What are the best cheap-ish mic options?

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So we all now the internal mics on DSLRs are pretty poor - what are the best options out there to get around this without spending crazy money?

And is it best to get a mic you can plug into the camera itself, or get a portable recorder and record to that and sync it up afterwards? Am I right in thinking you still have to put up with automatic gain control on the 7D mic input?

Thanks.
 
Rode videomic is good but as you stated their is no way of getting rid of auto gain control so will still occasionally here the hissing. Id recommend a zoom h4n and sync it up with plural eyes (which also costs $149).
 
I have used the Rode videomic and apart from the fact its large and looks a bit silly its great :)
 
Chris seager said:
Rode videomic is good but as you stated their is no way of getting rid of auto gain control so will still occasionally here the hissing. Id recommend a zoom h4n and sync it up with plural eyes (which also costs $149).
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I had the Rode and had constant hissing on all audio regardless of being inside, outside or near or far from the mic :gag:
 
The new Rode Video Mic Pro is about half the size of the old version so could be an option.
And yes only auto gain on the 7D.
 
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Best to get a external recorder, if you put a rode videomic on a 7d it will produce a hiss. No way of disabling the auto gain fucntion on the 7d. If you can get a external recorder with a rode videomic then just sync it in pp.
 
OK thanks everyone. Will look into a portable recorder - any other (cheaper) recommendations other than the Zoom H4N? I've been spending way too much recently. :)
 
You will need a portable recorder like the H4N or H1! Tascam DR-100 is also great. Good microphones are for example the Rode VideoMic Pro or a NTG-2!
Depending on what camera you have, you might have Manual audio control, which can get rid of AGC Noise, but you still have bad preamps, so the quality is gonna be acceptable..
 
There's a video on YouTube where the guy shows how to get around the auto gain with the rode mic. From what I recall it involved rewiring the cable and feeding one channel with a sine wave via a mp3 player.
 
The H4 is a great piece of kit, but for what you want the H1 will probably be fine as an external recorder. You also have an headphone out on the H1 so you can monitor the sound level. Plus manual and AGC level controls plus the option of MP3 or WAV recording. USB output so you can download straight to your computer without the need to remove the Micro SD card. I'd also opt to use it with the Rode mike. The H1 is OK for background sound recording, but that is the trouble it picks up everything( plus it's very prone to wind noise), you need something more directional.
 
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