Hot-Shoe Microphone Mount Problem

[Steve McDonald]

I've had a couple of camcorders with hot-shoe accessory-mount appendages. I don't use mikes that are powered this way, as mine all have their own batteries. It concerns me, jamming the metal tongue of a mike mount tightly in on top of those electronic contact points. Using a locking bolt, that screws down against the bottom of the shoe seems likely to damage them. What do you think about any danger to the electronics by putting a standard mike-mount into these hot-shoes?

I solved this problem for myself on one camcorder, by getting a plain metal mike shoe at an electronics parts house. I carved out a matching little square from a black rubber tie-down strap and used it as an attaching buffer for the shoe, a couple inches behind the hot-shoe. I attached the rubber first, with the thick kind of Superglue intended for use on wood. Then, I glued on the metal shoe. I delicately roughed up all surfaces with fine sandpaper first. This attachment is super strong, pun intended. It won't come off, unless I were to take a knife to it. It also provides a vibration barrier between the mike and camera. So, it gives me a plain shoe to mount my mikes and leaves the hot-shoe unmolested. I'd think the manufacturer would include an additional plain shoe like this, to protect the electronics.

I should add that I mounted this shoe on a bottom-loading model. It might be hard to find the space to do this on some side or top-loading camcorders, where the top of the case is part of the cassette hatch.

Steve McDonald

[Douglas Spotted Eagle]

No worries for electronics, but it still holds true that you should be worried about bending the top of the camera. Most of these shoes can barely hold a light weight light...
There are some shoes that have plastic bases as well, or you could cover the plate of your mount with electricians tape if you're worried about it.

[Frank Granovski]

It concerns me, jamming the metal tongue of a mike mount tightly in on top of those electronic contact points. Using a locking bolt, that screws down against the bottom of the shoe seems likely to damage them.

This concerned me as well, especially trying out the Beyerdynamic EA86, with its metal "tongue". That's why I bought the Sennheiser MZS6 hot-shoe shock-mount.

[Steve McDonald]

Frank, I can't seem to find that MZS6 shock-mount on Sennheiser's USA website.
Maybe it's a Canada-only item? Can you give a tip about an online dealer that carries it? What body part should I use to describe the piece that goes into the shoe-----a foot?

Steve McDonald

[Frank Granovski]

What body part should I use to describe the piece that goes into the shoe---a foot?

I don't know what that part is called---the lip maybe? With this Senn., this piece that slides in is plastic and so is the tightening wheel. Regarding where I got it? At Lornes in Vancouver. It was the last one in stock. Have you tried B&H? Bryan posted a link for this mount a while back. With this mount, the mic snaps in from the top---it does not hang like from in a cage-like mount, but it is a shock mount. I don't know how else to describe it. Maybe Bryan can post the link.