Directional mic on avideo camera

[sasi_yaad]

Hi all,

A few months ago I purchased a video camera.
So now I'm videoing some of the birds I see.
You can see some short clips here http://www.israbirding.com/videos/
It is time to add a good mic to the setup.
I think that the AT4071 would be perfect (with a softy), but is too pricey
Do you have any recommendations (also on that AT4071).

Cheers
Sassi

[ermine]

Nice mic, you'll probably need at least a softy. Your cam does do 48V phantom power, or are you running a separate sound operation?

[sasi_yaad]

Thank you Ermine,

I checked with my cam and it doesn't have a phantom power (only later models have phantom power).
So I'll need other options.
What about AT897 or ME66 ?

Sassi

[ermine]

The ME series is very popular with bird sound recordists and there are many recordings made with that. I haven't heard any made with the AT897, so I can't say for that. The 897 can be used eityher self-powered or phantom, with the ME series you'd use the battery K6 module but there is a phantom powered module for if you change the camera.

Shotgun mics are rather sensitive to handling noise, so you may need to think about mounting - they may pick up a lot of noise from the tape mechanism unless you use a shockmount.

Cheaper alternatives are the MKE300D and the Rode videomic. These may limit you if you will be recording in quiet locations, however.