There are decent models by Sennheiser and A-T, but expect to start at $300-400 minimum. There is also a Rode stereo videomic at about $250 that gets fairly good press.
(EDIT: The NTG-2 that Ulf mentions is not stereo, but a good option).

Besides internal hiss, shotguns are inherently noisy outdoors because they pick up everything between you and the subject and beyond as well. They also pick up lots of early reflection indoors. Don't expect one to be a cure-all, they're kind of a last resort option for me. Certainly no substitute for on-subject mics, except for live ENG situations.

Well, this Azden has a hiss that is always there but not only outdoors, actually my first test was indoors in a silent room. The camera's internal mic had no hiss that bothered me or was apparent, although it is there, as with all microphones. But as soon as I plugged in the Azden I could tell the difference.

I agree with your last comment, as far as video events go, I want to put more money in wireless mics rather than try to capture the speaker with the shotgun, that's why I want a cheap shotgun.

Try that Rode stereo.
I tested some consumer cheapos back when I was beginning and they all went back after one day.
Now I just rent a Senny when I need one.

Did you buy the optional AG-MYA30G XLR unit for your camera?

Without that you have no manual gain control. The AGC circuits in most cameras are notorious for winding the gain way up and creating noise/hiss. If that's what's happening the most expensive mic on the planet might still hiss.

Also how are you monitoring the audio, headphones can make hiss sound way worse than it really is.

Bob.

I have the Shot Gun Mic for my Sony cx12. It has the same hiss. Sucks. But i have been able to all but eliminate it by putting on audio effects. You can put on a 20 channel EQ and take down the last two high ends in some cases (other than music apps). Or, you can purchase and effect that will do exactly that from Sony. There are others too that you can mess with to improve the sound.
not ideal but works.


peace,

J

I recently got a Panasonic HMC40 and I would like a shotgun microphone for it, preferably stereo and directional. I ordered the Azden SMX-10, but I'm not too happy with it. The sound is decent, but there's also a very evident hiss compared to the camera mic. Since I paid $65 for it I guess you could say "you get what you pay for", but sometimes you can get cheap stuff that still works pretty good for you. Does anybody have any advice on a decent and cheap shotgun microphone that will not produce this annoying hiss?

I'm not sure what you are asking for. As far as I know a "shotgun" mic IS directional. In addition I don't know of ANY shotgun mic that is "stereo" (but I'm no expert)

The RODE Stereo Video Mic has been suggested, but while that is an "external" mic (and a fine one at that) it is NOT a "shotgun" mic ... and only generally "directional"

Why do you want "stereo" AND "directionality" at the same time? They sort of work against each other ... especially in a "shotgun" configuration.

The Rode Stereo Videomic certainly IS a shotgun, and it is advertised as such by every major retailer on the planet, as well as by its manufacturer. (do a Google). It is supercardioid, and as such fully qualifies as a "short shotgun" in industry parlance, and not merely "directional."


"In addition I don't know of ANY shotgun mic that is "stereo" (but I'm no expert)"
There are many stereo shotguns made for videography. (again, do a Google).

There are a lot of good stereo shotguns available. Just check some of the large broadcast supply houses. You might want to look at the Sony ECM-680S, the Sennheiser MKH418S, or the Sanken CMS10.
Prices range from about $900 US to $2300.

The Rode Stereo Videomic certainly IS a shotgun, and it is advertised as such by every major retailer on the planet, as well as by its manufacturer. (do a Google). It is supercardioid, and as such fully qualifies as a "short shotgun" in industry parlance, and not merely "directional."

Well as I said, I'm no expert . but .. just because a (or some, or most) retailers list the Rode SVM in the shotgun "catagory" does not make it a "shotgun" mic.

"do a Google" I did .. and I found that Wikipedia does not agree with you. Not only are the supercardioid and shotgn mic patterns totally different, but the description of a shotgun mic does not match the Rode SVM.

I don't think it's a big deal. I guess that, to some, any externally mounted mic on a camcorder qualifies as a "shotgun" but that, IMHO, is a *very* loose definition.

