A client has asked for video alongside stills for my next commission. I’m shooting the video with my DSLR, so need to get a mic. What do I look for?
The type of mic you’ll need will depend very much on the sort of job you need it for. There is one main principle you need to know about getting good audio: the closer the mic is to your subject, the better and richer the audio. If the scenario is an interview, or a single person talking to camera, your best bet is to mic up the speaker(s) with a wireless lavalier, like the Kenro Lavalier Microphone. This will give you great sound quality via a discreet mic, will cut out ambient noise, and it won’t break the bank either! If the audio you want to record is more general, you’d be better off with a quality shotgun mic mounted on top of the camera. Get one with high frequency boost (+6 dB) if you want to really hone in on human voices, and a low cut / high pass filter will help to cut out any rumble, background noise or wind noise. A good shock mount system is also important in a shotgun mic, to prevent noise like footsteps or camera knocks being picked up. The Kenro Universal Cardioid Microphone would be a great choice in a scenario like this, ticking all the boxes and having plenty of other professional features besides.
