Which cheap shot gun mic to get? I have no clue.

[f/0.0]

Actually if $50 is your budget for a mic. for a school project, I would suggest you do not use sound at all and make a silent movie.

Any sound will be total cr*p, so make a silent movie.

This will actually concentrate you to make the pictures that will tell the story without sound and you will actually learn a lot about picture making by doing it this way.

Only do sound when you can get the equipment to do it justice.

I'm not talking top of the range, just enough so that your project will be worth doing and not destroyed through bad sound.

I don't know how many times I've stated this before and here it is again.
I've used 5d mk2's internal mic and it was okay. Others are using their cellphones and P&S cameras and it's okay. Would that $50 mic be worse than those? You know the answer.
This is a simple school project; not a broadcast material and speakers in the classroom already are el-cheapo POS to begin with.

 

[recordingwhiz]

f/0.0

It sounds like you already know the answer to your question, and refuse to hear otherwise. if you can find it then get it and keep chugging.

wish you luck.

If you want others to verify your theory, well they probably won't, because we DO care about audio, and as you have stated you DON'T.

 

[Alex H.]

I don't know how many times I've stated this before and here it is again.
I've used 5d mk2's internal mic and it was okay. Others are using their cellphones and P&S cameras and it's okay. Would that $50 mic be worse than those? You know the answer.

Are you here to get the answer you want, or the answer you need? I know exactly how many times this has been stated, but here it is again: $50 is not going to buy you anything that's going to do you much good or is going to improve your sound enough to waste that $50. Why is rental not an option?

This is a simple school project; not a broadcast material and speakers in the classroom already are el-cheapo POS to begin with.

Poor spekers (especially built-in on classroom TVs or multimedia systems) are even more of a reason for clean audio. If you record using either the camera's built-in excuse for a mic or a cheap-o camera-mount microphone, you're going to record a whole lot of room sound. Played back in a reflective classroom on poor speakers is just going to make things unintelligible. This isn't speculation, it's experience. I have had to sit through far too many student video projects shot with cheap cameras and even cheaper sound, and have strained to hear dialog amidst the recorded room reflections even in the most friendly listening environments.

Yes, we know the answer. And we've given it several different times. Take the advice, or don't. That's completely up to you.

 

[davefisk]

If you just need something that works, then I would go with the cheapest lav you can find. Yeah, it won't sound good, but it's better than the internal mic on the camera. For sit down interviews, that's the way I go...well kinda. I use a really good hardwired lav and boom on a stand from above, but given the budgetary constraints, you are limited to a lav. It's easier to deal with for what you are doing, and should give you noticeably better sound (even if it's still not good compared to what many of us are used to) than the built in mic. Is it optimal? No. Can it work? Yes.

I think you stated that you are not looking to be a filmmaker or anything like that. Is that correct? If so, then I understand where you are coming from on this issue.

I think you might have been better served stating all your intentions up front. I know all you wanted was a simple answer to your question, but ask 5 sound guys how to do something, and you'll get 15 answers.

 

[Sam Mallery]

It seems like this mic. ( http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&sku=664440&is=REG&A=details&Q= ) is getting good reviews. Any thoughts?

Among the cheap & crappy mics, the ATR6550 is one of the cheapest and crappiest, but, that said, people in your situation are often pleased with it. I personally haven't tested it extensively. I recall hearing it briefly a while ago, and (for what it is) it was okay. But, it's much larger/longer in person than it looks on the Internet. It feels cheap. It comes with a lot of accessories that most people don't need, and it doesn't come with a shockmount (which most people need).

It's an entry-entry-level-mic. A large number of people who buy this mic end up upgrading to better quality mics. That's why people will advise you to buy the right tool first, instead of the wrong tool first because it's cheap.

 

[f/0.0]

Among the cheap & crappy mics, the ATR6550 is one of the cheapest and crappiest, but, that said, people in your situation are often pleased with it. I personally haven't tested it extensively. I recall hearing it briefly a while ago, and (for what it is) it was okay. But, it's much larger/longer in person than it looks on the Internet. It feels cheap. It comes with a lot of accessories that most people don't need, and it doesn't come with a shockmount (which most people need).

It's an entry-entry-level-mic. A large number of people who buy this mic end up upgrading to better quality mics. That's why people will advise you to buy the right tool first, instead of the wrong tool first because it's cheap.

Thank you! I really appreciate your input and you've been very helpful.
Regarding ATR6550, would you recommand it over other cheap $50ish mic in this list?
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ns=p_PRICE_2|0&ci=8902&N=4294548274

I thought ATR6550 would be the best deal for me but its size, something I didn't coniser until reading your post, concerns me.

 

[unclebob6958]

I really don't think it matters if you get a piece of dog sh1t or a piece of cat sh1t. Spend your money where you will; it will be a marginal improvement over the camera mic, you'll be happy and you can start another thread telling us how wrong we were.

