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What's a good microphone for movie making with a DSLR? I'm going to use it both indoors and outdoors. It has to be stereo.. I can use both a boom microphone and a hot shoe microphone.

Thanks!

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What kind of qualities are you looking for? I imagine the majority of the microphone market is 'good' for at least some specific application. – Warrior Bob♦ Feb 14 '12 at 15:50
I need the actors voices to be nice and clear. If it is possible I need it to capture everything good. But if it isn't we can record all the other sounds like the sound of a cup being placed on a table and mix them in afterwards. – Friend of Kim Feb 14 '12 at 16:11
We are going to make feature films in all types of genres. – Friend of Kim Feb 14 '12 at 16:13
Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm looking for something below $250 if this doesn't compromise the sound much. – Friend of Kim Feb 15 '12 at 5:53
We want to keep this from being a shopping recommendation so focus on what kinds of microphones suit these tasks, rather than which specific models match a certain pricepoint. – Warrior Bob♦ Feb 15 '12 at 17:47
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3 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

For DSLR film making you can't go wrong with a Sennheiser ME66 into a Zoom H4N.

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Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm looking for something below $250 if this doesn't compromise the sound much. – Friend of Kim Feb 15 '12 at 5:51
So, you recommend both of them? Which one is the best if I'm only going to buy one? – Friend of Kim Feb 15 '12 at 9:14
This is a mic and recorder combo which wil set you back about $1000, so out of your price range. Making "feature" films with a $250 audio budget isn't really reasonable. You might be able to find a AT 875 short shotgun and a Tascam DR40 for less than $400. – Bryce Alan Flurie Feb 15 '12 at 17:44
Why is the ME66 the go-to mic? Is it kind of like the Shure SM57 in audio, in that it's something of a known robust standard? – Warrior Bob♦ Feb 15 '12 at 17:48
Ok. Hmm. So what's the microphones you would recommend if I'm going to spend as little money as possible? I'm going to buy a D7000 and lenses for $2000. So the video and audio quality should be somewhat equal.. – Friend of Kim Feb 15 '12 at 19:47
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up vote 1 down vote

I've been doing a little research on the Zoom H4N, and it appears that you can get really good quality from the Tascam DR40, and it's $160 vs. the ~$300 price of the Zoom. Regarding shotgun mics, based on your budget you're going to have to settle for something sub par. Though from what I've read you "can" get away with just using the Zoom or Tascam device by itself, again it may not be optimal for what you want, but it's a great way to do it on a small budget.

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I bought the Zoom H4n with a Sennheiser ME66. – Friend of Kim Jul 8 '12 at 18:52
How is it working out for you? Any chance you have some clips with the sound at this point? – Jed Jul 9 '12 at 20:17
Sorry, I don't have any real-world clips yet. We are still planning the manuscript... – Friend of Kim Jul 10 '12 at 15:41
up vote 4 down vote

Just doing some research for a friend and ran across this thread. It may be a bit late to throw in a couple of cents, but in my experience you will want to try to keep your dialog as separate as possible from the other sounds. The ME66 will certainly do the trick, provided you have a good boom operator, but if you are hoping to capture other sounds you should strive for as much isolation as possible and get those other audio events on a different channel. This will give you a lot more control in post. The dialog itself should always be recorded on a single mono channel, no stereo needed. Hope you have found the process fun and rewarding.

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