Hi everyone, I've just joined this forum as I've just been tasked with creating some film for my company and i need some advice on audio equipment.

We're in the process of buying a Panasonic HC V720 and I'll need a compatible shotgun and lapel mic to do interviews etc.

Can anyone point me in the right direction here? All help is massively appreciated as I am a total novice!

Also, slightly off topic for this sub-forum but what does anyone recommend for a good editing software suite for low experienced users?

How much is your budget?

A camera mounted mic is only good for nat.sound (ambient), no matter how much you spend.
Do you need a wireless or hardwired lavaliere mics. A hardwired version would be MUCH cheaper and MUCH, MUCH more reliable.. no matter how much you spend. again read the 'sticky' topic on wireless.
NLE: From my pro audio perspective, Vegas is intuitive to me On the Mac OS, many prefer FCP over Avid. It's subjective.

The camera you mentioned is an inexpensive consumer camera with very limited audio controls. Before you get too far into decisions about audio gear it's going to be important to really nail down just what sort of films you're expected to make and under what circumstances you'll need to make them as a mic is just the tip of the iceberg. Be aware that a single entry level shotgun mic is going to cost about what you're paying for the camera while an entry level wireless lav kit is going to run half again as much. Because of the camera limitations you'll likely need an external recorder. Don't forget boom poles, shock mount, cables, probably a preamp .... the list goes on and on.

Your Panasonic HC V720 appears to have a 3.5mm microphone input connector. That would allow you to use something like one of the Beachtek adapters in the list below to connect your microphones.

MCC-2 | BEACHTEK (http://www.beachtek.com/products/camcorders/mcc-2/#) for 3.5mm microphones
DXA-CONNECT | BEACHTEK (http://www.beachtek.com/products/hdslr/dxa-connect/) for XLR mics with phantom power
DXA-HDV | BEACHTEK (http://www.beachtek.com/products/camcorders/dxa-hdv/) for XLR mics with phantom power

You did not mention WHAT you are going to be shooting?
A talking head lecturer seated in a nice quiet room with sound control?
An instructional video on how to use a pneumatic jack-hammer on a busy interstate highway?

Not really advisable to suggest anything regarding microphones without some background info.

It would also be helpful if you could give us some budget number that you are working within.
Otherwise, we could easily offer suggestions that would be completely useless to you.

Same goes for your question about software. Are you working on a Mac or a PC? Budget?
Skill level of user(s)? Destination of video? DVDs? Internal web page? YouTube?

Thanks for all the help so far guys.

For starters, it will be a lot of indoor, talking heads and interviews.

In terms of editing software, it's going to be fairly entry level stuff for us but we need to make them as good as possible as we are representing the company and making serious films about us and our customers. We're using PC.

In terms of budget, I have no definite number but obviously, as the camera is fairly basic, I probably can't justify a mic that costs as much as the camera. I'd probably be looking at around £100 I guess.

Thanks for all your help so far!