VideoMic

Firstly, The RØDE VideoMic Microphone is a BRILLIANT microphone. It provides clear, crisp, professional quality audio, at a very good price. This microphone is capable of doing a lot more than on camera work. I have used this product with my PC, for contacting my friends, and communicating with people when playing games online. As well as this, this microphone is great at being used as a boom mic for a video. This microphone tops any built-in microphones on cameras or phones, and it is a great way to improve quality of videos for things like YouTube, Twitch or general video projects in general. Pros of this microphone: - Brilliant, Crisp, Sharp Audio - Great price for performance - Works with many platforms: - PC - Mac - Camera - Audio Recorder - Phone (with adapter) - Uses standard 3.5mm jack connector - Shock mount reduces knocks and bumps greatly - Foam covering reduces noise from wind quite well - built in cable stretches well - built in high pass filter Cons of this microphone: - audio cable isn't replaceable - requires 9v battery for power - quite large - can sometimes be seen in the camera shot (when mounted on hotshot mount) when using wide angle lens This product is amazing for the price, can't recommend it enough!

very good microphone for people using dslr's for recording video but want half decent sound. fits well and snug on the hotshoe, on my Nikon d3300 which has an external mic port so be careful some dslr's dont have them. The internal sound controls are a bit hard to get to so i don't use them but they are not very important unless you are going somewhere very loud. i have managed to rig mine up with a Dictaphone and an audio splitter on my dslr so i can monitor the audio, which i would recommend. with it being a shotgun microphone you can really tell the sound is captured from where it is pointing which is great. the shock mount is very good stopping any vibrations that would create noise. the sound can be a bit hissy unless you turn down the mic preamp level on a dslr so bear this in mind as i thought it was the mic at first. I recommend this over the rode go mic unless your really pushed for price and space, as it is much better and not too more expensive. i cant really compare it to the video mic pro but i would say is at least half as good for around half the price. you also get a good warranty from rode which i would recommend using also overall very pleased and would definitely recommend for people wanting an external mic for their camera.

This mic seems to be good. I definitely get a fuller sound than I do from the on-board mic on my camcorder. The problem lies, I believe, mainly with Canon cameras. I have the Canon M52 camcorder, and as this is a video mic, I expected things to be sweet, but I was disappointed. There is a distinct hiss under all my recordings using this mic with the Canon camcorder (search the two of them for why this is). If I film in a noisy environment, the hiss is un-noticeable (so far, anyway), but when you film someone talking in a quiet environment, the hiss makes the footage quite unusable! I've looked into the problem and I haven't been able to find a solution for my camera, although there are solutions out there for DSLR cameras; it didn't work with mine. I've decided to keep the Rode Videomic, because, as I said, it records (seemingly) well in a noisy environment, much better than the on-board mic, and I've now purchased (after much research) a separate recording device. No one said audio for video was going to be easy, I just thought it would be. It can be complicated, expensive, and time consuming trying to get it all to work the way you want it to, as different situations are going to call for different set ups, but that's part of the fun, and definitely a major part of the learning process. As for build quality, it is excellent, the Rycote Lyre Mount works, and, as this is by far the most important thing, it does look very good in the camera rig, especially when it's sat on top of a camera grip!

I have used this for a couple of projects now and the quality has been great. The dB pad switches could be made more accessible, as you have to remove the 9v to get to it and then use something small to flip the switches, but I don't mind them being out of the way. You just need to remember to set them before filming! I previously had a Sony ECM-B10, but that only connected via the hotshoe mount, which obviously doesn't work when you have a cage and top handle. The form factor of the Rode and the fact that it uses a standard mini jack connector makes it a much better option to adapt to different rigs. It's lightweight and not too big, nor too small. Sound quality has been fantastic and much better than I had expected. It even saved me in a pinch for an interview shoot when I had incorrectly set the gain level on a Rode lav mic.

