I'm looking for a small mic to circumvent the motor noise of the HV20. I don't need better quality than the in-cam mic (just for vacation/casual videos).
I tried using a noise pattern to filter this out but it seems unavoidable to also filter out other stuff.

Looking at couple of options it seems a small mic that I could attach anywhere to the camcorder might work, and add some padding to dampen noise perhaps.

Any idea if the ECM-S930C would do the trick? It seems to me a cardiod mic rather would be best since it doesn't record much behind it. But I can't find any small cardiod mic if at all. Typically there are supercardiod.
Maybe bluetooth would be another option to get it away from the HV20.

Any recommendations?

I've wondered about this exact mic as well - so if anyone here has any experience with it, please let us both know. They have one at Fry's Electronics and I keep eyeing it. I guess I could buy it and return it but looking at the package, someone else has already done that, so I've been hesitant about getting it. And for the price, I'd almost rather invest that money into a better mic. For $50.00 more money ($150.00 total) you could get the Rode VM.

Never used the ECM-S930C, but ive been pretty happy with the ATR 25. can easlily filter out any motor noise i pick up with it. I still plan on getting a Rode videomic though. different mics for different...needs.

Never used the ECM-S930C, but ive been pretty happy with the ATR 25. can easlily filter out any motor noise i pick up with it. I still plan on getting a Rode videomic though. different mics for different...needs.

Listening to my HV20 I noticed that I hear the tape motor anywhere on the camcorder until I'm a feet away so I don't think ECM-S930C will help me (if I put it on the camcorder). The only chance on the camcorder would be a true cardioid mic but haven't found one yet.

The ATR25 has a unidirectional polar pattern which seems to me it would pick up the same noise (at possible higher fidelity). So you still have to do filtering which typically still will destory little bit original recording.

Off camera is certainly way to go. A foot (30cm) would be good enough but where to put it (while being on the move on vacation).

So far one mitigation I found is to lower the volume to about -12DB (marked point). The rec volume is still pretty acceptable.

Off camera is certainly way to go. A foot (30cm) would be good enough but where to put it (while being on the move on vacation).

Yes, for starters you really do need to get the external mic off the HV20. This can be easily done by using a flash arm bracket and mounting the mic to the flash arm. Here's the arm I'm using. And I'm in the process of trying to figure out exactly which mic I want.

http://vettaville.com/photos/CanonHV20/hv20_rig_handle.jpg
http://vettaville.com/photos/CanonHV20/hv20_rig.jpg

And then on top of that use a shock-mount for the mic. And do you realize you could easily make your own shock-mount. Take a look at this shock-mount design (or some of the others) and you could easily make something similar to this with a little work. And if you go to the hair accessory department of Wal-Mart (or other stores) you can get the hair-braids made of rubber/elastic that have no metal sleeves on them to use for the bands holding the mic. Of course, you might end up spending almost as much trying to make your own, but it gives one ideas to ponder nevertheless.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/194397-REG/Sennheiser_MZSCAM_MZS_CAM_Shotgun_Microphone_Shockmount.html

Yes, for starters you really do need to get the external mic off the HV20. This can be easily done by using a flash arm bracket and mounting the mic to the flash arm. Here's the arm I'm using. And I'm in the process of trying to figure out exactly which mic I want.
...

Yes that would definitely work. I wish there would be something more inconspicious though. Perhaps a small wireless mic (I remember the German guy who tested and bought the HV20 had a wireless mic in his ear which might work:-).

http://www.audio-technica.com/cms/wired_mics/5f7e96b21f21e6b3/index.html

I got it for $79. on-line

Some people like this one:

http://www.dvcreators.net/rode-svm-stereo-videomic/ $269.00