Shotgun Mic For a documentary

[KingstonRock]

I've got a friend who is taking out a $13,000 loan to buy some equipment to film a documentary. He thinks he's decided on cameras, two canons i believe , im not sure what models, but he's come to me for advice on a mic. I assumed he wanted a shotgun mic, and since he was going to be recording almost all voice, and doing the recording inside, in average rooms with absolutely no concern for acoustics, I told him to look for one that would pick up as little ambient noise as possible, I assume a low frequency roll-off would be good for him since he's only recording voice, i saw that on a few of the features lists for shotgun mics.

I also suggested to him fullcompass.com for the actual purchase but I really have little idea as to what to buy. Does anyone have any experience with shotgun mics that could give me some suggestions as to what to tell him. I assume his budget for the mic is about $1000, and he plans on using camera audio, is that pretty much the standard way of doing it for documentaries? I couldnt imagin bringing a rack full of gear to all of your interviews.

Thanks,
Eric

 

[Dr_Sbaitso]

The standard shotguns mic's that most people I know use are the sennheiser 416 and 816. I've used the K6 system before, which is fairly good, its essentially a powered unit that you can attach different capsules to, so you can change it to a omni or hypercardioid or several different patterns. Its also battery powered, so no need for a phantom power source.

I've been looking at an Adzen lately. for $299 RRP (you can find it cheaper though...) you get a hypercardioid and an omni capsule, similar to the sennheiser design. the specs look good, but I haven't heard one. If its just for interviews, then you can't go to far wrong.

At this price, he can also look at getting a good quality LD condensor for voice overs if that is required. something like a Studio Projects B1, or a MXL V67 would be good.

As far as recording goes, I would record onto the same tape as the video. It really is a pain in the ass trying to sync hours and hours of footage to audio, which is what he is going to end up with on a doco. The quality of the recording on the tape is going to be good enough. I would recommend looking for a little feild mixer though, as every video camera I have ever worked with is next to impossible to monitor levels on.

Hope this helps!

-Dr S.

 

[KingstonRock]

Allright, sounds good, I think he'll be doing the voiceovers with me, a rode ntk and sonar, which he will eventually transfer into final cut pro. If if the mic is under $500 he probably wont have a problem going for a small mixer. You have any ideas for that? i know they make those little samsons, but i wouldnt really trust samson for anything, are there any maybe 2 input or so devices just for this purpose?