Audio being so important I have to ask, what are people using?

I understand that different situations require different types of microphones? What would be recommended for being compact? I see Phillip Bloom recommending 2 different Robe mics but can't really tell the difference between them except in price.

I'm looking at 3 different situations (I'm guessing 3 different mics): 1 is for for that gives me audio better than what the 7D has to offer. Something that mounts to the hot shoe would be great but I do I have DSLR rig with a cage to mount it to as well (I just don't bring the rig out with me for a night of drinking though).

Then I want to pick up vocals INSIDE a church. I have the Zoom H4n. In this case I would be looking at either capturing audio only (So no need to worry about a mic being in the picture) or capturing audio where I would have to set the mic outside the frame of the video.

Then capturing instruments such as violin, organ, cello, flute in the same conditions as above.

I would post this in the audio department but I'm really looking for what 7D or 5Dmii owners are using.

Have you thought about using wireless mics ? Absolute must have for church weddings.

I don't do weddings right now. I officiate weddings though. That gives me access to some great talents. While I do plan on doing a few weddings this year for friends, it's not a business yet, not for a long time. I do want to help with promoting some of the talents in exchange for letting me practice video/audio.

Would the Rode Microphones Stereo VideoMic On-Camera Microphone be a good 'fun' mic to go out and about with and then for everything else, to start with, lavs?

I had some funny issues with the Rode Stereo mic on the 7D. Sometimes it will completely miss-balance the audio to the R or L - and its extreme. Like one channel loses pickup almost entirely. Not sure of others experienced that in different situations, but I found it quite annoying.

I have several mics for my other rigs ( at 897, akg blue line, Oktava, etc.) but need something simple for my 7d. I decided to go with the Rode video mic because it gets decent reviews, is cheap , doesn;t need phantom power and has an 1/8 plug that will go into the camera or into a recorder like my Edirol r-09, or a zoom.
I bought it from BH and will get it today. I'll post my results.
Bruce Yarock

That would be great Bruce.

Here as example of just being out (Watching one of the choir girls at a small room concert). I wish I could mic her and the other artists up, but no chance.

What mic (For fun) would be good to get the best of the vocals and also compact?
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