Noiz2
Sound Ninja
There are two competing things you have to deal with. One is you don't want to spend a bunch of cash. There are a lot of things you can do on the cheap that are not "as good" as the "real" thing but are good enough for now. The painters pole boom is a good example. I used to make my own wind protection. They looked a bit funky (though not bad) and they worked fine. I used them on a number of high budget films (for FX recording, don't think it would have passed muster on the set). So depending on how handy you are you can save a bunch if you don't have to show up with "professional" name brands on your gear.
I built the first two mixers I owned. If you can solder and work your way through instructions you can build things like preamps and mixers yourself, and have high quality.
You can't build a recorder though or a mic (actually you can build a mic (sort of) but...) so those are things you need to buy.
Second you want to have stuff that will not be junk as you get better. All of the micro recorders are decent. They are way better than the options low budget filmmakers were using not long ago. The weakest part is the interface and the analog sections. You can't do anything about the interface but you can get a mixer or preamp to solve the analog issues. BUT you will probably be fine just using the built in ones, none of them are "bad". And they will be of use to pick up FX recordings etc when you retire it for a better recorder.
As a filmmaker you are better off hiring a sound person than buying stuff. But as a student you will learn more with your own stuff.
In your shoes I would probably recommend getting one of the sub $200 recorders (that can provide XLR and Phantom power), you don't need the AC adapter except if you want to do some "studio" work. It won't do you much good in the field.
I would look at one of the CAD cardioid mics. They are cheap, good quality, not much handling noise and you could bury one in foam with some fake fur wrapped around it for very little. The cardioid is a bit wide but that will be a help with spotty booming. And it's a good FX mic.
Get some decent headphones and a painters pole and you are ready to experiment.
The above is not a "professional" set up but should work well for what you are describing doing and is not a lot of cash.
After playing with it for a few shoots you will have a much better idea of what you want to upgrade.
I recorded FX on a number of $30+ mil. features with a set up not all that different from above. I upgraded as a went along and ended up with a very nice setup, because I knew what I wanted - from the experience of using what I had.
I built the first two mixers I owned. If you can solder and work your way through instructions you can build things like preamps and mixers yourself, and have high quality.
You can't build a recorder though or a mic (actually you can build a mic (sort of) but...) so those are things you need to buy.
Second you want to have stuff that will not be junk as you get better. All of the micro recorders are decent. They are way better than the options low budget filmmakers were using not long ago. The weakest part is the interface and the analog sections. You can't do anything about the interface but you can get a mixer or preamp to solve the analog issues. BUT you will probably be fine just using the built in ones, none of them are "bad". And they will be of use to pick up FX recordings etc when you retire it for a better recorder.
As a filmmaker you are better off hiring a sound person than buying stuff. But as a student you will learn more with your own stuff.
In your shoes I would probably recommend getting one of the sub $200 recorders (that can provide XLR and Phantom power), you don't need the AC adapter except if you want to do some "studio" work. It won't do you much good in the field.
I would look at one of the CAD cardioid mics. They are cheap, good quality, not much handling noise and you could bury one in foam with some fake fur wrapped around it for very little. The cardioid is a bit wide but that will be a help with spotty booming. And it's a good FX mic.
Get some decent headphones and a painters pole and you are ready to experiment.
The above is not a "professional" set up but should work well for what you are describing doing and is not a lot of cash.
After playing with it for a few shoots you will have a much better idea of what you want to upgrade.
I recorded FX on a number of $30+ mil. features with a set up not all that different from above. I upgraded as a went along and ended up with a very nice setup, because I knew what I wanted - from the experience of using what I had.
