been loving my ex1r on every level.
I think the onboard mic is just ok. Id like to do a small shotgun mic in the holder to get better sound. any suggestions.
I have an AT897 I use for my boom work on short films, but thinks its alittle long for mounting. input welcome on a good sounding mic that will best the oncamera mic in the camera
thx

My Rode NTG-2 is on my EX1R all the time. Perfect mic for this camcorder.

Size matters. Even using a right angle cable I found the NTG-2 too long and changed to an NTG-1. How far a mic sticks out in the back affects the rotating handle and the ease with which you can grab the top handle and go.

With a deadcat, even the shorter NTG-1 can make it in frame on the standard holder. Worse with the wide angle converter. I replaced the standard holder using a DM Accessory.

So there's a shorter Sony ECM-693 and Shure VP82 all about the same price but I know nothing of how good they are.

I'f you're not using an on-camera light I'd recommend getting one of the hotshoe-mount-style shock mounts for the microphone (I use one made by Pearstone, which also has a thread to place it on the end of a boom pole.) It minimizes handling noise coming through the camera body, and also raises the mic enough that there are no 'dead cat whisker' issues at the top of frame. I have both the Rode NTG1 and NTG3. For most running around the NTG1 is fine (and definitely better than the camera mic), but if I need real reach I may use the NTG3, which is longer and heavier but really sounds wonderful.

Jim,

I keep my Rode NTG-3 on the camera pretty much all the time unless I attached a wireless lav set. I use a shock mount (Rode SM5) that extends the mic far enough back and far enough out that it doesn't show up even when using a wide-angle lens. I wrap a couple of rubber bands around it to make it fit snugly inside the camera's mic mount. Just have to check the bands every so offten to make sure they're not about to break. (From looking at the picture, I think it's about time I checked again!)

I also have the NTG-2, but don't use it anymore because the sound is considerably better with the NTG-3. The NTG-2 is still a very, very good mic and much cheaper than the NTG-3. You would be happy with it.

If you decide to get an NTG-2, let me know. I've been thinking about selling mine for quite awhile now. :)

Phil

Just thought that with the SM5 shock mount, you would be able to use your AT897 just fine without a windscreen of any kind because it could be mounted back.

With the dead cat, my NTG-3 is at the limit and, since it's 1" shorter than the AT897, a windscreen would probably show up in your shots.

This setup also allows me to use the mic with a HDV-Z96 light mounted on the front shoe. The dead cat does block a little of the light in one corner no matter what I do -- probably not noticeable unless shooting a solid, continuous background -- but when shooting with the light, I'm likely indoors and the dead cat can come off allowing the mic to be mounted back so as not to be visible.

Its important for me mainly for wedding receptions. with the loud music and all, I just need to make sure I get good audio
other jobs im usually using a wireless or boom mic

Without a deadcat, the NTG-1 is just fine on the stock EX1R mic holder. The NTG-2 is another 2" longer to hold the battery which you don't need on an EX1r.

Its important for me mainly for wedding receptions. with the loud music and all, I just need to make sure I get good audio
other jobs im usually using a wireless or boom mic

Then it sounds like you'd be okay with your AT897. The Rode shock mount (SM5) I mentioned before will help a lot and will allow you to pull it back as far as necessary.

Since you're original question was about getting the best oncamera mic, though, I still think you're not going to beat the NTG-3 without paying a LOT more, but the NTG-2 isn't far behind for a lot less money.

so its safe to say, the audio quality will be better with either the ntg2or the at897 over the oncamera mic

I can speak fort the NTG1, yes, you'll get less off axis sound.

so its safe to say, the audio quality will be better with either the ntg2or the at897 over the oncamera mic

It'll be a BIG jump in quality.

I know it's a bump in price, but I'm very happy with the Sennheiser MKE600 which comes with a small coldshoe mount, but I've got it in a Pearstone coldshoe shockmount which I mildly adapted.

I use an AT4029 with my EX1, and I am extremely happy with it in terms of the beautiful stereo sound. But on the other hand, I am extremely unhappy with it's sensibility to wind noise. Even the slighest summer breeze produces annoying noise. If I don't use a Rycote blimp (!!!), I can't use the sound.
What about your AT897, Jim?


Best
Ulf

I love the at897, have only used it as a boom mic for a film but will be trying it on my ex1r at a dance performance.hopefully better than my camera mic

I actually meant to post this full story in the Audio Section where the AT875r was being discussed, and then I was just going to mention my recommendation here for the AT875r as a very short mic to mount on smaller cameras. However if you're interested, read ahead:

I used my AT875r last night as the ambient mic on the XA10 wide static shot of our dance academy's first recital. It does require extra padding to fit correctly in the XA10 mic mount.

I rotated the mic 90 degrees to put the openings at the top and bottom. My theory is this reduces off-axis coloration by placing the openings in line with the less reflective surfaces of the carpeted floor and the fully-treated auditorium ceiling. This could be complete hooey, but the sound was beautiful. Granted, this was a pro-level acoustic environment. The XA10 was mounted next to me in the front of house audio mixer position with the Yamaha CL3 digital mixer which I was running. Quite an impressive facility for a HIGH SCHOOL! (Of course, it's very expensive to rent such a place and pay their TD and other staff, but well worth it!)

The XF300 was the active camera at the top of the stadium seating. Both cameras were receiving the program feed from the digital board on channel 1. The XF300 was receiving the AT4021 mounted like a boundary layer mic on the front of the stage as ambient on channel 2. I used the AT4021 because it's my most modern mic built with reducing the chance of cellphone interference, while all my boundary layer mics were made before cellphones were likely to be in close proximity to the mic by the dozens.
I did use two AT831 boundary layer mics on the stage for the tap dance numbers. I figured at the low gain they were set for and their intermittent use during the loudest numbers, any cellphone interference would be acceptable if it happened at all.

My AT 3000 series handheld wireless rounded out the mics used during the program.

The AT875r was the totally independent source of ambient audio connected directly to the XA10 at my position. The mic input attenuation was set to ON and the recording level was set to just above 4.

So I have two recording channels of program audio, two independent recordings of two different ambient sources, as well as the original stereo music files.

Last night while backing up the cards, looking and listening to the files and doing a quick Vegas edit of just one dance, I was extremely pleased with the results!

In the test edit, I simply combined the two audio channels on the XF300, adjusted the unified volume with a touch of EQ and rendered with a little USM sharpening on the video. It was easily acceptable as a finished product with no further work, but of course I will work on both audio channels independently and both cameras when editing for real. The XA10's ambient level was much louder, but simply reducing it to the proper relationship with the program audio channel gave great results and very pleasing sound.

And I promise I do own many other brands of mic! It just worked out to be an all Audio-Technica evening.