My miniDV camera doesn't have a microphone jack. Is there something I can do to still be able to use a mic?

Question

Are there adaptors or anything?

Also, if possible, how much do those little tiny "lav" mics often go for? The ones you clip onto people, or stick to the end of a broomstick for a makeshift boom lol.

Answer 1

I'm surprised your camera doesn't have a mic jack.  But you may have a "shoe" that can connect different accessories like a mic.

below is a link to picture of a shoe (except it's not connected to a camera in the photo)  And as for the lav mic, they range but my guess would be about $100 (US)

http://www.digital-cameras.com/pic/300x3...

Answer 2

Most consumer camcorders do not have a mic-in jack.

Since we don't know what kind of camcorder you have, we can't tell you if there might be an adapter.

If your camera is a Sony - with a Sony-proprietary "active interface" shoe, you can either use Sony proprietar mics that work only with that Sony active interface shoe... or you can TRY to get one of these

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

though they are discontinued and you can't even get them direct from Sony... They may be available from Sony (Germany).

Some Canon and Panasonic camcorders have a hot shoe that lets you use their mics... but we need to know what you have before we can help.

Go to the camcorder manufacturer's web site and see if the camcorder has any mic accessories - they may also be listed in the manual.

Lavalieres can go anywhere from

Low-end:

http://www.nady.com/vrseries_pg.html

Mid-range:

http://shure.com/ProAudio/Products/Wirel...

Expensive:

http://www.amazon.com/Sennheiser-EW100EN...

or

http://bssc.sel.sony.com/BroadcastandBus... (Need body-pack and base-station.)