or not, I'm a bit of a one man band. What are my options in the same price range? Microphone stand and boom pole?

Jeff

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

Mike stand and boom are generally better than on-cam mike unless the cam is on a good tripod. With a mike on stand, you can move the cam around without room tone changing.