kodak zi8 external mic

[BuckMahoney]

I'm going to be buying a kodak zi8 mini hd recorder soon.I'm looking into mic's i can use for it.First thing is i'll need it to have a longer cable so i can place it on a stand and record into it while the camera is up to 20 feet away.A mic that isn't too sensitive that it will pick up sounds from in the house,but will faithfully reproduce the sound of my acoustic.I know it's a long shot to want the exact tone of the guitar but close is better than no cigar.My budget is pretty strict,around $50 if possible.I would rather not record the video and audio separately then match them up in editing,too much work.
What are you're suggestions?I like the style of pencil mic's,look somehow more professional.

[NitroX]

I hope you have better luck than I did with that.
I tried exactly the same thing you did with several different cheap mics then I used my Shure SM57 through the mixer and the output of the mixer into my Kodak Zi8 and still didn't like the audio recorded directly into the Zi8 so then went back to what you don't want to do... recording audio and video separate and editing them.
And...
My version of Windows Movie Maker wouldn't import the Kodak .mov and since I wasn't using the ext mic I took it back and got another camcorder that defaults with .avi instead of .mov LOL.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[Fran Guidry]

Originally Posted by BuckMahoney

I'm going to be buying a kodak zi8 mini hd recorder soon.I'm looking into mic's i can use for it.First thing is i'll need it to have a longer cable so i can place it on a stand and record into it while the camera is up to 20 feet away.A mic that isn't too sensitive that it will pick up sounds from in the house,

There's a sensitivity control on the Zi8 that adjusts the mic input.

but will faithfully reproduce the sound of my acoustic.I know it's a long shot to want the exact tone of the guitar but close is better than no cigar.

This is a useful ideal but probably not too realistic, since the mic cannot experience the guitar the way you do.

My budget is pretty strict,around $50 if possible.

Does that include the cable you mention above? Or do you have a separate budget for that? And I think that may be a bit too low for your stated goal.

...
What are you're suggestions?I like the style of pencil mic's,look somehow more professional.

The Zi8 input is a stereo mic input. So you need either a stereo mic or some kind of adapter to apply the signal to both channels. The Zi8 supplies plug-in power to a stereo mic, it will be problematic with a mono mic and adapter rig.

I have an assortment of mics at home waiting for testing, but I won't be there until the middle of March, sorry. I can tell you that I only found one "stereo" (with two omni mics an inch apart it's not very stereo, but whatever) mic under $59, and it demonstrated limited frequency response. I did my shopping at The Sound Professionals: http://www.soundprofessionals.com/cg...egory/130/mics

Sorry I can't be of more assistance,
Fran