 

[f/0.0]

I really don't think it matters if you get a piece of dog sh1t or a piece of cat sh1t. Spend your money where you will; it will be a marginal improvement over the camera mic, you'll be happy and you can start another thread telling us how wrong we were.

I actually prefer catshit. Catshit stinks worse but it's easier to manage. And, Kopi Luwak is awesome! I know I'm being cheap ass on this mic. but I wouldn't mind dropping $35 for that coffee.

 

[Noiz2]

f/0.0,

This thread has gone off into left field. As you have sort of found out this is not the best place to ask for recommendations when your goal is equipment most of us would not wish on our enemies.

There is probably a forum where folks who make home movies will go over the good and the bad of under $50 shotguns. Heck you will probably find someone calling people snobs because nobody has suggestions for their under $20 budget.

But with all due respect I think if you ever want folks to answer questions in the future that we should shut this down. If it goes on much longer people are going to get in a twist and start putting you on their ignore list. Right now you might well say F%^! them but at some point you actually might need help with a real sound issue.

This isn't a sound issue, it isn't even a real question for this list. You have your budget and you are going to get what you are going to get, fine. But nobody on here that has any sense of quality is going to tell you that it's OK to buy a POS mic. It's just not going to happen. At that price point it probably doesn't even matter. By the one you think looks the coolest.

Do what you want but it's a small world and it's best to not burn bridges if you can help it.

 

[f/0.0]

f/0.0,

This thread has gone off into left field. As you have sort of found out this is not the best place to ask for recommendations when your goal is equipment most of us would not wish on our enemies.

There is probably a forum where folks who make home movies will go over the good and the bad of under $50 shotguns. Heck you will probably find someone calling people snobs because nobody has suggestions for their under $20 budget.

But with all due respect I think if you ever want folks to answer questions in the future that we should shut this down. If it goes on much longer people are going to get in a twist and start putting you on their ignore list. Right now you might well say F%^! them but at some point you actually might need help with a real sound issue.

This isn't a sound issue, it isn't even a real question for this list. You have your budget and you are going to get what you are going to get, fine. But nobody on here that has any sense of quality is going to tell you that it's OK to buy a POS mic. It's just not going to happen. At that price point it probably doesn't even matter. By the one you think looks the coolest.

Do what you want but it's a small world and it's best to not burn bridges if you can help it.

Thank you. Your suggestion is sincere and I gotta respect it.

 

[djbobbyrhodes]

I don't really want to add to the shenanigans of this thread, but I will recommend something different. Take that $50 and pay another student to record audio for you. It's a college project, yes? Even if it isn't a film school, surely there must be some audio minded people that go to this school. Maybe someone in a band who records their own concerts or something. I know it sounds like a long shot (kinda), but it's not impossible.

Or do a trade with them. They record audio for your documentary, you can shoot a music video or some awesome stills for the band or something. That's what we did for our first short back in school. We met a dude who worked at Guitar Center. He wasn't into film, but he had tons of audio gear. Field mixer, recorder, boom, lavs. Everything we needed.

 

[Steve House]

I don't know how many times I've stated this before and here it is again.
I've used 5d mk2's internal mic and it was okay. Others are using their cellphones and P&S cameras and it's okay. Would that $50 mic be worse than those? You know the answer.
This is a simple school project; not a broadcast material and speakers in the classroom already are el-cheapo POS to begin with.

When I was in university, even as a freshman, all work we turned in, in every class, was supposed to be as close to professional quality standards as we could make it. Of course it was understood that we had a long way to go to actually get up to professional levels but our grade depended on how hard the instructor believed we had tried.

 

[dre83]

You can also buy something little more expensive but more professional, and then use it for future things... Or maybe rent it if people need it.

 

[John Willett]

I don't know how many times I've stated this before and here it is again.
I've used 5d mk2's internal mic and it was okay. Others are using their cellphones and P&S cameras and it's okay. Would that $50 mic be worse than those? You know the answer.
This is a simple school project; not a broadcast material and speakers in the classroom already are el-cheapo POS to begin with.

The internal mic. is actually not OK and what your classmates are doing is even worse.

You obviously do not care at all about what you are doing and seem to want to get the very worst quality possible - this is the opposite of what I did when I started. I had virtually no money at all, but I made efforts at the very beginning to always get the absolute best I could possibly afford - and I still have microphones I bought about 40 years ago that I would still happily use today. And recordings I made 40 years ago still sound good today played back on far more sophisticated equipment.

I'm sorry, I find it extremely sad that you are so fixed in your ideas and have no interest or care about doing the best you can. So I can only gather that you are just playing about at school with no intention at all of making this a career; because with that attitude you will certainly fail very quickly. This saddens me very much, sorry.