hard-wired lav

spend a little more or you will be wasting $ in the long run. Get the Audio Technica 899c on the low end $200 or less or the sanken cos11 on the high end. there are lots of good choices between those. When you buy a cheap lav, no one wins
 
so how much would i be looking at for a sanken cos11? i also find it difficult to know when its hard-lined and when its wireless thats being sold. its not always said.

-matthew
 
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=8535&A=details&Q=&sku=350616&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

Don't buy it at B&H, but the link above will show you what it looks like. Call trewaudio.com and talk to a sales rep. I don't know how much experience you have or what budgets you are working with, but (almost) everyone here says the sanken is the top lav around. I have a sennheiser mek2 gold omni lav and a mke104 cardiod lav myself, but for the same money you could get the sanken. You may not want to buy the "best of the best" if that means you need to make a huge sacrifice in another area of your audio kit. Just consider the AT899c as your minimum and you will be somewhat safe. What stuff are you doing? What kind of budgets are you working with? What is your level of experience? What equipment do you already own? What do you plan to buy in the future? These things can make a huge difference in what you should buy. My general advice is buy gear that will do a great job for you and last a long time (it doesn't always need to be the most expensive thing out there). Do as much research as you can before you buy. Talk to a professional and then LISTEN TO THEIR ADVICE. Junk is always going to be junk.

Read all of the stickies on this forum!!
 
thanks for the help. the lav is actually the only audio piece i'm looking for or going to use. its for a short-doc, and will be used mainly for interviews. other audio pieces would be nice, but i don't think our small budget will allow for it.
 
hmm...looking around the forum, would i be better off with an oktava (w/ the proper accessories), than a lav? with the oktava, i could use it for interviews plus b-roll type footage (provided i can't afford a shotgun in addition). with the lav, i would just have to rely upon the on-camera mic for b-roll. one problem with going with the oktava is that i have very limited experience with a boom.
 
lavs are good for monologs....one person! If you are looking to do dialog [2 persons] you might consider the oktava. If its a one time event...you might rent.
 
If you are a one man band, youmay just want to stick with the lav. It is easier to use in a noisy enviornment (outside or inside). By the time you get all of the stuff you need for the oktave, you are talking about a lot more stuff (see my other rants).
 
thanks for the help. yeah, i think i'll stick with the lav.

the project is in honduras for a couple of weeks, so unfortunately, i think renting is kinda out of the question.
 
Which lav are you getting?

Don't plug and unplug the mic with the phantom power on, don't blow or tap on it to see if it is on, treat it as an eardrum.
 
I have the Sanken COS-11sBP which is the battery/phantom powered version. I got that one because I might use it with a non-phantom camera also.

Lav versus normal mic, pros and cons:

+ lavalier is close to the mouth, you can get good signal even in noisy place if dialog is what you are after (like fly fisherman standing in a stream).
+ a tiny lavalier is invisible to the camera, you can get wide shots with good sound without the mic showing
+ no need for boom operator
+ the talent can move around without affecting the sound levels (if you have enough slack in the cable, or use radio transmitter)

- It is possible to get clothing and rubbing noises with a lav
- sometimes it is difficult to hide the mic/cable/transmitter
- If the talent moves his/her head a lot there can be considerable chance in levels and tone of the signal in the middle of the sentence

Generally a normal high quality mic, hyper or short shotgun is preferred, but then again, lav sometimes is the better choice.
 
For one man band sit down interviews a hardwired lav is often the easiest solution. With all that needs to be done in a one man band interview using the KISS philosophy is the way to go. Booming and wireless both introduce extra effort to all ready overburdened Rambo shooter.

Of course, YMMV.

Cheers
 
so the question is, if you could only have one mic (besides on-camera mic) for interviews, b-roll, possible dialogue, everything, what one mic would you choose (under $400 perhaps)?
 
Lithos said:
so the question is, if you could only have one mic (besides on-camera mic) for interviews, b-roll, possible dialogue, everything, what one mic would you choose (under $400 perhaps)?
Click to expand...

Jeremy put together some basic packages in one of the stickies: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=51526

The cheap ones don't have windprotection or headphones. Some people have made DIY zeppelins. I have no idea how well they will work but you can certainly give it a try (search the DIY section, I think there is one there). There are no DIY headphones; you will have to add another $100 for some Sony 7506.

As I was saying before, if most of what you are looking for is sit down interview audio then a wired lav will get you far.

Good luck
 
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