Affordable lavalier mic?

[JClishe]

Can anyone recommend a decent yet affordable lavalier microphone? I have no idea what the price range for lav mic's even is so I don't really have a budget yet. I just need 1 - 2 mic's for whiteboard based training videos at work, so 100% indoors and assume the video is being shot in a quiet conference with little to no ambient noise.

The speaker will at times be writing on a whiteboard with his back to the camera which is why I want a lav mic as opposed to a boom or something else. And there will be times where we record live training sessions and the camera will be in the back of a conference easily 20-30 ft from the speaker, so again, lav mic seems to make the most sense.

Thanks,

 

[duhast]

Just got one of these. Have no idea yet how well it works.

Amazon.com: Audio-Technica ATR-3350 Lavalier Omnidirectional Condenser Microphone: Musical Instruments

 

[Helen B]

Do you already have a wireless system? I guess that is what you want, and it is likely to be more expensive than the lav itself. What is your budget, and how important is sound quality? Audio Technica make some decent low budget value-for-money wireless kits like the Pro88.

 

[runnah]

I have two sets of these and they work great for long range, plugging into boards and as the on camera audio.

Sennheiser ew 100-ENG G3 - Wireless Clip-On Lavalier Microphone Set - Presentation system with optimized voice reproduction

What is your budget? There are around $630, but they are professional grade.

 

[JClishe]

I was under the impression I could plug a receiver into the mic jack on my camera, and the presenter could wear the other end. I wasn't aware I needed a "board". So am I way off base?

 

[runnah]

I was under the impression I could plug a receiver into the mic jack on my camera, and the presenter could wear the other end. I wasn't aware I needed a "board". So am I way off base?

Oh no that is me not being descriptive. I use these as my on camera audio system for podium events. Most often they have a sound board and I just use an xlr to plug in to get the PA audio rather than the ambient audio.

You can certainly plug directly into the camera but to go wireless you have to have a transmitter/receiver setup.

 

[JClishe]

I was under the impression I could plug a receiver into the mic jack on my camera, and the presenter could wear the other end. I wasn't aware I needed a "board". So am I way off base?

Oh no that is me not being descriptive. I use these as my on camera audio system for podium events. Most often they have a sound board and I just use an xlr to plug in to get the PA audio rather than the ambient audio.

You can certainly plug directly into the camera but to go wireless you have to have a transmitter/receiver setup.

Yeah I speak at a ton of events and wear lav mics all the time and most venues have sound boards. But for my purposes here I was hoping to plug a receiver into the camera and the presenter wears the transceiver, and bypass needing a sound board. Is that possible? That's what I was hoping to get specific recommendations for, I realize now that I wasn't very clear.

 

[runnah]

I was under the impression I could plug a receiver into the mic jack on my camera, and the presenter could wear the other end. I wasn't aware I needed a "board". So am I way off base?

Oh no that is me not being descriptive. I use these as my on camera audio system for podium events. Most often they have a sound board and I just use an xlr to plug in to get the PA audio rather than the ambient audio.

You can certainly plug directly into the camera but to go wireless you have to have a transmitter/receiver setup.

Yeah I speak at a ton of events and wear lav mics all the time and most venues have sound boards. But for my purposes here I was hoping to plug a receiver into the camera and the presenter wears the transceiver, and bypass needing a sound board. Is that possible? That's what I was hoping to get specific recommendations for, I realize now that I wasn't very clear.

Well there is the problem. The packs I showed here act like a mini sound board as they have functions like peak meters and so on. Most venues do have sound boards but for them it's easier to have one to run the various speaker banks, multiple mics and other audio devices.

I don't know what your camera can to do with audio levels but if you can can set peak levels you should be ok.

Pearstone OLM-10 Omnidirectional Lavalier Microphone 9111930 B&H

This would be fine.

Audio is a science and profession within itself.

 

[SamWiseGale]

Spoke to Rode at BVE this year and there's a lot of hype around this new lav. If your on a budget and have an iOS device, could be a good solution.

http://cheesycam.com/rode-smartlav-lavalier-microphone-for-iphone-ipad-ipod/

 

[TheKenTurner]

It you want to go a little less expensive, get a lav mic, and plug it into a zoom H1. Then sync it in post!

-Ken Turner

 

[paross2]

Have you thought about a sound recorder like the Zoom H4N? You can hook up a cheaper LAV mic and then just sync your audio in post (get a cheap clap board and you can also color correct with the test footage)