Microphone types

Here’s a very useful overview of different microphone types and how they react in a noisy room environment:



For what it’s worth, I usually shoot interviews with a Sennheiser lavalier mic/radio kit. Since I rarely have anyone with me who knows how to handle a shotgun on a pole, my Røde shotgun’s audio is rarely heard beyond the first rough-cut. That’s the NTG-2 model used in the video. It’s terrific value and a decent mic, but I’m not often in a situation where I can get usable audio out of it.

However, on occasion it’s a complete lifesaver — for run-and-gun interviews in a really noisy room, for example, you need a long shotgun, ideally a handheld cardiod if you’ve an on-camera reporter.

At the other end of the production scale, I’ve been known to strap a £30 wired lavalier to a broom handle and use it like a (boomed) shotgun mic. It’s laughable, until you realise how much better it sounds than the in-camera mic. Cruddy-but-listenable sound is better than no sound at all.