Rode Videomic Pro or Sennheiser Lav mic?

[Thomas Theron Cooper]

I'm trying to figure out how best to record sound. For a single talking head, would a Rode Videomic Pro be more convenient as compared to a Sennheiser Lav Mic? If the talent is relatively inexperienced should one still go with the lav? I find these lav mic units to be somewhat delicate. One of them goes inside the pocket of the talent and I get worried the wire antenna will go out of shape rendering the mic useless. This is why I thought of using the Rode Videomic Pro where the talent doesn't have any physical contact with the mic. The results so far have been less than perfect. What do you think is the better choice in this situation? I have access to a Zoom H4n where I'm planning to record the sound. Thanks.

 

[OzGizmo]

In the ideal world a mic should be no further than 500mm from the speaking persons mouth.... Have a watch of TV broadcasts and see how they are mic'd.
Using a mic on top of the camera is marginal for FX but for voice it's useless, camera handling / zoom noise is often what you get.

If you could get results using a camera mic for voice don't you think professional TV crews would be doing it....... BUT they don't, why?