Hi everyone,
I'm in the market for some audio gear. I'm incredibly torn on what all to get. for now, all I need is a recorder and mic (such as a rode shotgun). this will be used in conjunction with my dslr. at a later time I'll invest in some wireless lav stuff, but for now, the mic and recorder is all I need.

it seems the zoom h4n is rather popular, and, as I mentioned before, a rode shotgun mic would be a good purchase as well. however, when I do decide to get wireless gear, will it be useable with the zoom h4n?

thoughts? recommendations?

The Zoom H4n has become the industry standard due to great price, quality & popularity. It has XLR inputs so is compatible with anything you can throw at it, regardless if you go wireless or not it's highly recommended that you buy the H4n, no audio kit is complete without it, even if you buy something more expensive later you will always find a use for the H4n.

Nic, you just need to know where the audio recorder is going. H4n is great when combined with wireless lav. But if you try to get the groom to pocket it, he might refuse and give you a double sidekick on the head because its quite bulky. Although the H4n can also be used for backup audio (plant it somewhere in the lectern or room) or plug it to output line of the mixer. And one day it will be your most useful tool once you upgraded to wireless lav.

I've been using Olympus DS30 for officiant and groom combined with Olympus ME-15 mic. Its small and light for going into the officiant's & groom's pocket. Some others have used Zoom H1 (slightly bigger) but they work fine.

I use RODE shotgun on my camera. It's a common mic and it performs well. It's a no brainer.. just depending on budget you can get the better one, but the standard RODE shotgun mic will work fine too.

I have a Zoom H4n but recently added a Tascam DR-100 which I prefer mostly for the feel & quality of the controls e.g. proper dials marked 0-10 for adjusting input & output levels rather than a +/- rocker. Those with better ears than mine claim the Tascam has the better pre-amps & sound quality but they both sound great to me.

Nic, you just need to know where the audio recorder is going. H4n is great when combined with wireless lav. But if you try to get the groom to pocket it, he might refuse and give you a double sidekick on the head because its quite bulky. Although the H4n can also be used for backup audio (plant it somewhere in the lectern or room) or plug it to output line of the mixer. And one day it will be your most useful tool once you upgraded to wireless lav.

I've been using Olympus DS30 for officiant and groom combined with Olympus ME-15 mic. Its small and light for going into the officiant's & groom's pocket. Some others have used Zoom H1 (slightly bigger) but they work fine.

I use RODE shotgun on my camera. It's a common mic and it performs well. It's a no brainer.. just depending on budget you can get the better one, but the standard RODE shotgun mic will work fine too.

so an olympus ds30 and olympus me-15 would be a good placeholder for dialogue during the ceremony until I get a wireless system?

Not strictly those two combinations. There's many other brands that works just as well. Those are just what I've been using and I like it because its quite small and delivers good quality audio. I know a few others in the forum have also been using DS30 and have given the thumbs up.

I use a Zoom h4n, a Zoom H1, a Rode Video Mic Pro, an AKG Wireless Set, and a azden wlx pro lav set. Depending on the situation I use those pieces of equipment with different configurations. The main thing is if the venue has a mixer with a line out. If not, that drastically changes how I do things for the most part. But those pieces mixed and matched together somehow can handle most situations, at least with weddings!