Need a pro Microphone...

Question

hello,

What is the best microphone for a boom pole, whom is (the mic) is connected directly to the camera.

I need something suitable and not to expensive.

Thank you,

Saul.

Answer 1

It depends, what camera are you using? If you have a consumer camera, it may not have a mic input at all. If it does, it would be a 1/8" mini-stereo input, which is decent, but not too impressive. If that's the case, I'd recommend the RODE VideoMic for $150. The VideoMic is by far the best mini-stereo microphone out there. Other decent ones I'd recommend: Sennheiser MKE300, Azden SGM-X

If you want to mount it on a boompole, you'll need an extension cord. And with mini-stereo mics, you can only extend them to a max of about 10ft. Then you start to lose quality. You should get a 10' 1/8" mini-stereo cable (mini-male to mini-female) like:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/39...

If you want a pro mic, you'll need a camera with professional quality XLR terminals (instead of mini-stereo). The XLR cameras, however, are much more expensive. You CAN upgrade a mini-stereo input camera to a pro XLR one however. You'll need an XLR adapter, like:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/33...

You could also get an XLR female to mini-male cable adapter, which are much cheaper than the Beachtek ones, but not nearly as good quality, and can actually strain your mic jack and potentially damage it.

Good XLR mics:

RODE NTG-1 and NTG-2

Sennheiser ME66

Audio Technica AT407A

....the Sennheiser MKH-416 is an industry standard, but very expensive.

But if you have a mini-stereo jack, your best bet is the RODE VideoMic. Its quality comes closer to that of an  XLR mic than any other mini-stereo mic I have ever seen. The XLR adapters are quite expensive, not to mention the price of the XLR microphones, which can get pretty insane.

Well, I hope that helps, and good luck Saul!!!