Shotgun vs stock Z5u mic

[Melvin Baggs]

What would be the rational (a question my wife would surly ask) of getting a shotgun mic and dumping the one that came on my Sony Z5?

Can the shotgun mic be used as a handheld wireless mic or should it be mounted on the camera and a different handheld one purchased for lets say one on one interviews?

Should the shotgun mic be directional or unidirectional?

I'm a newbie to all of this and do want to unnecessarily spend to put myself in the position, when called upon, to do small weddings by myself.

Another question, to do small wedding by myself is it necessary to have dual wireless system or can I get away with just a single wireless system.

Thanks in advance,

Melvin Baggs

[Paul R Johnson]

Shotguns are all directional. They're also all uni-directional. The terms are interchangeable. Uni, in this case meaning 'one', the alternative of this method of description is bi-directional, as in two directions, and omni-directional which means equal pickup all directions.

The usual mic on a camera is rarely that 'directional', often just a narrow cardioid. The reason being that it really needs to hear everything the camera can see on wide. A shotgun is an excellent piece of kit if you wish to have a more narrow pickup angle to perhaps exclude unwanted noises from the side. The downside is that they need pointing, and to do it properly, the 'pointer' needs to wear headphones so they can control this properly. Newbies often just aim shotguns vaguely in the right direction and the results are often dire!

Shotguns also suffer quite badly from wind noise, and usually end up inside housings, making them bigger, heavier and even more awkward. Swinging a boom with a shotgun on often produces a roaring sound like a force ten gale.

When you need to pick out certain sounds from lots, then a shotgun is a great tool. They sadly often create more problems than they solve!

[Melvin Baggs]

Thanks Paul,

So what I'm hearing you say is that the stock camera mic is omni-directional and should stay on the camera and the shotgun mic should only be used with headphones and or should be on a boom. So where do this leave the handheld mic?

For a one person video crew trying to shot a small wedding should I use the stock mic on the camera to get all surrounding sounds with lets say a wireless lav to get the vows of the Bride and Groom? Or do I use the shotgun mic on the camera with head phones?

Melvin

[Melvin Baggs]

Another question Paul will one lav mic pickup both persons and the Preacher or do I need a dual wireless with a shotgun aimed at the one person not wired?

Melvin

[Jonathan Palfrey]

one lav mic will pick everyone up easily enough. Just make sure you place it lower down on the grooms suit than you normally would as it helps equal out the distance from the mic a bit better making the volume of each voice more similar.