EOS 5DMKII Microphone suggestions?

After having my EOS5d MKII for about 3 months now, I'd like to start testing / getting better with the video function.

Having tried it I see(hear) the internal microphone leaves a lot to be desired.

Does anyone know of an external mic, that.

1. Won't break the bank, just want simple videos. (possibly interviews in an office environment, - not a noisy office, two people present, me, and the subject. And maybe Travel shorts so I will accept some noise.

2. One that does not pick up the internal workings of the camera, or lens or my heavy breathing.

I may be asking for a lot, but I have looked at a couple that seem ok, but as usual with this type of research, I find that when I read reviews on products, I start off with great ones, and think yep, that'll do. Then I see a review saying DON'T buy this your children will DIE.

So any kind soul(s) out there with experience of using external microphones, can you give me your stories? And settings I have a reasonable amount of software for some post production, but do have better things to do with my life.

I accept that the camera is not a video, but my previous video camera cost £100 and is the same size as my phone (Flip minox, absolutely FANTASTIC for what it is)

Ta in advance. Rob.

I use this mic
http://www.amazon.com …3&sr=8-1&keywords=lav+mic

It is awesome for only about 20 bucks and it has a 20 ft long cord! It sounds great. But I only use it to mic up one person at a time. If you are wanting to do 2 people, then I would wait for someone else who is more of an audio guru :P lol. I am not sure how you can do 2 people unless you purchase a second mic and an H1 or something.

Rob-P wrote in post #16011741
After having my EOS5d MKII for about 3 months now, I'd like to start testing / getting better with the video function.

Having tried it I see(hear) the internal microphone leaves a lot to be desired.

Does anyone know of an external mic, that.

1. Won't break the bank, just want simple videos. (possibly interviews in an office environment, - not a noisy office, two people present, me, and the subject. And maybe Travel shorts so I will accept some noise.

2. One that does not pick up the internal workings of the camera, or lens or my heavy breathing.

I may be asking for a lot, but I have looked at a couple that seem ok, but as usual with this type of research, I find that when I read reviews on products, I start off with great ones, and think yep, that'll do. Then I see a review saying DON'T buy this your children will DIE.

So any kind soul(s) out there with experience of using external microphones, can you give me your stories? And settings I have a reasonable amount of software for some post production, but do have better things to do with my life.

I accept that the camera is not a video, but my previous video camera cost £100 and is the same size as my phone (Flip minox, absolutely FANTASTIC for what it is)

Ta in advance. Rob.

What's your budget Rob and mono or stereo?

If you can live with mono, the Rode Videomic is around £70 and is pretty much a 5-star product. Only drawback is that the switch is not lit so you need to remember to turn it on or off for that matter Battery life is out of this world.

Rob-P wrote in post #16011741
After having my EOS5d MKII for about 3 months now, I'd like to start testing / getting better with the video function.

Having tried it I see(hear) the internal microphone leaves a lot to be desired.

Does anyone know of an external mic, that.

1. Won't break the bank, just want simple videos. (possibly interviews in an office environment, - not a noisy office, two people present, me, and the subject. And maybe Travel shorts so I will accept some noise.

2. One that does not pick up the internal workings of the camera, or lens or my heavy breathing.

I may be asking for a lot, but I have looked at a couple that seem ok, but as usual with this type of research, I find that when I read reviews on products, I start off with great ones, and think yep, that'll do. Then I see a review saying DON'T buy this your children will DIE.

So any kind soul(s) out there with experience of using external microphones, can you give me your stories? And settings I have a reasonable amount of software for some post production, but do have better things to do with my life.

I accept that the camera is not a video, but my previous video camera cost £100 and is the same size as my phone (Flip minox, absolutely FANTASTIC for what it is)

Ta in advance. Rob.

you'll probably get more responses in the video section, 'RODE' microphones seem to be popular

I have a RODE stereo mic for my 6D and it definitely improves on the sound quality. Purchased from B&H, about $150 or so. Use it for family video of my kids mostly. It's the first external mic I've owned so I can't compare to others, but one of the features is that it doesn't record what's behind it (I.e., your breathing).

Sorry, After I hit POST I realised this would be in the wrong place, apologies to all, and thanks for the responses so far. I'll finish the post here as I don't know how to move it. But won't get it wrong again. Thanks.

My budget is what it is, I am of the opinion that I want a good product but not professional. (Pro means YIKE! sell the kids for medical experiments). I don't know much about recording, but work on the principle that a reasonable amount of money is worth paying for a product. What's a reasonable amount? Well perhaps £200 - £250? Not sure.

I know what I want to use it for, and I know I don't want the noises recorded that I mentioned originally.

Since the first post I've found this Rode Mic, others rate Rode quite well.
http://www.rodemic.com​/mics/stereovideomicpr​o

Does anyone have one of these that would be willing to say what they think of it?

ddk632, thanks, you say the mic you have does not record your huffing and puffing, is that the same mic URL I posted? Also, does it pic up/not pick up autofocus / IS noise? I'd like to avoid those if possible.

(I will be more careful where my next post goes )

Thanks, Rob-p

It isn't the same one, I have this one:
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …eoMic_Camera_Mo​unted.html

It will likely pick up some IS or motor noise but overall I can't hear it in my videos. I am sure if I really tried to listen for it, the noise would be there to some degree, but it certainly doesn't stand out. Read the reviews and you will see for the price it seems to be a very good mic. There are some really expensive mics out there...

