Rode Videomic Go

by
David Rennie
Trinity Wedding Cinema

Since switching to DSLR one thing I have been slow (too slow) at adding is a shotgun mic to make up for the pathetic audio that the built in mic on my beloved Canon SLR’s captures. Anyone using a DSLR knows what I am talking about, tinny often muffled audio that records all of the handling of the camera too – great stuff. To avoid this we had been using a camera mount Zoom H1. It worked, but required syncing in post. While Pluraleyes made that process easy, it was still an extra step.

Rode recently released the Videomic Go. It’s a small and lightweight mic priced at $99. Its powered directly from the camera and boasts significantly improved audio over the built in mics of DSLR’s. We ordered two of these mics and could not be happier. While on camera audio is not my most important audio source, there are parts of the day such as the (wedding) preparations where it is important and of course having reference audio to sync cameras and external audio sources for the ceremony and reception events is also important.

I have used the Rode Videomic Go at three events so far and based on those weddings it’s a great mic, especially for under $100. At first I was worried that the red color of the shock mount would attract unwanted attention but that has not been the case. In person the color is a much duller red than it looks in their advertising. Guests at the last three weddings still thought I was taking stills. Of course that’s not saying much because guests used to think my DVX100 was a still camera back in the day.

How does it sound? In short it sounds great. The pickup range is surprising for such an affordable mic. It also manages to not record much camera handling. When used with my Canon 70D, the autofocus is silent except when the room is very quiet. This will of course vary from lens to lens as not all lens focus motors are the same. Some are quite loud. For example my Sigma 18-35 was hardly noticeable, but my Sigma 70-200 was. After I add music to the soundtrack though, the noise even from the 70-200 is hard to notice. I also love that the mic operates without a battery, instead relying on the camera to supply power. This is awesome as you need only to plug it in and don’t have to worry about remember to turn it on (and off at the end of shooting).

All in all its a great $100 mic and very convenient to use. If you are in need of a mic, I would highly recommend this one.

Ed Note: David first wrote this mini review in the Members Only Forum at VideoUniversity.