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Old 12-18-2010, 10:01 AM
ferg ferg is offline
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If you're looking for a mic for use directly with the Zi8, Zi10 my best recommendation to you would be to buy a Zoom H2. For around $150, you get a very flexible device that you can use in a variety of ways.

I believe Fran did a comparison when using the Zoom H2 as a mic on one of the other threads. You can hook it directly into the external mic jack of the Zi8 or Zi10, and it will give you a dramatic improvement. It will also allow you to move the mic closer to the audio source, while still framing the video from a reasonable distance.

That being said - I would recommend that rather than using the H2 as a mic, you simply record the audio ON the H2, and the video on the Zi10, separately and sync them in post. Even though having a decent mic into the camera will make a noticeable difference, the audio processing on those cameras is not great. There's a distracting amount of compression (IMO), and an audible amount of noise, even when using a quality microphone.

With a little practice / experience, syncing the audio and video after the fact is pretty simple / straightforward, and it's, to my ears and eyes, leaps and bounds above using a single device. Of course, YMMV.
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