I can't remember where I saw it but on one thread someone mentioned offhand that Sony has a decent lavalier, wired, at around $45. Does anyone have any more info on this?

The ECM-44b is the least expensive professional quality microphone that Sony makes, to the best of my knowledge. They cost a LOT more than $45!

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_BrowseCatalog-Start;sid=8mTYP5N93gnYAK2NEe_SNNxzTh143yDnaQA=?Dept=pa&CatalogCategoryID=bVUKC0%2eN4EcAAAD1WqkpDdUY

B&H sells them for $45

They are a bit susceptible to overload but otherwise do well with voice as in a wedding.

I feed my MD recorder with one.

Mike,
Is there a mdel number that you use?
Thanks,
Marcello

Sony ECM-T145 is the model I have. Comes with an in-line but detachable power module for use with devices that don't have microphone power.

I am interested in purchasing the ECM-T145 also, but for some reason the product info page at B&H only mentions using it with a minidisk recorder, and not plugging it directly into the camera. I will eventually be adding a minidisk recorder and using this for weddings, but this lav mic can be plugged directly into the camera (GL2), right?

Yes it can as long as it is a Sony with the microphone power delivered via the socket. The in-line power setup is for devices that don't power the socket like, I believe, your GL-2

Mike you posted:

"They are a bit susceptible to overload but otherwise do well with voice as in a wedding."


I have two of these and I haven't been able to use the audio from them in the last three weddings because:

First wedding - tried to put it close to the piano and it overloaded
Second wedding - tried to mic a singer and it overloaded both with singing and clapping from the crowd
Third wedding - the reader went to the wrong podium on the wrong side of the stage...guess I can't fault the mic for that.

Do yours overload this easily? I have them connected to the MD recorder (MZN707), the first time with the automatic gain and the second time in manual with it set very low. I haven't trusted them since...do they work well for voice _only_? I was wondering if I should look for something else for a general purpose mic.

It's a $45 mic. If it was all that good there would be no reason to buy an ECM44 or better. JMO

I used one for a wedding and it came out pretty good. They are definitely easy to overload. I'm guessing the mic itself is what overloads, not just the recorder. You can get fuzz without the levels overloading. No way would it work for a singer. I primarily wanted it to get the vows, and it's great for that, because the bride and groom typically don't talk that loud. It picked up the officiant pretty good too because he was standing a few feet from the couple and they're used to projecting for the audience. I also have a Shure SM-11 dynamic lav that's a lot harder to overload, but isn't as sensitive, so I guess it's a tradeoff. I would probably use the Shure next time.

The SM-11 is as big as your thumb so it's not exactly subtle.

I use the Sony with a MD recorder as the second recording system for vows. The primary is a Sennheiser wireless.

It is a voice-only microphone as far as I am concerned.

Thanks guys, using it as a voice only for the groom sounds like a good idea with that kind of sensitivity. The farm boys around here get pretty quiet when it comes to vows! So far I've had great experiences with the Senn wireless systems but planned on the MDs as backup and I was getting pretty nervous about using them in the heat of battle. Has anyone tried the Azden EX-503 as a cheap MD backup mic?