A few of my favorite things: Rode Microphones

Today’s Post by Mark Toal

It’s that time of year when you need a present for the photographer in your life. This is a series of posts about my favorite accessories. I don’t mean ones that I admire or people have told me that they like, but ones I use every day.

If you shoot video, eventually you’re going to want an external microphone. I love the idea of capturing voices and sounds of things and people in my life. I’m a bit of a microphone addict. I’v e bought way too many microphones and although a lot of them work great eventually you’re going to want an excellent, reliable mic. That’s how I ended up with Rode mic’s.

I started with the Video Mic Pro and recently bought a Video Mic Pro + . I also own the small Video Micro. Below is a video showing the difference even a small mic like the Video Micro can make over the built-in mic in your camera. The benefit of more expensive mic like the Video Mic Pro series is that they are battery powered which allows for a better sound and to have a pre-amplifier built into the mic. Another huge benefit is that the Rode mics, like the ones I’ve mentioned, are directional so they pick up more sound in front of the camera while filtering out background sounds.

Don’t hesitate to start with an inexpensive mic like the Video Micro until you’re ready for the Video Mic Pro series.