Which stereo microphone for D7000?

jasonstone

Hey all, which stereo microphone for the Nikon D7000 when one is on a budget???

Rode have a nice one but it's $250 - the mono one is $149

anything out there in stereo for about $100-150??

Thanks

p.s. oh yeah hot shoe mount too

ziggy53

There are a few different types of stereo microphones available. It would be helpful to know your application(s) for the microphone.

jasonstone

Good point Ziggy - basically general shooting.... family, kids, sports

but I guess tending more towards a semi- directional mike - as usually they won't be right in front of the camera and I don't want to pick up everything beside the camera and behind it...

I do have a video camera for family stuff - so this is mainly to play around and see what I can come up with - i've not got anything pro in mind

I may also be doing some promo short videos for some cars for sale - so sports exhaust noises or in-car videos (i know that's not directional) might be a possiblitiy.... course with the in car stuff I may be able to just use the built in mike i guess - but would be good to have better sound as the sound will definitely sell the car faster if it's nice

phew.... looking at that I feel I've just described two microphones which definitely isn't going to happen....

also - guess it doesn't absolutely have to be stereo - cos I was looking at the Rode VideoMIC and note that it's mono only but has v.good reviews for it's price... whereas the Rode Stereo VideoMIC is not directional and picks up a lot more ambient

ahhhh i know i'm going to have to compromise but i'm not yet sure where

budget would ideally be max $150

ziggy53

A good quality monaural microphone will be a better purchase than a poorer quality stereo microphone at the same price. For distance miking I greatly prefer a short shotgun if it will be on the camera.

Both the Rode VideoMic and the Sennheiser MKE 400 are very nice and have good side rejection and reduced sensitivity behind. I use the earlier Sennheiser MKE 300 for both video dSLR and camcorder applications and it's a major advantage over the in-camera microphones.

BradfordBenn

I would agree with Ziggy on this one. One good mono mic is a heck of a lot better than a stereo mic of questionable quality. The other thing I would recommend is that you can't easily zoom in with a microphone the way you can with a lens. The change in level and sound quality can be disconcerting. The best solution is to place the microphone close to the "noise source" and place the camera at the appropriatte location for the shot (hopefully with the mic not in the shot). This can be accomplished with just simple XLR cables and a simple mic stand.

The example you used of trying to get the "throaty" sports car exhaust note, will be much more successful if you place the microphone on axis and close to the exhaust (highly recommend a wind screen) but looking up the exhaust pipe is not the most visually appealing, so having them separate will help quite a bit.

You may also want to check out this page http://www.crownaudio.com/mic_web/mic-library.htm it has some good notes and questions and answers linked from there.

jasonstone

thanks for the tips - and good point about "up the exhaust" for sound but not for looks....

DsrtVW

This has help me also. I recorded some videos while in a Photography Blind. While the internal mic work I had to be like a statue when recording. Or every chair creak, wader fabric and breathing was pick up. Mostly I want everything in front of me. Directional will probably handle it. Parabolic might be to cumbersome

Dan7312

Check with Chris Carfagno at http://www.soundprofessionals.com He is very helpful and knowledgable.

DsrtVW wrote: »

This has help me also. I recorded some videos while in a Photography Blind. While the internal mic work I had to be like a statue when recording. Or every chair creak, wader fabric and breathing was pick up. Mostly I want everything in front of me. Directional will probably handle it. Parabolic might be to cumbersome

MileHighAko

Jase - which microphone did you end up getting and how is the performance? I'm looking to get a microphone to pair with my D7000, and am going through the selection process. My use case is to shoot a demo video for a young gal that sings the national anthem at sporting events. I'm interested in how your microphone experience turned out since my budget is similar to yours.

angevin1

ziggy53 wrote: »

A good quality monaural microphone will be a better purchase than a poorer quality stereo microphone at the same price. For distance miking I greatly prefer a short shotgun if it will be on the camera.

Both the Rode VideoMic and the Sennheiser MKE 400 are very nice and have good side rejection and reduced sensitivity behind. I use the earlier Sennheiser MKE 300 for both video dSLR and camcorder applications and it's a major advantage over the in-camera microphones.

I got the Sennheiser MKE 400 about a Month or so ago, amazing "tiny" microphone!

BradfordBenn

MileHighAko wrote: »

Jase - which microphone did you end up getting and how is the performance? I'm looking to get a microphone to pair with my D7000, and am going through the selection process. My use case is to shoot a demo video for a young gal that sings the national anthem at sporting events. I'm interested in how your microphone experience turned out since my budget is similar to yours.

I would caution the MKE400 recording will not sound as good as a handheld microphone for a singer. The main reason is the way it will capture the lower frequencies. I would recommend if this use is a once in a while use, look for a local audio rental company. Renting a SM58Beta and preamp might be a few dollars but it will sound much better and much more like the way it will sound in the arena. Also on the encoding if there is an option, set it for WAV or uncompressed 44.1kHz or higher sample rate as well as 16bit depth or deeper. Do not worry about stereo for this application as most sporting venues are monaural.

jasonstone

MileHighAko wrote: »

Jase - which microphone did you end up getting and how is the performance? I'm looking to get a microphone to pair with my D7000, and am going through the selection process. My use case is to shoot a demo video for a young gal that sings the national anthem at sporting events. I'm interested in how your microphone experience turned out since my budget is similar to yours.

Hey there - sorry been in a course... not bought one yet but plan to test a mate's Rode videoMic soon and maybe that'll push me over the edge

DsrtVW

I ended up with this one from my local camera shop. I do not do a lot of video and I have to remember to turn on the switch. Has a rubber isolated mount. Works well for me.
http://www.azdencorp.com/new/product.php?productid=93733&cat=22&page=1

jasonstone

this might be interesting - stereo near field microphone - when i understood it correctly
http://www.nikonusa.com/Nikon-Products/Product/Miscellaneous/27045/ME-1-Stereo-Microphone.html

jheitzeb

D7000 Microphones
Hi all,

We did a bunch of research into microphone options for the D7000 when it first came out, so depending on your needs, one of these posts may be a good overview.

1) Top-3 D7000 Microphones (overall)
http://www.gearbundles.com/blog/Top-3-External-Microphones-for-the-Nikon-D7000

2) Omnidirectional Microphones for D7000 (i.e. if you're recording conferences, speeches, etc)
http://www.gearbundles.com/blog/Omnidirectional-Microphones-for-the-D7000

3) Mics for Recording Piano (or music) on the D7000
http://www.gearbundles.com/blog/Microphone-Options-for-Recording-Piano-on-a-DSLR

4) Mics for Recording Live Concerts on the D7000 (i.e. rock concerts where things are loud)
http://www.gearbundles.com/blog/Recording-Live-Concerts-with-the-D7000

I hope these are useful resources.

Thanks,
-joe