Good on camera mic for ambient/scratch?

[Shawn Nelson]

I know there have been some threads on cheapest scratch mic avail, but I want something better, something decent enough that ambient audio might be useable.

I know a few things about decent mics, I own MKh60 and a MKh50, some Sound Devices mixers and am familiar with pickup patterns and quality and so forth. So I'm not expecting all that much for just a few hundred, but hope to get something I can plug into my Epic and have passable ambience.

I'm thinking either the Sennheiser MKE 400 http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/534023-REG/Sennheiser_MKE_400_MKE_400_Compact_Video.html

or the Rode VideoMic Pro http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/744768-REG/Rode_VIDEOMIC_PRO_VideoMic_Pro_Compact_Shotgun.htm l

Any advice either way? Anyone using either of these?

Thanks!
-Shawn

[Bob Gundu]

I have the VideoMic and it's not to bad.

[Matt Gottshalk]

I've been using the Rode NTG-2.

Great mic and you can power it using aa batteries.

[Shawn Nelson]

I've been using the Rode NTG-2.

Great mic and you can power it using aa batteries.

I wonder how the NTG-2 compares to the VideoMic Pro or the MKe400?

[Matt Gottshalk]

I wonder how the NTG-2 compares to the VideoMic Pro or the MKe400?

IMO it is a much better quality mic than both.

[Josef Gatti]

NTG-2 is in a different class than VideoMic. NTG-3 is in another class all together and is ridiculously good. I've had the Rode guys give me a demonstration on all the differences. Although kind of derailing as NTG-3 is good enough for your main audio.

[Michael Mayda]

I just got an Ambient TinyMike. Very small, seems to work well for on-camera scratch mic. Using it with phantom power, but it has a gizmo available that powers it from a battery also. Found it at B&H: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/327241-REG/Ambient_Recording_ATM_216H_TinyMike_Kit_Compact.ht ml

[Chris McKechnie]

Zoom H1 :-)

[Marc Wielage]

I know a few things about decent mics, I own MKh60 and a MKh50, some Sound Devices mixers and am familiar with pickup patterns and quality and so forth. So I'm not expecting all that much for just a few hundred, but hope to get something I can plug into my Epic and have passable ambience.

Getting "passable ambience" 3 inches away from the Epic fan is unlikely. An expensive microphone in a bad place usually performs worse than a marginal mike positioned in the perfect place.