RODE VideoMic Directional On-Camera Microphone

I have owned and used this microphone for well over a year now in various situations - for a church wedding, whilst travelling in New Zealand and recording home footage of groups, baby shots etc. In all situations, it has performed well. Sound quality is very good indeed. I recorded a clip of champagne being poured into a glass for a wedding, and the noise when listened to through headphones was exceptionally clear and full without an excess of background hiss. Battery life is very long indeed. My reservations are only these - whilst you exclude any mechanical noise from the camcorder, and to some degree wind noise by the addition of the mic cover, it is possible to pick up vibration knocking noise as you move about recording, if you are not careful to hold it with care. The suspension rubbers are also quite fragile, and can break if you are not careful. 4 replacements are supplied. I have so far needed to use only one, though I have has 3 breakages - with a careful hand, pair of tweezers and a tube of superglue, I was able to stick the others back together. Beware that this mic is only mono, so you will have the same audio track in both channels. However, a lot of stereo mics have barely any separation anyway, so is this really a major drawback? For me, no. If you are looking for a mid-range mic, this model is definitely worth the money. It's relatively small, light, robust and compact, and the sound quality is generally excellent. Would I buy it again? Yes.

As an update, I have since found that it is possible to use plain rubber O-rings as replacements for the original suspension rubbers. The ones I use are 1.6mm cross section and 9.1mm internal diameter. They can be bought far more cheaply than the proprietary items - 50 for less than a tenner.

I would also strongly recommend the purchase of the optional 'dead cat' mic cover for use outdoors to eliminate wind noise in anything more than a mild (5mph) breeze, which is all the supplied foam cover can filter out.

Yes a very good product, I've had this for some years now and had no problems with it. I would say though it is a very sensitive microphone and if you not careful you will get interference from the camera itself.
I would recommend to anyone after good and clear sound.
Thanks
Ian

Nice product, very rapid delivery.
I use this Rode mike on a Canon HV20 whenever the situation needs better sound control.
Often I can film without this external mike, and then enjoy the small size and mobility of the bare HV20. However, the internal mike cannot cope if the wind is blowing. Also the internal mike points skywards and picks up planes that my ears do not notice. Also the Canon's internal mike seems to distort base sounds.
In any of these cases I screw the Rode mike onto the HV20, and plug little earphones into my ears to monitor the sound. It makes the HV20 more cumbersome to handle but this inconvenience is nothing compared with the better control over sound recording.