Recommend A Good Lav Mic For Canon Camcorder

[Cinema84]

Hi all. I've owned a Canon Vixia camcorder model #HF-G21 for about a year. It's a great little camera but I haven't been using it to its full potential yet - mainly because I have no experience with equipment that uses chips/flash cards as the recording media. Anyway, I'd like to purchase a good mid-level lavalier mic for my youtube videos but so far I've been unsuccessful in finding the right one. I purchased a relatively cheap $40 mic from Amazon but it didn't work. I discovered I need a mic that has its own power source. Of course, none of this is mentioned in the operation manual and Canon doesn't sell lav mics that I know of. Can anyone recommend one?

[KcMsterpce]

There are a few options, each costs a little more, but you get a lot more quality by doing so.

OPTION 1: Get a cheap lav mic that has direct 3.5mm input to the camera, which would plug in next to the headphone jack on the front right of your camcorder. You don't need to spend a lot. I personally have used the off-brand Chinese made 2-mic set for $40 or so. These will perform "fine". The biggest issue will be that a lav mic straight into the camera can be iffy sound-wise. If you fiddle around with the input settings with the camera, you can get a passable level. Usually consumer (or prosumer) camcorders will have a hard time setting the right audio level, so you'll get clipping easily (the distortion from too much volume), and your plosives will be very pronounced (the PFF sound from "p" words). But it will work.
In this case, you can do a LOT better by using a video editing program in the computer to solve a lot of these issues.
Another hiccup might be distance issues. But you can get extension cords for more length, it's pretty simple. They're included with the Amazon link I shared.


OPTION 2: Order a shotgun mic. A decent one can be had for $150, but at $250-$300 they are much better quality. These mics can attach to the top of the camera, and they will focus on audio straight to the direction it is pointing at. If you want to do a 2-person (or more) interview, this can be tricky unless someone is behind the camera able to do a sound check beforehand.

OPTION 3: Get a separate recording device AND lav mics.
This will be a little more expensive, and you'll end up recording with the camera, and recording audio SEPARATELY into the device. You can then sync the video and audio together with the video editing software that you use. This is when clapping your hands before you start filming helps (or get a clacker board). You can sync the hand clap video with the sound on the audio track.
With this method, you can get a $100-$150 Tascam or Zoom digital recorder with a 3.5mm input. With the OPTION 1 plug-in lav mics, and this device, you can adjust the levels AND keep it under the table or latched behind your back to keep it out of view of the camera.

OPTION 4: Get a more expensive digital recorder that will accept XLR phantom power input - and XLR lav mics.
Once again, you can check out Zoom or Tascam devices with an XLR (professional microphone input) connections.
Add some XLR lav mics for $75, and you will have a LOT more audio quality and leeway in editing options to get the best quality.

The final option: Wireless lav mics. However, some good lav mics (Sennheiser, for example) that are reliable cost upwards of $500 and above for 2 or more wireless mics. Get cheaper ones, and you will risk bad reception, unreliable connection, etc....

Hope that helps.

[Cinema84]

Thanks for the suggestions!

I've decided to go with an inexpensive (relatively) wireless system for the time being. I'm far from an experienced techie so I can't go with a fancy system until I'm confident I know what I'm doing I grabbed a $54 lav/headset unit from a company called Fifine. All I want is good audio for my youtube videos so my voice doesn't sound like I'm 100 miles away. Appreciate the input

[KcMsterpce]

I hope it works out for you.
That was actually the LAST option I would have recommended, but you might end up coming out good in the end. Option 1 would have been the recommendation, if budget requirements states "$50 or less".
It also depends on what you need it FOR. Those details were not mentioned in your original post.
If you have a $1000 camcorder, I don't see how at least a 10% difference of that cost shouldn't be invested into the audio portion if you're concerned about sound.

[Cinema84]

This wireless mic seems to be a good entry level choice for someone like me who has no idea what they're doing. As I learn how to use the camera, I'll probably invest in better equipment but for now I think this is good. I did a test video the other day using the new mic. I couldn't figure out why there was a hiss in the audio and briefly considered the mic a flop but I figured it out eventually - there was a fan on in the background so the hiss was caused by the fan. I guess I need to be careful with my surroundings.