The Rode Video Mic is a great microphone for any camera, however on Canon DLSRs it can be tricky to gain good audio without the dreaded hiss in the background. I spent a lot of time doing the AGC hack instead of using the manuel audio levels on the Canon 600D as that still makes the hiss. if you want to use this microphone on a Canon DLSR, make sure you look up on google or youtube about the AGC (auto gain control) hack as this will get the best audio for your Canon DSLR without the use of a seprate recording device like a ZOOM H1. Basically the AGC hack works like this... you spilt the stereo sound using a simple cable and then effectively you have two separate mono channels, no need to worry the rode video mic is mono on two channels anyway, so on one channel you play a 19khz tone from a ipod shuffle, and in the other you put you microphone in. adjust the level fo the tone on the ipod to change the level fo the mic and there you have it, no hiss :) i recommend looking online for a better explanation as that was only brief I fully reccomend getting this pmicrophone for any camcorder/DLSR as it will be a lot better than any on board micrphones. again if your getting this micrphone for a Canon DLSR make sure you research about the AGC (auto gain control) hack or else you will be disappointed in the quality as the Canon DLSRs do not have good audio recording.

The main reason I purchased this microphone was that it is unidirectional, and hence ideal for recording music in a relatively noisy environment. I have found that this works very well as evidenced by the video filmed with a Panasonic SD90 outside a pub at a music festival, with quite a lot of noise going on at either side of the performer. Unfortunately I can't give you a link to the video, as external links are not allowed in Amazon reviews. However if you Google "Sue Stevens Laddie 2012" you should come across a YouTube video titled "Dear Laddie, Sue Stevens, Bromsgrove Folk Festival, July 2012". If you can find this video have a look and see what you think. If you are wondering why I didn't jsut upload the video to the "video review" here, I tried, but it just didn't work. The directional microphone needs to be used with care. For example if you are interviewing someone who points out something of interest behind you, it's no good panning round as they continue to talk, as their voice will fade away! The other reason for purchasing this microphone was to improve sound quality and to lessen the effect of wind. The sound quality of the built in microphone of the Panasonic camcorder was pretty good, and so it was difficult to recognize a significant improvement in general recording, but it did noticeably overcome problems of recording in a light breeze. The microphone is attached to a mounting system that is designed to cut out camera and it is questionable as to how long the rubber loops will last. However another reviewer has made the point that these can easily be replaced by inexpensive O-Rings and so this is not a problem. The microphone is relatively large and dwarfs my camcorder, but at least it's not very heavy and so again not much of a problem, as long as you have a bag that it will fit into. Finally, the only real problem that I have had is to forget to switch it on. I would strongly recommend that once you start filming for the day switch it on and leave it on. The pp3 battery is supposed to last for more than 100hrs, and so the cost of doing this far outweighs the cost of losing valuable footage!

Overall not a bad mic but not recommended for canon 550D's as it is not compatible, not a fault on the mics part it is the camera itself. If I had been told this before I wouldn't have purchased it. When attached to an edirol it is pretty good the sound is clear and sounds high quality. It does pick up background noise when not in a silent room/area.

This is a decent mic if you're going gung-ho and shooting run and gun. The main problem you might have is when/if filming in quieter environments, such as interviews. Here you'll notice a hiss throughout. This isn't in and of itself a big hassle and not a big deal to fix, but adds extra work for no reason. If you intend on using it for such purposes you're better off with the Pro version or a dedicated shotgun mic. Fortunately, the job I got this for was in a noisy environment so it didn't affect me. But be aware that it picks up plenty of ambient noise from almost all directions. The subject you're pointing the mic at should be the loudest thing on your recordings in most situations (unless you're in an insanely noisy area like a fairground or concert) so in many instances, it will work for many types of videos. I'd recommend a 3.5mm extension (female one end, male on the other) so you have the opportunity to bring it as close to the subject as possible, which will make them louder. A useful feature is the mic can "stand" on its own so you can place it by the feet of your subject. The sound in some cases I've found to be much better than mounted on camera. In some cases, though, it was the same as mounting on camera so do some tests before you shoot to figure out how to make it work best for you and work around the mic's flaws.