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247 of 253 people found the following review helpful:
RODE Videomic vs. Sennheiser ME66
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Customer Video Review
Length:: 2:49 Mins
Here we test the RODE Videomic against the traditional "expensive" solution. A BeachTek XLR adapter with a Sennheiser XLR based shotgun mic. Learn more about achieving high quality sound from Guy Cochran at DVcreators.net. |
Published 20 months ago by Dvestore
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Great audio but flimsy design
I bought this mic because I, probably like you, was planning to shoot a movie with a common hand-held HD camera and virtually no budget to splurge for the good stuff. Though the audio you get from this mic is top notch, the mic was all but destroyed on a four week trip that I filmed in hopes of making a documentary. Firstly, the rubber bands that suspend the mic began...
Published 20 days ago by J. Gallino
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247 of 253 people found the following review helpful:
RODE Videomic vs. Sennheiser ME66, January 12, 2009
This review is from: Rode VideoMic Directional Video Condenser Microphone w/Mount (Electronics)
Length:: 2:49 Mins
Here we test the RODE Videomic against the traditional "expensive" solution. A BeachTek XLR adapter with a Sennheiser XLR based shotgun mic. Learn more about achieving high quality sound from Guy Cochran at DVcreators.net.
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116 of 118 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent Product for both Professional & Non-Professional, March 23, 2005
This review is from: Rode VideoMic Directional Video Condenser Microphone w/Mount (Electronics)
The introduction in the owner's manual states it perfectly. Rode said that when looking for a good camcorder microphone, they were either horrible pieces of junk or super expensive professional models and so they decided to design a mic for this purpose. This model strikes a perfect balance. The quality of this mic is excellent. It is very sensitive and has good directional properties so it rejects noise to the side quite well. Although not meant for picking up sound from long distances it can do quite well from 20 feet away and maybe more.
The mount is attached to the mic so this is the only way you can use it and it is made to mount to the standard "shoe" that is on nearly all camcorders. It is a mono microphone but it has a stereo miniphone jack that plugs in the camcorder mic jack and feeds the audio into both channels. After trying several inferior microphones I was delighted to stumble upon this mic. It is a good value and an excellent microphone for camcorders.
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80 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
RODE Rocks!, May 25, 2007
This review is from: Rode VideoMic Directional Video Condenser Microphone w/Mount (Electronics)
After spending many days combing the internet and reading review after review I decided to give the RODE VideoMic Directional Camcorder Microphone a try. I wanted something that was good, light, somewhat short and inexpensive. I have a small mini dv camcorder that is only about 5 inches long and didn't want a mic that would get in my viewfinder's shots. The mic sticks out about 5 inches in front of my lens, but manages to stay out of my shots.
First let me comment on the sound. This little bugger picks up sounds very well. In a quiet room I can be 40 yards away and still pick up the conversation. The quality is outstanding. The audio compared to the built-in mic in my camcorder is night and day. The Rode is so clear. The price is great. I'm guessing the quality would compare to other mics in the $300 range.
My Rode came with a Dead Cat wind screen which resembles a cat's tail. It really saved me some money! At first I didn't use the Dead Cat, but then I ran into a little wind which interfered with gathering good audio. After using the Dead Cat, I always keep the wind screen on the mic. It does not interfere with the clarity of the audio and works incredibly well in breezy conditions. I will mention that I had to trim the hair on my wind screen because I could see the hair in my videos. After trimming the hair a bit, the wind screen is still effective and no more hair dangling in the top of my video screen.
The shock vibration design is cool and they even gave me extra rubber band thingies. This mic sits high off the camera and stays out of my shots. Since the mic is somewhat far away from the camcorder, I don't pick up any camera humming noise that can happen with other mics that are too close to the camera. Even on my hotshoe, I don't get any humming.
I wish I could say that I have used $300 mics and above, but I haven't. I will say that you won't be disappointed with this microphone. I'm a photojournalist by trade and I have begun to shoot video for our newspaper's web publication. This mic is perfect for my needs.
If you buy it, don't forget to turn off the mic. I accidently left mine on. There is no auto shutoff.
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52 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
Good sound/value but needs tweaking for consumer cams, December 31, 2006
This review is from: Rode VideoMic Directional Video Condenser Microphone w/Mount (Electronics)
I like the sound I get from the mic and it is very good valuue for the money for prosumer cam owners, but consumer-level camera owners should beware.
I bought this mic and found that it was way too sensitive/hot for consumer cameras like a Panasonic gs200 which has no audio input level control. It picks up too much background noise and overwhelms the camera's automatic gain controller when things get loud. I'm not sure if the gs200 had a mic attenuation setting or if turning it on would have been a sufficient answer. I put a cheap radio shack in-line volume controller in between the mic and the camera (which can introduce crackle if you adjust it while recording).
On prosumer cams with input level control like the Canon GL2 it works fine, even without turning on mic attenuation. If you have a camcorder with input level controls I might get this.
Another important caveat: You cannot run this mic through a the 1/8" connection of a Beachtek mixer box. You'll hear nothing on the beachtek's output because of an impedance mismatch. I don't know if putting an XLR adapter on the mic cable would work.
