Well, first of all I'd like to say thanks to all the people who have left information that I've read which has been very helpful.


I'm about to purchase my initial field rig setup.

A GL2, a good Tripod and Microphone. I was reading the review on the three microphones and found it very helpful. My eyes are always bigger than what my wallot should be.

So my current question would be, I'm leaning towards an Azden microphone. Not sure which. I will mostly do special occasions, weddings and such. And I expect that most of my weddings will have PA house systems of some sort. When I was reading the review posted somewhere on this site, it suggested that the SGM-X2 would be too long for the GL2. So any suggestions would be helpful. This is an awesome site btw.



www.droptodesign.com

Welcome Steven,
Thanks for the thanks!

I've moved your post to our audio section. I think you'll get better exposure here. This section is also crammed full of mic info.

For a few extra bucks try the audio technica 897. Frankly, the Azden is not a proffesional quality mic. It will be the weak link in your chain.

You're better off making do with the on camera mic until you can afford a decent mic. In 5 years the AT will still be worth most of what you paid for it. Do some more reading, on this forum and on dv.com (the audio forum) as well.

I guess I got confused by the comparison thread of those three microphones. I thought the Azden was good according to that article. Well now it's time to stretch the wallot.

Azden is pretty low end, even though they are indeed sexy looking. But....looks don't count.
The 897 is a terrific mic bargain. For the price range, I don't know that there is another mic out there to beat it. ME 66 has it's good points too, but you sacrifice sound quality for output, IMO.

Also keep in mind that length is primarily an issue related to the type of shooting you do. If you do a lot of shooting wide, especially with a wide-angled lens, then it is possible the mic will be in the frame. You may be able to get around this by mounting the mic a little higher on the camera. If you are mostly shooting telephoto it may not matter at all.

In your budget you also need to factor in a shock-mount (cheap ones are about $25) and some sort of foam windsock or equivalent.