Please, help! I need a very cheap shotgun mic!
 

I can´t find any information about how the cheap shotgun microphones work. I´m not a pro, which means that I got no budget and no responsability to have PERFECT results. That´s why I need a mic no more than US$180, for interviews and very small indie productions.

My first question is about what kind of mic to pick. For a newbie like me, with no money, should I really get a shotgun? I want to use it for dialogues, interviews, to camera mount, etc. Can I mount it on a boom to get better results?

The second question is: stereo or mono? Am I wrong or there are no stereo shotgun mics under US$180? If I´m not, I have to get a mono one. For the purpose I talked before (dialogues, interview, camera mount), is it good?

Third (and last) question: what model do you recommend me? I saw some at BH site, like Sennheiser MKE300, Azden SGM 1X. They work well? Any other?

My camera is a Canon Optura 10

THANK YOU!!

I just did a shoot where my 2nd camera man was using an ATR-55 and I am impressed with the sound and I beleive they are under $90 and plug right into the cam mic jack.

Who makes the ATR-55? i did a couple of searches and couldn't find it. I'm relatively new as you might have guessed. Never liked the term "Newbie."

Audio-technica

I just bought a Sennheiser MKE300 from B&H and I love it. It picks up perfectly wherever you point it. Sounds really good. The Audio guy at B&H recommended the Sennheiser MKE300 over the Azden, so that's what I got. Hope this helps, because I was in the same situation as you are.

Tyrone

Thank you all!! You were really very helpful. Anyway, I´ll make a new thread about what microphone to pick: if sennheiser mk300 or azden sgm-1x.