What camera/mic gear should I use?

[Mr Suit]

Hello everyone,

I have a new project starting up soon and it's going to involve filming interviews of people in center city Philadelphia. As you could imagine, it's loud in the city due to cars and crowds of people. I would really like for the noise to be dialed down as much as possible and obviously decent video quality.

I was wondering what the best camera and microphone is to use for these interviews? I'd prefer not to spend a fortune, but I will spend whatever I need to to get it done.

Thanks,
Mr. Suit

 

[Shawn Gossman]

If you want something compact, I'd go for the GoPro with the external mic option. Rode sells a videomirco mic that is popular among the GoPro community. Altogether, you might spend about $500 if that isn't too much. There are even less expensive action cameras out there though that offer the same features.

If you are willing to spend a bit more, I really like my Sony FDR-AX53 with the Rode VideoMic setup. Altogether, it will be a bit over $1000 but the picture and sound quality is going to be amazing.

 

[Mr Suit]

If you want something compact, I'd go for the GoPro with the external mic option. Rode sells a videomirco mic that is popular among the GoPro community. Altogether, you might spend about $500 if that isn't too much. There are even less expensive action cameras out there though that offer the same features.

If you are willing to spend a bit more, I really like my Sony FDR-AX53 with the Rode VideoMic setup. Altogether, it will be a bit over $1000 but the picture and sound quality is going to be amazing.

Thank you for your suggestions! I've considered GoPro before and honestly, will probably be what I go for. In terms of the audio, is this the Rode mic you're talking about?

http://atlantaproaudio.com/index.php/rode-videomic.html

From quickly looking at it, it seems like it'd be perfect for my situation. My only question is if I go with GoPro and decide to upgrade the camera later on, is this mic still gonna be a good choice for higher quality recording?

Thanks,
Mr. Suit

 

[Kristeen]

Thank you for your suggestions! I've considered GoPro before and honestly, will probably be what I go for. In terms of the audio, is this the Rode mic you're talking about?

http://atlantaproaudio.com/index.php/rode-videomic.html

From quickly looking at it, it seems like it'd be perfect for my situation. My only question is if I go with GoPro and decide to upgrade the camera later on, is this mic still gonna be a good choice for higher quality recording?

Thanks,
Mr. Suit

The VideoMicro is much more compact than the VideoMic, so if you're looking for a more compact setup then I would recommend it against the VideoMic. I personally have the smartphone version of it (VideoMic Me) and it's a pretty good choice.

Here's a review that helped me make my decision:

If you're doing interviews though, it might be better to go for lapel microphones that you put on the shirt of your interviewee, so it's much more direct in getting the voice. Shotgun microphones are less direct since they're further away from the subject, so it's possible you may pick up stuff you don't want.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

Thank you for your suggestions! I've considered GoPro before and honestly, will probably be what I go for. In terms of the audio, is this the Rode mic you're talking about?

http://atlantaproaudio.com/index.php/rode-videomic.html

That is the one I use for my larger video camera. The VideoMicro is what I use for the GoPro