Any recommendation on a shotgun mic for the Canon A1? My budget is around $600.

I've been happy with my audio technika 897.Do a search here on shotguns and you'll find LOADS of info.
Bruce S. Yarock
www.yarock.com

I purchased the Sanken CS-1. Trew audio has it on sale (including the shockmount) for $795.00. K-tek makes the K-BWC adapter for the A1's mic holder (I found this on another thread).

larry,
I haven't heard the cs-1, but a friend (sound mixer) has a cs-3...Wow!
Bruce S. yarock
www.yarock.com

I finally bought my shotgun for my Canon XH-A1 and I ordered the Sennheiser ME66/K6 shotgun. I spoke to Scott at Tapeworks Texas and he recommended the Sennheiser ME66/K6 over the Audio Technica 897.

As Bruce mentioned, I'd read this forum very closely; search on the AT vs the Senn. In that particular price class, I think you'll find that *most* folks prefer the AT for quality of sound. The Senn is hotter, but doesn't have the quality. There are some samples posted somewhere here of both being recorded at the same time. AT is less sensitive, has far less self-noise, and has a more natural, rounded sound.

I also believe the Audio Technica (AT) is a great Mic in this price range. I have used it to record nature for PBS, Discovery etc. with excellent results. Iuse some other mics that are almost 5 times the price and I can't say they are really that much better for what you want to do.
John

I just purchased a Rode NTG-2 mic for my A1. It has good press from RAMPS, and is a bargain at $249 (B&H). I haven't done much critical listening to it, but I'm very happy with what I hear so far.
The NTG-1 and NTG-2 are identical mics, but the 2 has an AA battery power supply in it while the 1 needs phantom power. The 1 is a little shorter, which would be nice, but I went with the 2 because because I could see needing a powered mic someday. Either one would work with the A1.

You'll like the Sennheiser ME66. It might not be as flat as the AT897, but it picks out voices really well, particularly in ENG and run-n-gun situations. No mud with the Sennheiser. If you're recording music or other hi-fi situations, you might look elsewhere, though -- but you wouldn't use a shotgun for that, anyway.

AT 4073a for outdoor, AT 4053a for indoor.