I need to buy an external mike for mini dv camera?

Question

i hav 1 now which takes aa batteries but has no light to let you know when the batteries are flat.

Ideally i want one for around £100 which runs off the camera battery. Can anyone suggest any?

Answer 1

You would need to buy a proprietry model, and you would also need an intelligent hotshoe to detect and power the mic.

Info on the model of camera would have been helpful.

If your camera does not have such a hotshoe (high end canons and sonys sometimes have) then I can recommend the Sennheiser MKE300E which has a small led that flashes when switched on.  It is a minijack type and picks up in the super cardioid pattern.

Its a wee bit more cash than your post asks for but worth the extra for on camera recording.

There are other types of mic available, like jessops tieclip for £20, hard to beat for the money and far superior to the built in mic if you do formal interviews etc