All About Off-Camera (remote) Mics

Got a big enough budget to equip a crew? We lower the boom on microphones that your audio engineer aims at your subject.

Off-camera mics that are neither hand-held nor lavaliers require a second person to hold them, either with a hand or some kind of boom that brings the mic closer to the speaker but (hopefully) out of the shot. These mics have a key advantage, which is that they don’t pick up camera operating noise, and can be aimed at an off-screen subject.

Off-camera mics tend to be shotgun-type microphones, which means they are unidirectional; in other words, they work much like telephoto lenses, with a limited angle of audio pick-up. They can be handheld or held via a boom.

Headphones Required

The person holding an off-camera mic should wear headphones and monitor the sound quality during the shoot. Because of its narrow sound pick-up field, you want to make sure you’re aiming it properly and the only way to know this is to listen as you record.

Three Off-Camera Mics to Consider:
 
The Azden ECZ-990 Zoom Microphone is low in cost but gives you the bets of all worlds because it can change its pick-up pattern from omni-directional (picks up sounds from all around) to a narrower sound that reduces side noises. It comes with a windscreen and a camera mount.
 
The Sennheiser MKE 330 is a moderately-priced shotgun condenser mic that records in monaural. This is a good general-use mic for enthusiasts and professionals.

If you need to pull out all the stops and get the highest quality (and, at over two grand, the most pricey) sound around, the Sanken Audio CSS-5 is a stereo wide/normal mono switchable shotgun mic. It sits on a holster that actually looks like a shotgun! In stereo, it records ambient sound for an oberdub. Both mono and stereo have the same sound characteristics.

You will also need a Boom Pole and headphones.

If none of the microphone options I've written about this week work for you because your camera lacks a mic jack, all is not lost. Find out why tomorrow...