Mic Recommendation

What type and size you need, and where you should point it. Does a large diaphragm do a better job in preventing pregnancy than a small? WTF is phantom power and why do you need it? All these important questions and more, discussed within. Entendre at your own risk.
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JD01
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Mic Recommendation

Post by JD01 »

Anyone got any ideas of decent alternatives to the Sennheiser E914?
Its going to be for mounting on top of a pro film camera - the Senn is a little bit on the pricey side.
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Tadpui
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Re: Mic Recommendation

Post by Tadpui »

A couple of years ago, I was watching and reading a lot of reviews about camera equipment. So I bumped into a lot of reviews of shotgun mics. But I can't seem to remember what all of the best values were, it's been too long! Rode has several offerings at various price points. I think it was only the cheapest Rode shotgun that was pretty terrible...the others all seemed to range from competent to great.

Unless the unique pattern and rejection of a shotgun mic is essential in your situation, you can always just use one of your cardioid pencil condensers. There are cold-shoe mounts that adapt to hold a standard mic clip, just like a mic stand would. You can run XLR to an external recorder, or there are hot-shoe mounts that can provide XLR jacks, preamps, and phantom power that mount directly to the camera (depending upon your camera make/model). It can get cumbersome though, especially if you don't have your camera in a rigging frame.

I used an SM81 mounted to an on-camera preamp on my Panasonic camera for a little while, but Panasonic's offering for the on-camera preamp was really crappy compared to what it cost. And it was clunky to handle, and seemed a bit fragile overall. I ended up ditching that and went with a wireless lav mic and an external recorder before too long.
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JD01
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Re: Mic Recommendation

Post by JD01 »

Tadpui wrote: Thu Apr 08, 2021 1:12 pm A couple of years ago, I was watching and reading a lot of reviews about camera equipment. So I bumped into a lot of reviews of shotgun mics. But I can't seem to remember what all of the best values were, it's been too long! Rode has several offerings at various price points. I think it was only the cheapest Rode shotgun that was pretty terrible...the others all seemed to range from competent to great.

Unless the unique pattern and rejection of a shotgun mic is essential in your situation, you can always just use one of your cardioid pencil condensers. There are cold-shoe mounts that adapt to hold a standard mic clip, just like a mic stand would. You can run XLR to an external recorder, or there are hot-shoe mounts that can provide XLR jacks, preamps, and phantom power that mount directly to the camera (depending upon your camera make/model). It can get cumbersome though, especially if you don't have your camera in a rigging frame.

I used an SM81 mounted to an on-camera preamp on my Panasonic camera for a little while, but Panasonic's offering for the on-camera preamp was really crappy compared to what it cost. And it was clunky to handle, and seemed a bit fragile overall. I ended up ditching that and went with a wireless lav mic and an external recorder before too long.
Cheers, the camera is a Sony FX6 Cinema Line and it is in a mounting rig. It has integrated XLR jacks/phantom power and stuff.
I could just stick one of my AKG C1000's on it which wouldn't be a problem but their diameter is slightly too large for the mounting clip included with the camera.
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Tadpui
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Re: Mic Recommendation

Post by Tadpui »

JD01 wrote: Thu Apr 08, 2021 2:05 pm Cheers, the camera is a Sony FX6 Cinema Line and it is in a mounting rig. It has integrated XLR jacks/phantom power and stuff.
I could just stick one of my AKG C1000's on it which wouldn't be a problem but their diameter is slightly too large for the mounting clip included with the camera.
Wow, that's a cool camera! That's great that it has integrated preamps. Looking at photos, it looks like the attached handle has a shoe mount on top so you could try something like this (not sure if you use 3/8 or 5/8 mic clips):



Then your C1000 mic clip screws onto that.

It's an idea, at least.
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JD01
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Re: Mic Recommendation

Post by JD01 »

It isn't mine unfortunately. But I might get to play with it occasionally. Anyway. Shoe mount. That's what I needed to know.
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