An Idle Question

[GenJerDan]

Is there a real reason not to use "recording studio" mics for shooting? We are, after all, mainly concerned about speaking voices which have a fairly limited range under normal circumstances.

Singers, on the other hand, may go way the heck beyond those points, and I'd think a mic made to keep a coloratura from sounding tinny and keep a basso sounding profound wouldn't be so bad as a general purpose film-shooting mic.

Is there something I'm missing? (Ignore shotguns and probably hypers for this.)

 

[Jeremy Ordan]

I think it has mostly to do with the reach of a studio microphone. Normally singers are singing right into the mic whereas with a production microphone the microphone is pointed towards the singer but has the reach exagerated to help keep the microphone out of frame.

Just my guess...

 

[tigeba]

Here are a few reasons I can think of.

Weight
Size
Shape (akward to boom)
Fragility
Handling noise.

Most studio condensor mics have plenty of sensitivity, but they are generally cartoid or omni (or selectable patterns), so the pattern is too wide.