How can I attach a better quality external microphone to my digital camera or camcorder?

Question

I want to record a video for youtube but the built in mic in my sony digital camera is not the best sound quality.

Thank you!

Answer 1

If the camera has a mic-in jack, that is the only way. If you have a Sony camcorder like a DCR-HC96 with only a "active interface" shoe, you need one of these:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/47...

If you are recording loud audio and the sound is getting muddy, you may be out of luck - the loud noise is overdriving the auto-audio leveling circuit. IN the Sony camcorders, there is a "Normal" and "Low" audio switch in the menu so you can reduce the mic gain when the audio is loud, but if it is a still camera that happens to take highly compressed videos, your only option is to get a field recorder (like those from M-Audio, Marantz or Fostex) and during editing, kill the video's audio and bring in the audio from the field recorder - they all have manual audio control.