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
decent mic, heres a few tips, April 27, 2006
This review is from: Rode VideoMic Directional Video Condenser Microphone w/Mount (Electronics)
i bought this mic online for $150 new. i researched for a while and decided this was the best option. i use a canon GL2 and this is a nice addition to my rig.
at first i didnt think the audio was all that great, however, when i turned on the microphone attenuate feature of my camera and switched to the manual audio controls, i found that this mic has a lot of potential. with the attenuate on, you can really get clear audio without outside noise messing up your tracks. i pointed the mic at an actor on screen, then pointed the mic away from the actor and you could definetly here a difference in audio detail.
note: the mic has two different posistions to mount the hot shoe mount, a standard tripod mount, and an addition threaded hole which rode claimes to be a microphone stand mount. my mic stand doesnt thread into this hole, and i consider my mic stand to be pretty standard. however their may be some adapters at my local music store. not a big issue to consider, as there are plenty of mounting options available.
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
A great mic, August 23, 2007
This review is from: Rode VideoMic Directional Video Condenser Microphone w/Mount (Electronics)
I continue to be impressed with the quality of the VideoMic. I use it on a Canon HV20 and have been amazed at its clarity, range and power. The thing looks a little funky. The plastic shock mount wiggles around a lot and is permanently attached to the mic. It is very susceptable to handling noise, but mounts to the small camera well and delivers quality audio for a fraction of the cost of its bigger brothers, which are rather awkward to use on a small camcorder. Rode has delivered on its goal of offering a great mic for the small camera and in spite of its plastic parts and odd design, it is a great tool.
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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
The Best Video Mic, July 31, 2008
This review is from: Rode VideoMic Directional Video Condenser Microphone w/Mount (Electronics)
I bought this mic and a Canon Vixia HF100 for my vacation to Maui and it was a fantastic pairing. The mic was very light, durable and so easy to use, even Mom could use it: the mic only has an ON/OFF switch. Apparently you can switch to 0db, -10db or -20db from inside the battery compartment. I haven't tried this function yet.
The mic is powered by a 9v battery which is different than my other two mics (AT55 and Sennheiser ME66). I think it has pretty good battery life; I used it for 6 days off and on and didn't have to replace the battery.
The one gripe is that I did break one of the proprietary rubber bands that holds the mic to the base (it's for shock absorption and isolates the mic from camera). I had it in my bag for the 15 hrs that it took me to fly to HI and the pressure must have been too great. I am buying a camera-specific backpack for future ventures.
The Rode has a normal shoe mount which works with my Canon Optura 30s. It didn't work out of the box for my Vixia HF100. The Vixia has an advanced accessory shoe which is a proprietary Canon shoe that requires an adaptor Adorama Canon Mini Advanced Accessory Shoe to Universal Shoe Adapter (FLAT TYPE) - Black
The adapter wiggles but I wanted to use the Rode instead of the canon DM50 because if you want a mic, go to a mic company.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Good solution at the right price, November 22, 2008
This review is from: Rode VideoMic Directional Video Condenser Microphone w/Mount (Electronics)
Like all of the RODE products that I already own and use in my home recording studio, the VideoMic is a great value for the money.
The directional sound is a dramatic improvement over the native audio picked up by the camera's internal microphone(s). It's not overly colored, but is nicely up-front and present in the video.
It will, however, pick up that 747 a full minute before it's overhead, even with the sound sensitivity in the camera set to 'low'. So be prepared to have to deal with environmental sounds that might not have been an issue before.
I've been using my VideoMic on a mic stand, taking advantage of the Euro-style 1/4" threaded hole at the bottom/rear of the mic's shockmount. Nice. I can park the mic a set distance away from the subject and use a good 1/8" male-to-female extension cable to get back to my Sony HDR-SR11. Then the camera's free to roam however it needs to and the sound is unaffected.
One note: you need to buy the Sony hot-to-cold adapter shoe if you want to mount this on a Sony with their proprietary hot shoe. I ended up finding mine at B&H for about $19.
It's the right solution at the right price. And since it's a dynamic mic I'll also be plugging it into the sound card of my PC to do voiceover work for the videos that I'm compiling. NEAT. That keeps a consistant sound 'signature' for native audio on the video as well as the narration tracks.
The upshot is that the VideoMic wins the Mikie Likes It award in my book.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Exceptional sound., October 16, 2008
This review is from: Rode VideoMic Directional Video Condenser Microphone w/Mount (Electronics)
Bottom line: This microphone is worth every cent of its cost. It's exceptional sound moved me enough to write a review, something that I do rather infrequently.
This is a well-made, high quality audio microphone coming from the rich tradition of Rode studio microphones. I use this mic on my Canon HV20, and it brings the audio quality up to the rich vibrancy of the images that camcorder is capable of. It is a highly directional mic: while picking up sounds from the sides and back, it successfully pushes these peripheral sounds aside and brings what is being shot to the forefront. I shoot many documentary style videos, consistently trying to conduct interviews and pick up conversations in the midst of screaming children and blaring TV sets. This mic gives remarkable sound for the price and for any type of shooting in which it is not practical to have a more involved audio setup.
Anyone looking to improve the sound of their onboard camcorder mic should be greatly pleased with this purchase, as well as anyone in the market for a decently priced directional mic.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
well design and built, March 31, 2009
This review is from: Rode VideoMic Directional Video Condenser Microphone w/Mount (Electronics)
After a lot of research on a external mic for my HG10. I decided on the Rode VideoMic and love it, nice design and solid. It picks up clean sound and also picking up back ground noise. But I change the setting to
-10db to reduce back ground noise. Very happy.
Update.. I did a 15 minutes video with the Rode VideoMic. The sound is clean and clear. Set it -10db and am very please with it. I have not try -20db setting but I 'll it at that.
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