OK - my barely useful experience is recording my 17 year old daughter (who has no pitch control [currently], but has a nice voice), and my tot daughter (recordings have been taken since she was about 14 months - she's 22 months now, and totally gets it).
My favorite mic for the 17 year old is an Oktava MK-319 modified by Oktavamod with the Premium Electronics Floating Dome option. Other mics I've tried:
Shure SM81 - bad application for this mic - brought out all the undesirable characteristics sharply - and this is likely true for most small diaphragm condensers;
Shure SM58 - blah-ish, but OK -- imparted an undesirable timbre due to its frequency bump;
unmodded Oktava MK-319 - OK, but somehow both duller and less smooth than the modded one;
ACM-6802T with old GE 12AT7 tube - pretty nice, really, but then I sent it off to get heavily modified and don't have it back yet;
AKG C414B ULS - nice, but too sharp when compared to the Oktavamod mic;
MLX 990 - sizzly, yucky (I've since modified it and it sounds better, but I haven't tried it on her since)
My favorite mic for the tot is an AKG C414B-ULS - very nice reproduction of her voice, very good tolerance for shifting dynamics and mic positioning, and very durable - important because it often gets knocked over. Other mics I've tried:
Shure Beta 57 (with 58 grill) - nice, and handheld, which she prefers - takes impact well, but reproduction not as good as 414;
Shure SM58 - same non-sound advantages as Beta 57, but doesn't sound as good on her voice.
AT4033a - might be OK, except that it's not as tolerant as the 414 to dynamic dynamics and positioning -- I think too much high freq response, too.
That makes for a whole bunch of mics that I haven't tried on any female voice, and exactly zero mics that I've tried with a well trained female voice, but there you go, for what it's worth.
