In the same vein as Peter's question on bag preferences, I'm curious what size boom pole people are either finding they're using most or have discovered they need and wish they had most often - 8', 12', or 16' - and what is the type of shoot where you most often need it - ENG, doco, drama, etc. If you only have one pole, is it 8' or 10' and you find you wish you had longer or the other way around, if it's a 12' or 16' do you often find yourself wishing for something shorter?

I work in film and tv, no eng for me, and I use a ambient 4140 I think its around 17 feet, I find that if anything I could always go longer. I am planning on getting my own boom soon(the on I use is rented). I am looking at the Ambient lite 5130, it is longer but has more sections so it breaks down smaller, that seems to have the best of both worlds. I also would like to try a panamic.

I've got a 12ft CF pole. its great for C standing because you can get the stand back out of the way of the lighting. however, it is heavier for ENG / doc shooting where 3-6ft is plenty because you are close most of the time. since its about 34" or so collapsed, it doesn't travel so nice, even on the audio bag it can be a drag just to fit thru doors. really you want one short pole, one long pole, but if I could only get one, it would be 12ft. more then that is too specialized for length for most shooting.

One thing I like to have is a right angle XLR connection at the bottom. This way you can rest the pole standing up and it's not on the wire/connector. I also think it makes it a little easier to balance.

All three of my boom poles are 12 feet. I find this is usually about the longest you can reasonably handle with a full Rycote and mic setup. I've also never been in a situation where 12 feet wasn't long enough to be out of the shot. In fact in most wide shots I've found no boom was going to be out of the shot and we had to run 100% wireless. I do mostly films, some TV and ENG work.

And Peter's recommendation for the right angle XLR is spot on.

Wayne