Supercardioid condenser vs shotgun for interior dialogue+instrument(piano-guitar)

[James B.]

For an upcoming project I need to use just one boom mounted mic.
I need to choose between a supercardioid condenser like the Sennheiser MKH50, or a shotgun like the Sennheiser MKH 416.

Which would work best?

Would either be a good choice if you could only own 1 microphone?

[David W. Jones]

I own both, And it really depends on the environment, size, reflectivity of the space.

[Marc Wielage]

For an upcoming project I need to use just one boom mounted mic. I need to choose between a supercardioid condenser like the Sennheiser MKH50, or a shotgun like the Sennheiser MKH 416.

To me, that's kind of like asking, "I can only afford to buy one lens for my camera. Which one should I buy?"

There's so many qualifying circumstances, no one answer will apply to everyone. In exteriors, a shotgun is probably better. In noisy, dialog-hostile locations, I think a wireless lav may work better; in small, quiet interiors, a hypercardioid like the MKH50 or MKH40 will probably work better.

To me, a lot of it is about the room, the nature of the shot, and how close you can get the microphone to the actor. Having a good boom op will solve 50% of the problems. But the acoustics affect so much of it, there are no hard and fast rules.

Having said that: the 416 has pretty much been the standard boom microphone for 25 years. I don't like it for most interiors, but it's a good workhorse shotgun. I actually prefer its younger brother, the MKH60, which is a little bit smaller and lighter (as is the newest replacement, the 8060).

[Mike P.]

MKH50/Super-cardioid. The only problem is that you'll have to get the mic closer to the source outdoors, but a shotgun indoors generally doesn't work as well as a super-cardioid does outdoors (assuming you're getting close to the source), so that makes it the lowest common denominator in my opinion. That's been my experience anyway, but bare in mind I'm not a pro sound guy.

[Jacques Mersereau]

If you have the dough, Schoeps MK4 cardioid or MK41 hyper cardioid.
I have a 416, but the Schoeps is much more natural sounding and
has as much reach with the MK41 cap.

[Marc Wielage]

There is also the Schoeps CMIT, which has almost as much reach as a shotgun but more of the characteristic sound of a 641. Great mike, but very costly ($2000+).