Shotgun microphone for FS100 - ECM-x1 enough or sony Ecm-672?

F

finaleditor

Member
I have a Sony ECM-672 shotgun microphone ( I was using with my HVR-z1u)
one Audio Technica AT897, and sony ECM-X1 which came with Sony FS100. I will leave for a documentary project and use one of them for that project. Which microphone do you advice me to use, I prefer to ECM-X1 because it is shortest, and smallest one, but if other ones are better I will prefer that ones.
 
This is probably a hackned, glib and all-round non-answer, but... one could invest in an XLR cable that will get a mic close to the subject whilst just being out of shot. That would probably be the best bang for the buck in improving sound quality whichever mic one could choose. :-)

A long shotgun will offer best rejection of off-axis sounds, but then you need a sound engineer to ensure that it's constantly pointed in the right direction. A short shotgun is a little less picky and picks up more 'room tone' but you can have it 'in line with the nose' and have something decent to listen to. But either way, one assumes it's on a boom pole or stand within 2-3 feet of the interviewee's mouth.

And another thing I'll add in a conspiratorial tone because I may have been guilty of this in the past, is don't forget to remove the foam, softie, wind basket or other mic paraphernalia when shooting indoors as, whatever the marketing says, it is NOT acoustically transparent.

In your situation, I'd mock up the situation before you shoot and test, test, test. The AT897 may sound absolutely stunning on-axis, but if you wriggle around a bit, the falloff may be epic, where the ECM-X1 is a little more average but less scary to set up. IMHO, a mic on the camera is good for atmos, emergency and backup/guide only.
 
a mic on the camera is good for atmos, emergency and backup/guide only.
Click to expand...
I will not have a boom operator with me, however shotgun will be secondary microphone, I will use seinheiser evo 100 wireless kit as primary microphone.
 
Ahh, secondary. Absolutely spiffing. Understood. Excellent. FWIW, I found a cheapo lighting stand (really cheap and flimsy) which is pressed into a little mic stand with mic looking 'up' or 'across' - only 'down' if weighted with something. Anything to get that mic 'off' the camera, of course!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top