Note that on the 6D (not sure of 5DII) the video mode is in live view only. Therefore, I am not behind the viewfinder while shooting video, and not breathing down the back of the mic directly. I am sure this contributes to the lack of breathing picked up by the mic.

I imagine for an office interview video, you will have the camera on a tripod, so there won't be any breathing or IS noise to worry about anyway. If you zoom and/or manual focus just do it slowly, or else the noise of the lens moving will be picked up for sure.

If you are really concerned about it, you can get a boom pole and mount the mic on that, so it's not on the camera. I think that is the most effective way to avoid recording camera noises. I am not that serious about video so for me hotshoe mount works just fine.

Thanks again ddk632 (David) The live view point is relevant, I had not thought of that.

The problem is, until you try something you just don't know. I do know you can burn £ $s on kit. I want some good kit but don't want to spend too much. Shame there is no lending library for kit. What I don't want to do (same as anyone, except lottery winners) is to buy something and find it limits what I can do, so I then have to spend more.

I'll do some more research then just bite the bullet.
Thanks to all replies. (I may take a pop at the $20 mic, that Ratjack mentioned for the office videos)

I think you need to understand the difference between a mono and stereo mic. If you're trying to pickup people talking or directional, rode videomic pro. Trying to pick up music, then the stereo. Remember that stereo picks up in all directions, so if you're breathing heavily, it should pick it up.

I have the rode videomic pro, and best settings: +20db on the mic, and on camera, 4 clicks from the left (turn it all the way down using manual controls and add 4 clicks).

the mic will not pick up any IS or focus noise. it also cuts down on background chatter a lot if you're focusing on a single element.

Charlie wrote in post #16017582
I think you need to understand the difference between a mono and stereo mic. If you're trying to pickup people talking or directional, rode videomic pro. Trying to pick up music, then the stereo. Remember that stereo picks up in all directions, so if you're breathing heavily, it should pick it up.

Stereo is two channels of audio , mono is one .
A mic that picks up from "all directions" is called Omnidirectional .
There are mics that pick up from specific orientations , IE figure of eight , cardioid , super and hyper cardioid . You'll probably be wanting something in the cardioid polar pattern , maybe even more directional super-cardioid .

Have a look at this website for a selection of mics :
http://www.thomann.de …rophones_for_vi​deo&oa=pra

Foggiest wrote in post #16018604
Stereo is two channels of audio , mono is one .
A mic that picks up from "all directions" is called Omnidirectional .
There are mics that pick up from specific orientations , IE figure of eight , cardioid , super and hyper cardioid . You'll probably be wanting something in the cardioid polar pattern , maybe even more directional super-cardioid .

Have a look at this website for a selection of mics :
http://www.thomann.de …rophones_for_vi​deo&oa=pra

I'm aware of the differences, but TS was referred to the different Rode mics, specifically the "Stereo" videomic and videomic shotgun which is a mono mic(recorded in both channels) afaik. Both output stereo sound (meaning both speakers), when the video plays.

Dont want to give TS the assumption that a mono mic will result in single speaker playback... that's not the case.

TS: if you're not sure what to get, this is straight from Rode's site:

"The Stereo VideoMic is an ideal microphone for capturing environmental and ambient sounds, as well as live music. For dialogue and directional applications the RØDE VideoMic and VideoMic Pro are recommended."

Charlie wrote in post #16018639
I'm aware of the differences, but TS was referred to the different Rode mics, specifically the "Stereo" videomic and videomic shotgun which is a mono mic(recorded in both channels) afaik. Both output stereo sound (meaning both speakers), when the video plays.

Dont want to give TS the assumption that a mono mic will result in single speaker playback... that's not the case.

TS: if you're not sure what to get, this is straight from Rode's site:

"The Stereo VideoMic is an ideal microphone for capturing environmental and ambient sounds, as well as live music. For dialogue and directional applications the RØDE VideoMic and VideoMic Pro are recommended."

No worries mate , I think we are trying to keep things clear from slightly different standpoints , but the same .... if you know what I mean .
Might be handy for the OP to understand the terms if he searches other brands and type of mics .

I notice that many video mics roll off the lows at around 70Hz . Guess this is to lessen mechanical induction of unwanted camera noise that gets past the shock mount .

If it were up to me , I would just stump up for a Zoom H4n .
The mics are supposed to be pretty good and moveable to different configurations .
They also have good pre amps and XLR jacks (incl phantom 48v) , IMHO very important .
Just do a clap at the start of recording and sync up on the PC .
Will give you much better audio from the off , and offers a good upgrade path (higher quality mics off camera etc) .
http://www.thomann.de/​gb/zoom_h4_n.htm

Thanks to the last set of posters.
I understand the difference between Stereo/Mono fine enough. What I don't understand is why my wallet is always empty. Maybe I do...

I think I will suck and see the rode stereo for general use. I can afford that for now. If I find it does not work for me, then I will do some in detail research.

For now I am starting out with Video, so I don't know what I am doing wrong until I've done it. This will be my start point. Then maybe 6 months time I will either be happy enough for the amount of time I use it, or I'll have more of an idea what I'm looking for.

Thanks all.