A few weeks ago, I captured the audio that might be the perfect example of a reason to buy this microphone. I was recording my youngest son's pre-school graduation concert from a chair in the audience. Sitting next to me was my wife and my 1st-grader.
Ambient sound during concert: "splat"
1st Grade Son: Dad?
Me: Yes?
1st Grade Son: I dropped my lemonade on the floor.
Review:
I am an amateur videographer who enjoys using well-designed, functional equipment. It's my goal to record some of life's special moments in a manner that will be lasting over time. I purchased the Rode Stereo VideoMic Pro as an audio complement to my Canon 70D (purchased at the same time). I have been extremely happy with the performance of this microphone. It has outstanding sound quality, and the battery performance (for me) has been great. I edit my video on Final Cut Pro X, and I love the sound I've been getting as I compared to what can be acquired with the microphones natively embedded in the Canon 70D.
In considering a purchase of this microphone, I spent a lot of time reading reviews and listening to sound acquired with this microphone by DSLR users on YouTube. This is not a directional microphone and it will therefore pick up ambient noise surrounding your camera as well as stereo sound in front of your camera as you take video. I've used it for recording formal concerts, kids school events, sporting events, family trips, etc. I like the ambient sounds that it picks up and the stereo nature of the recording. For me, this is a great way to have outstanding sound to compliment amateur video. Basically, it is a high quality way to have awesome sound in video that is spontaneously acquired.
On the other hand, this is not a great microphone for studio work. If this is your intention, you might be well advised to consider a directional mono version of this microphone and Rode has some outstanding options here too. For me, I like to pick up ambient noise and hear a lot of variety in my sound, so this works well. This is also not a great interview microphone, because of the ambient noise it will acquire.
Another consideration with a microphone such as this is lens noise, if you are interested in DSLR videography. I can't begin to cover all of the information on this topic in a short review, but I would encourage you to look-through, view and listen to some of the online reviews of this microphone on YouTube to get a sense of the lens noise that can be inadvertently acquired with this microphone vs. a directional mono version by the same company with a given lens. While it may be great to record spontaneous audio in your surroundings, it's probably not any videographer's goal to record camera sounds.
For those not familiar with this concern, one challenge in DSLR videography is incidental recording of the noises created by the motors in your lens - typically this occurs in a quiet environment when autofocus motors are in use. The kit lens that typically comes with the Canon 70D uses a "stepper motor" or "STM" focus system. This is a quieter method of achieving lens focus than that used on many Canon lenses, and it works really well as a compliment to this microphone. Please understand that while quieter is better for microphones used in videography, STM lenses are not necessarily the best lenses for still photography, nor are they the "top of the line" lenses in the Canon system. On the other hand, STM lenses work extremely well for videography applications where autofocus is necessary.
If you are thoughtful in consideration of your needs in acquiring audio and pick this microphone for its intended purposes, I suspect you will be as happy as I am with your results over time.
There is a newer model of this item:
Rode Stereo VideoMic Pro Rycote Camera-Mount Stereo Microphone, Black
$279.00
(240)
Only 3 left in stock - order soon.
$279.00
(240)
Only 3 left in stock - order soon.
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HUGE DESIGN FLAW. Shoddy quality. Rattling like a rattlesnake.
Out from the box and this thing rattles. There's something bouncing around inside the device and rattling like a god damn jar of coins. I cannot figure out what it is but it's deep inside the casing and I can't seem to shake it out. Looks like I have to manually pry it open and have a look inside for the culprit.The mic attachment (the round top bit) ALSO rattles and moves out of place. For a 200+ USD product, I am baffled by the design of this non-existent locking mechanism to hold this in place. Right now it's being held together by a sliding interlocking system that holds it in place only by friction. A slight nudge on the piece and it unlocks itself from the component and exposing the internal wires literally soldered on the PCB. Put at little bit more pressure and the electrical wire will tear apart from the PCB board.This is also where the opening is not at all water resistant and any drop of water will seep straight onto the sensitive electronics.Okay so this is not the end of the world. A little super glue or duck tape should do the trick of securing the top mic component to the base of the device, that is after I break it down to find the case of the rattling culprit.This is my first product from Rode after moving away from Sennheiser and I'm already NOT impressed at all.
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2014
- Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2013
Top reviews from other countries
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- djlonboyReviewed in the United Kingdom on May 4, 2017
A truly excellent stereo microphone
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