External Mic for my XH-A1
 

Can someone recommend an external (not lav) mic for my Canon XH-A1?

Joe

It's best not to put a mic on the camera unless you have to because you want to get the mic very close to the source in order to get good sound and because you don't want to pick up any noise from the camera.

What kind of mic depends on what you are going to do with it and many other things eg price.

The Sanken CS3-e is a good shotgun mic.

You should take a look in the audio section of the forum. There's lots of good advice there.

Mic
 

Yes, I agree and sorry for not telling you what I am using it for. I shoot weddings and have noticed that the onboard mic is good, but picks up a lot of side noise, etc. Of course, I have a second camera with the groom mic-ed with a lav. I was just wondering what would be a "good" medium-priced external shotgun mic?

Thanks,
Joe Nelson
NVP
NVP Nelson Video Productions

I personally own the NTG-2 from RODE. I love it. It is very focused but it will still pick up alittle side noise, But just enough to not make it sound so plain and boring. I use this mic as a camera mounted shotgun and then I will also take it off and use it a a boom where needed. For $250 it is well worth the money. Just make sure you get it from a good dealer ;)

Gotcha and thanks. Hey you might be my long lost brother, hah!

I'm using Rode NTG-1

Another vote for the Rode NTG-2.
If your wallet is thicker than mine, you
might want to check out the NTG-3.

Best

Vasco

I use a Sennheiser ME66 and am very happy with its sound. Its a little more $$ than the NTG 1 & 2, but its definitely worth it.

+1 for the Rode. I have an NTG-1 but I should have gone for the NTG-2 so I could have run it on cameras without phantom power.

Sennheiser have always made great mics. I have one of their hand helds and it's stunning. If you can do the spend, the Sennheiser is worth it but the Rode will not disappoint either.

Another vote for Sennheiser......
 

ME67 here and wouldn't be without it! (also have the 66 & 64, all great mic's).


CS

I would hightly recommend the Rode NTG-2. Below is a link of one of my videos wherin the NTG 2 was used exclusively. It was placed on a mic stand just above and slightly in front of my head. I like it better than the Lav I had been using.

LINK: YouTube - TaxSlayer.com Commercial - Contest

I hear that the NTG 3 is even better but more money. Hope this examle video helps.

What is "medium" priced?

Robert.. $269 street for the NTG-2. You get value for the investment.

Yep Tripp, another advantage in buying the NTG-2 versus the NTG-1: when you come to sell it on later, you'll have more chance because it has the battery option.

Apart from that they're both the same except the G-2 has no Off switch and is 61mm longer, the extra length housing the battery.

Cheers.

I'm not looking for a mic. I've got a few. I was asking what the OP means by "medium" priced.

Another vote for the Me66/K6, although one of our team has a personal Rode NTG2 and is quite happy with it, and we have an Audio Technica 897 on another camera which, while not having a hot an output as the ME66, has a very decent audio quality for voice-interviews and costs...well, about the same as the Rode. If our budget in this hard time for newspapers was what it used to be I would buy an NTG3 to test, the specs and reviews are excellent...but pricey...my dos centavos / Battle Vaughan/miamiherald.com video team