XLR Mic for Canon XA10

[Andreas Schmidt]

Hello,

I was very lucky yesterday as I could order a XA10 as a internet seller had exactly one unit. In any case I bought the XA10 due to the XLR inputs and I am now looking for a shotgun mic that can be mounted on the camcorder and I was looking for the Rode NTG-2.

Now my questions:
1) does it fit on the handle ?
2) could I get a problem with this as it gets in the picture on wide shoots?
3) overall feedback on that setup?

As always - thanks a lot
Andreas

[Lou Bruno]

RODE NTG-1 is perfect. Ther larger "2" model too big for the camera.

[Andreas Schmidt]

Understood, so the NTG2 would be visible at wide angles ? Not good. Ok. I will look at the NTG 1 instead.

[Battle Vaughan]

The Rode is a very nice mike. You might also look at the Audio-Technica 875, which is about 7 inches long and made for compact cameras. Like the Rode, it requires phantom power, which the camera supplies.

[David Zeno]

The NTG2 also is powered by a 1.5 AA battery, something that may be of interest. Remember that if you are powering your XLR mic, out in the field, you will be depleting your battery that much quicker, and an XLR mic I've read can take 30 minutes off your battery life.

I was under the assumption that the NTG1 and NTG2 are the exactly the same diameter.

Btw, the NTG1 needs a bit of foam or tape to fit into the XA10's mic holder from what I've also read ( I have no experience with this mic, but was also look at this as a possibility, however I want a stereo mic instead of a mono unit like the NTG1 or 2.

Originally Posted by Andreas Schmidt

Understood, so the NTG2 would be visible at wide angles ? Not
good. Ok. I will look at the NTG 1 instead.

[Stephen Sobel]

The NTG1 and NTG2 are different lengths!

[Andreas Schmidt]

Hello,

I received the camcorder and the Rode NTG1 today. In fact the mic is too small to fit and I need to organize in fact some foam. I ordererd the SM5 as well and that adds quite some weight.

[Paul Elertson]

If the xa10 mic holder is the same as the xh-a1....

If you go the route of the NTG-1 or 2, you will need 3 #15 o-rings from the hardware plumbing department to make up the difference in diameter of the NTG and the Canon holder.

[Andreas Schmidt]

Made the foam myself with some carton qnd now the mic sits and holds very well but I still have to be very careful otherwise the mic is visible in the picture. In other words no full wide angel shooting. Need to play around with it a little more.

[Jeff Harper]

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/497310-REG/Azden_SGM_PDII_SGM_PDII_On_Camera_Short_Shotgun.html
Anyone used this? Apparently it comes with O rings, and according to a review at B&H it fits great. I like the price, no negative reviews, and it's less than 6", which sounds good to me.

Edit: I attempted to hihack the thread inadvertently, sorry, I'll start a new thread or something later.

[Robert Young]

Originally Posted by Andreas Schmidt

...but I still have to be very careful otherwise the mic is visible in the picture. In other words no full wide angel shooting. Need to play around with it a little more.

You should be able to position the NTG-1 such that you can not only shoot full wide, but can shoot full wide with the WA adaptor as well

[Don Palomaki]

The specs for the Azden SGM-PDII on the B&H web page do not match the specs on the Azden web page.

Though folks appear to be satisfied with the Azden - based on published specs (and reviewer satisfaction) I would give serious consideration to the AT875. (In fact, I may get one this week)For a bit more money you get better signal to noise, higher output and wider dynamic range, and it will tolerate a higher sound level before distortion. One potentially significant point is that the Azden has a rated impedance (on the Azden site) of 1.5K ohms, A bit high I think for a 600 ohm input.

As to the one reviewer on the B&H who complained about the AT needing phantom power, the XA10 provides phantom power.

I use a few turns of gaffer tape on the mic barrel to mount my Rode NTG-2, and it does NOT extend into the full wide zoom image, even with the foam on the mic. However, the mic does look a bit long on the camcorder, the XA10 being as compact as it is.

[Don Palomaki]

I've read can take 30 minutes off your battery life.

The mic in question here draw about 2.5 ma phantom power at 48 volts. Stepped up from 7 volts that would translate to about 20 ma of battery current. Since the camcorder draws a nominal 400 MA this would net to a 5% increase in power draw, or a 5% reduction in battery run time. That corresponds to 30 minutes if you have a nominal 10 hour battery.

[Jeff Harper]

Thanks Don, good info.

[Jeff Harper]

Per your commnet, I was looking at the specs of the mic, compared to to some others, and noticed the Rode Videomic has what appears to be excellent specs, better than many of these shotguns.

I went and got my Videomic out, which I don't use anymore, removed the shoe mount contraption, slid it into the mic holder of the XA10, and PRESTO, it's looks perfect. a $10 XLR adapter and I might be good. No shock mount, but I'll test it out, I'm stoked.