Did you buy the optional AG-MYA30G XLR unit for your camera?

That optional unit is $260, not to mention the $210 in the XLR mic for it, I'd rather spend that and more in a wireless microphone. But you do have gain control without that unit. Unfortunately it's not too easy to access since it's buried in that damn touch screen interface, but it is there, I was just playing with it, because it occurred to me that the AGC could be creating a lot of hiss if the microphone was too sensitive, which it seems to be. I was getting ready to play it back now and compare to see if I send it back or not.

"That optional unit is $260, not to mention the $210 in the XLR mic for it, I'd rather spend that and more in a wireless microphone"

Epic fail in logic there I think, sorry.
You need the security of XLR connectors, those minipin things are a disaster waiting to happen, even the pin outs are not standard and I've now had several people tell me about some exciting issues they've had caused by that.

Also you need quick and easy access to the level controls. If without that unit you have to have AGC on or have to dig down into a menu to set gain it's like trying to work in a straight jacket.

Also that unit gives you phantom power, if you want to use good mics you need that. Also the day may come when you need to feed line level signals into your camera.

Money spent on good audio gear is an investment. All my audio kit is appreciating in value. Every day my camera looses value.

Bob.

"I guess that, to some, any externally mounted mic on a camcorder qualifies as a "shotgun"

No, putting a mic on a camera doesn't make it a shotgun. And the vast majority of shotgun mics will never see a camera shoe. "Shotgun" is a specific definition, one that was a bit oversimplified by the four sentence Wikipedia summary.
I don't think I have miscategorized anything, unless Rode has.

Shotgun isn't really a type of microphone as far as I know the word relates more to the way the microphone is used. To further confound the confusion we now have people asking for Shotguns and SHORTgun microphones.

What I think of when people say Shotgun is a pressure gradient hypercardiod. There are other types of Shotgun mics such as phased array microphones, mostly made by Sanken.

Of course words can have many meanings to different people and a picture tells a thousand words. It's always better in this application to look at the polar response especially at the lower frequencies, that's where the men get sorted from the boys.

Bob.

True enough that the Rode SVM, which Rode describe as a "X/Y Stereo on-camera microphone" is not a shotgun, but the Rode NGT-1,2 & 3 are (Rode specifies as "super cardiods"). Rode catalogues1 & 2 as "directional" mics, and the 3 as a shotgun. But the Sennheiser 418 (the traditional "shotgun mic") only starts to match the Wiki shotgun pattern at around 16KHz, which (unfortunately) is now out of my hearing range and in the more useful frequencies has patterns much the same as the NGT-1 etc. So one should not get too pedantic about issues when Wiki is sole source of one's knowledge. Someone should get in to that page and rewrite the explanation of how dead-cats work -- shock absorbing hairs, indeed!!

"What I think of when people say Shotgun is a pressure gradient hypercardiod."

Although a bit general, I'll hang my hat on Bob's answer and leave it at that. With seven decades of combined experience between us, I guess Wikipedia can say whatever it wants . . .

I agree that a stereo shotgun mic would be a contradiction in objectives.

My recollection of a shotgun microphone is that it aims (sorry!) to be very directional, and intended to pick out a single speaker (or very small group) from a crowd.

It physically looks like a shotgun barrel pointed at the speaker. It contains an array of microphone elements with progressively increasing delay on each output such that a wave from the speaker hits each element one after the other but because of the delays, they combine in phase. A wave coming from the side, however, will strike each element at the same time, but because of the delays the elemental outputs will combine out of phase and tend to cancel one another out.

The length of the array should be a significant part of the wavelength of the lowest frequency desired, and the spacing between elements should be a significant fraction of the wavelength of the highest frequency desired, and so a practical shotgun microphone isn't good for music, for instance. They would only be directional over the voice frequency range (at least 300 to 3400 Hz, but probably not more than an octave ot two each way beyond that).

No doubt advances have taken place and other designs are possible to give highly directional microphones. Whether they should be called shotgun or not, I don't know. As the bard said, "What is in a name?"