I'm trying yo deceide on a good shotgun for my Canon gl-1. i've been told that the me66 and the AT 897 are too long for the camera. I came across this "Tiny Mike" small shotgun made by Ambient . Anyone know anything about it?
Thanks
Bruce Yarock

This response may prove my ignorance, but in almost twenty five years
in the business, I've never heard of that company or that mic.

The others you mentioned will do a pretty good job.

As I mentioned, almost any mic is too long to be set on a hotshoe (JMO) use of a bracket like the Mini Rover will get the mic off of the camera. This will diminish the posibility of getty the mic or its wind protection in the frame and reduce the posibility of picking up camera noises.

Ambient don't make the mic. I beieve it's made by MBHO in Germany. All due respecxts, but I'd put my money in a mic that's made by the company whose name is on the product. Audio Technica produce excellent professional quality mics very reasonably, ditto for Sennheiser. The Sennheisers are upscale but so are the prices.

For dialog indoors you can't beat the hypercardoid, unfortunately most hypers require phantom power. The only decent hyper with battery power is the Rode NT3 which is a bargain at $155. It's a big mic but has an impressive sound.

So far as battery shotguns, we have the AT 835, 897 and the ME66. Forget the other bargains, in 5 years they'll be in the dumper, while the AT and Senn will be worth almost what you paid for them.

The DXA-8 makes sense to me. It attaches to the bottom of your camera, goives you impedance matching and XLR connections, phantom, preamplification and limiting.

mic wise, the world is your oyster.

dv.com has a review of that mic.

Not many people have heard the mic. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. It does mean that few people here can give you a user report of the mic.

http://www.dv.com/reviews/reviews_item.jhtml?category=Hardware&LookupId=/xml/review/garrett0402
(registration required)

Not many people have heard the mic. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. It does mean that few people here can give you a user report of the mic.

I just ran across this old thread -- yes, I'm one of the few (it seems) who have this mic. I've used it for a couple of years, and I'm quite happy with it as it has now become part of my regular setup for my 5D2 rig along with their TinyMixer and Sennheiser lav's. Here's how it initially looked on my old bare-bone setup: My Old Camera -- manhandled by Jessica on Vimeo

-- peer

Have had very good success with this Sennheiser mike, very small but does an amazingly nice job. Works on cameras like canon hv40 and DSLR's. Sennheiser MKE 400 Compact Video Camera Shotgun MKE 400 B&H (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=534023&is=REG&A=details&Q=)

I actually own a TinyMike - it's not cheap, but it's probably the best mic for DSLR video out there. very compact and well built - it's been said it sounds as good as the Sennehiser MK/ME66 series mics. I have been debated selling it only because I'm using a Zoom H1 on my DLSR's now. But it works very well as a mike on a boom for interviews since I don't own an XLR based audio recorder just yet. Also, by merely swapping out the plug on the mic, I can go XLR when the time comes. Comes with foam windscreen and dead cat, their custom shock mount. I would love to eventually get the TinyMixer if I decide to keep the mic.

HTH,

It's really interesting to see this thread brought back to life.

I'm really wondering if the Tiny Mike is the same as the new Que Audio. They look remarkably similar. I'm holding the Que in my hand and it looks dang close.

Ambient Tiny Mike Sets (http://www.ambient.de/produkte/mikrofone/tinymike/sets_tiny/tinymike_sets_e.html)

Que Audio Product Range (http://queaudio.com/product_list.php)

Hosa Technology Que audio mini shotgun mic kit on Vimeo

Anyhow, stay tuned. New products are underway ;/

The attachment of the audio cord is different - I like the shock mount for the Que mic better for sure.

The TinyMic is made in Germany IIR, not sure about the Que Mic which Hosa distributes here in the states - Microphone Kits - Hosatech (http://goo.gl/MwDXu)

I'm really wondering if the Tiny Mike is the same as the new Que Audio. They look remarkably similar. I'm holding the Que in my hand and it looks dang close.

Yep, they look quite similar, at least sizewise, but the Ambient has no built in battery -- i.e., it draws the power from the camera while the Que has internal batteries. There might be other differences too.

-- peer

That Que Audio mic actually looks really cool! I can't find any decent examples of it in use though. On their web site they have a quick, low rez clip from some documentary in Africa that has a woman talking for 15 seconds. I would love to do a demo video for this mic that puts it in the foreground, and A/B it with larger mics, so one knows what they are getting and/or trading off for the smaller size. Anyway I'm intrigued, and I like the wee boom pole to!

I'm trying yo decide on a good shotgun for my Canon gl-1. i've been told that the me66 and the AT 897 are too long for the camera. I came across this "Tiny Mike" small shotgun made by Ambient . Anyone know anything about it?


Ambient make some of the best boom poles around and are very highly thought of in professional circles.

The TinyMike was their answer to people who kept asking for a very high quality small gun mic. for modern miniature cameras.

My understanding is that the capsule (maybe the complete mic.) is made specially for Ambient by MBHO in Germany - and MBHO make some of the finest mics around (equal to Schoeps I would say) and they also make the capsules for Brauner mics and others.

With this pedigree, I would certainly consider the Tiny Mike as a top quality unit.

I'm getting a Que Audio ENG kit, and I'll post my impressions of the mic quality.