Rode VideoMic NTG - On Camera Shotgun Microphone

I do not have a video camera currently that uses a shoe mount , although I am hoping to get one in the future. I picked this mic up specifically for use with Zoom calls and live streaming, in the hopes that it would also be useful for video recording when I have a suitable camera. My kids have group meetings for a choir and unfortunately due to the pandemic they have moved everything online. I wanted to try to get better audio for their calls than we were getting out of a built-in laptop microphone, especially since they are asked to stand and sit and sing a few feet away from the computer so they can't maintain a position close to the built-in microphone. This microphone is quite well-built and solid. I have some Rode NT-5 microphones I bought a dozen years ago and ... MoreI do not have a video camera currently that uses a shoe mount , although I am hoping to get one in the future. I picked this mic up specifically for use with Zoom calls and live streaming, in the hopes that it would also be useful for video recording when I have a suitable camera. My kids have group meetings for a choir and unfortunately due to the pandemic they have moved everything online. I wanted to try to get better audio for their calls than we were getting out of a built-in laptop microphone, especially since they are asked to stand and sit and sing a few feet away from the computer so they can't maintain a position close to the built-in microphone. This microphone is quite well-built and solid. I have some Rode NT-5 microphones I bought a dozen years ago and this seems to have a similar feel. I plugged this into a Windows laptop and it worked immediately, with the driver installed automatically, with no issues at all. It usually acts as a mono device, sending the same audio to each channel, but there is a neat trick it can do. If you turn on a special mode, it will send the normal audio level to the left channel, but send an attenuated level on the right channel. If you are recording, and something causes the mic to clip, this means you might be able to repair the recording by using the right channel data, which is less likely to be clipped. The auto-sensing headphone/audio out jack is a neat feature as well. It allows you to plug a pair of headphones directly into the mic to monitor what it is recording. You can also use this jack to plug it into a camera or recorder. That's a nifty feature. The built-in rechargeable battery is also a nice touch. I'm not really using it yet since it is plugged into a laptop using the included USB cable, but it is nice to know that I can also unplug it and use it to feed a recorder. I want to try it with my Sound Devices MixPre-6 II at some point, although I have not experimented with that yet. The audio quality is quite good. It might not impress a location sound engineer as much as one of Rode's large, thousand-dollar shotgun microphones, but to me it sounds very clear, with a low noise floor, and is quite crisp. So I'm very happy with it. I'd like to point out that it uses Euro-style mounting hardware. I was originally planning to use tripods or mic stand adapters with 1/4 diameter mounting screws with 20 threading. Be aware that this fits 3/8 diameter mounting screws with 16 threading. So you might need a stand mount adapter. Some of the B&H bundles come with adapters that might be suitable for you. I initially took mine out of the included shock mount and put it in one of the clips that came with my Rode NT-5 microphones, and that worked fine, but later found a Rode mic stand adapter that works fine and allows me to use the included shock mount. Overall, I'm very pleased with this device, a solid and very cleverly-designed little product.

The NTG is a great hybrid mic. I'll attach it to the end of a boom and run into a Wireless Go II transmitter for an easy wireless boom that is quick and easy to move around. It's great not having to deal with a cord back to the camera or recorder. With the Wireless Go II's built in recorder I get nice clean audio that can be synced in post. I also use it for video calls. I run it into the line input of my Scarlett 8i6 and have the cleanest audio of anyone on the call. The internal battery lasts a long time and the rotary volume knob makes adding more gain very quick and easy. I have used the USB out, although it doesn't work well if you want to use headphones on a video call and still hear others because you have to monitor from the output on the mic so you'll hear ... MoreThe NTG is a great hybrid mic. I'll attach it to the end of a boom and run into a Wireless Go II transmitter for an easy wireless boom that is quick and easy to move around. It's great not having to deal with a cord back to the camera or recorder. With the Wireless Go II's built in recorder I get nice clean audio that can be synced in post. I also use it for video calls. I run it into the line input of my Scarlett 8i6 and have the cleanest audio of anyone on the call. The internal battery lasts a long time and the rotary volume knob makes adding more gain very quick and easy. I have used the USB out, although it doesn't work well if you want to use headphones on a video call and still hear others because you have to monitor from the output on the mic so you'll hear yourself but not others. Therefore, using the analog output and a 1/8 to 1/4 adapter and going into the line input seems to work the best. If I was recording into my DAW though, I would use the USB output for the cleanest digital audio possible.

This mic has all the features you could want for a run and gun shooting setup. My favorite feature is the duel levels recording, so if you peak on one channel you can just use the other channel. Another awesome feature is the gain dial on the back of the mic. Great for dialing your audio if something needs adjusted on the fly. Finally the auto on and off is quite amazing. I no longer have to worry about remembering to turn my mic on, as in the past with other mics I've recorded clips with no audio because of this. Great product, RODE!