Portable Condensor Recorder
 

I'm trying to do a short film and the only camera I have is a small Canon with just one mic input; however, there are no headphone jacks so I can't monitor the sound I'm picking up with my mic. I'm using a AUDIX UEM81s which is battery powered.

At first I was thinking of buying a Fostex MR-8 but some of the shots are outside. As far as I know the MR-8 needs a plug in power source. Then I thought of using my laptop, but when I plugged in the UEM81s it didn't work.

Do any of you know a good (value) portable recorder or a way of making my microphone work with my laptop? Thanks.

For a good quality, portable pro-grade recorder take a look at the m-Audio Microtrack 2496.

OMG. $500.00. Wow. Anything a little cheaper? :P

If you want to use your laptop with an external firewire or USB box, M-Audio and Presonus have some things that may work for you:

M-Audio
http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=...bileinterfaces

Presonus FireBox ($300) or Presonus Inspire 1394 ($200)
http://www.presonus.com/products.html

What about this: http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Transit-main.html

Will this work too? (My condensor mic has battery power.)

You can shop around and get the m-Audio for a good bit less than the MSRP. For example, BHPhoto lists it for $399.

I recently fell in love with the Sound Devices 702T recorder. About the size of a large paperback book, light-weight, built like a tank, fully professional in every respect. Only a mere $2500. You get what you pay for. Buying cheap to start usually ends up costs more in the long run than if you'd bought quality to begin with.