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Camera Mic or Boom?

I'm planning to record a few films soon. (One short, one feature) and I'm just wondering, as a general point, would I be better to use the Mic on my camera, or try and find a boom mic?
The camera is a Canon Legria HF R16, and from what I've tested (Which isn't much) the audio works pretty well.

I know general consensus is usually to go with a Boom mic/Shotgun Mic, but is it really worth the expense at an early stage?

Also on the mic front, I do have a Zoom H4 four track, that I can record direct or plug a mic into if it came to it.

Any advice?
 
I'm planning to record a few films soon. (One short, one feature) and I'm just wondering, as a general point, would I be better to use the Mic on my camera, or try and find a boom mic?
The camera is a Canon Legria HF R16, and from what I've tested (Which isn't much) the audio works pretty well.

I know general consensus is usually to go with a Boom mic/Shotgun Mic, but is it really worth the expense at an early stage?

Also on the mic front, I do have a Zoom H4 four track, that I can record direct or plug a mic into if it came to it.

Any advice?

This question is asked every other day, but no worries. (at a minimum for what you want to do) You need a boom mic and operator recording to your H4. That is as bare bones as you can go for a serious project and for a project to be taken seriously.
 
I know general consensus is usually to go with a Boom mic/Shotgun Mic, but is it really worth the expense at an early stage?
Just to clarify: Some people are confused about a "boom mic".
The "boom" is a piece of equipment - most often a pole of some
kind - that the microphone is attached to.

A shotgun mic on a boom pole is essential at an early stage. This
is what is the biggest problem in beginning filmmakers movies.

The further away the mic is from the actors, the higher the volume
needs to be. The higher the volume, the more “noise” you get. Your
goal is to have a very high signal to noise ratio - more signal
(the dialogue) less noise (the background). Even a very good,
expensive Sennheiser mounted on the camera will pick up a lot of
background ambiance because it’s far away from the actors.
 
What directorik said, my bad. I was referring to a boom pole and a shotgun mic (for outdoors, this gets deeper). There are far more qualified people to answer your questions, I was trying to explain the basics.
 
You should also be aware that a hypercardioid mic is preferred over a shotgun mic when shooting indoors.


The Inverse Square Law

In simple terms, this means that a sound twice as far away is only one-fourth as loud. A sound four times as far away is only one-sixteenth as loud. So a human voice that records with adequate volume three feet away is just one-sixteenth as effective at twelve feet.


If your mic is mounted on the camera besides being too far away a large part of the time it is probably aimed in the wrong direction as well.

These are among the many reasons why you should retain a boom-op. A good boom-op knows the script inside-out and keeps the mic properly aimed at the actor that is speaking while keeping the mic and boom out of the frame and not casting noticeable shadows.
 
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