Mic recommendation

[Dennis Kane]

Hello all
What high quality external shotgun microphone with a unidirectional pickup pattern that would eliminate any noise the camera operator produces, would you recommend.
Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
Regards
Dennis Kane

[Stu Holmes]

Dennis - I would think an Audio Technica AT4073 would be a good choice.

But shotguns do generally have a 'tail' so i don't think any shotgun will completely eliminate rear-facing sound.
Polar patterns vary a bit so maybe others on the board know of a particular model that has a very small 'tail'.

[Guy Cochran]

Originally Posted by Dennis Kane

Hello all
What high quality external shotgun microphone with a unidirectional pickup pattern that would eliminate any noise the camera operator produces, would you recommend.
Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
Regards
Dennis Kane

For which camera?

Your best bet is to get the mic off the camera if possible, otherwise a shockmount from RODE, Sennheiser, Rycote or KTEK will help isolate the mic.

Stu recommends a great mic, the AT4073. I think it's a winner if your budget is $500+ and you can provide phantom power to the mic. It is one of my favs.

For less than $500 the RODE NTG-2 would be my pick. Here's a few samples of the two http://dvestore.com/theatre/mics_guide.html

[John M. McCloskey]

Another mount that works great is the AT 8415. Thats what we use and when aquiring audio manually, we honestly do not get any camera noise but as soon as you go to auto for aquiring audio, you will here a slight hum from the camera. Manual all the way with this mount is very ggod.

[Jim Boda]

Originally Posted by Dennis Kane

Hello all
What high quality external shotgun microphone with a unidirectional pickup pattern that would eliminate any noise the camera operator produces, would you recommend.
Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
Regards
Dennis Kane

I haven't used it to recommend...but, If I was in the market for an on camera shotgun...I'd take a close look at the The Sanken CS-1.

[Steve House]

Originally Posted by Dennis Kane

Hello all
What high quality external shotgun microphone with a unidirectional pickup pattern that would eliminate any noise the camera operator produces, would you recommend.
Thank you in advance for your suggestions.
Regards
Dennis Kane

Shotguns exhibit a lobar pickup pattern. While they are considered unidirectional, in reality any microphone's directionality is a matter of degree rather than absolute, picking up in front to a much greater extent that to the sides or rear but if the sound is loud enough the mic will pick it up regardless of in which direction it's located. There's no mic made that will entirely eliminate handling noises coming from a few inches away such as those made by the camera operator- he has to practice so he can handle the camera with minimum noise and some may still get through with even the best mics on the market. A good shockmount will help but nothing is 100%. If at all possible get the mic off the camera and up close to the talent - even a shotgun is designed to be used with about somewhere arounf 4 to 6 feet or so away from the sound source, give or take. Almost never is an on-camera mic appropriate for dialog, interviews, etc because the camera position for good images will almost never be a good spot for the mic to be located for good sound.

[Dennis Kane]

Thanks fellows for all the great advice, it really helps.
Regards
Dennis Kane