I just came across these , being a brand I had never heard of and wondered if anyone else had tried them ?

They just appeared in the catalogue of an electronic components supplier I use and I have just ordered an NPM 702 shotgun condenser mic to try it out . At a price of £52 ex vat it seemed something of a bargain and hopefully will work well as an on board mic for my PMW 100 , being a fraction over 300mm long with the interference tube only around 200mm of that length ( so hopefully won't intrude into the shot ) .

If it is not great , at least the cost is low . They have a range of various types of microphone and numerous other products , so may be of interest if any good .

A link to the maker's web page

pulse-audio.co.uk/5051259018518.shtml

I like them, and sold lots of these on ebay, before CPC/Farnell started up Pulse as a brand. They're Chinese sourced and perfectly decent mics. Until Pulse started, I imported the identical thing without the Pulse name on it. There's a 4 year old clip here - the exact mic.

Beach Test - NPM-702 Shotgun Microphone on Vimeo

Do watch out though - they are more prone to wind noise than a 416 - not much, but the foam windshield supplied isn;t up to anything other than a light breeze.

I have used the last stock I had for my own use, and mix them with the AKG 416 and the tonal difference is small, and performance very close.

Thanks , that is reassuring . ( It was CPC I ordered it from ) .

I will probably get a 'softy' or the like for on camera use , and I still have a Rycote blimp I used to use with a CK8 if using it off camera .

I sold off a number of good mics and other equipment a few years back when I thought I was more or less done with video production , but seem to be getting back into it now .