 "Great Value" | 2009-09-10 |
| - Reviewed By User: AVMKLR5E8RY6K |
This is by no means a high quality shotgun mic,
but it is fantastic for the price!
Well built consumer item.
I used it on my Sony VX2100 and it did the job great! |
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 "sounds good" | 2009-07-29 |
| - Reviewed By tonyguate |
| It haves a great sound and I recommend it, its the best you can find for this price. |
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| "Non technical review of the Audio Technica ATR55 Shotgun Microphone by Jules Oille" | 2009-07-09 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2GT1FKJAFTL5V |
Non technical review of the Audio Technica ATR55 Shotgun Microphone
by Jules Oille
Test conducted with Canon HG10 Camera
Conditions:
From my porch where traffic can be heard, you can hear the evening rush hour. At arms length, I held the HG10 Canon Camera from my face and spoke:
a) Without a microphone (only the HG10's onboard microphone);
b) With the ATR55 microphone in normal mode and the wind filter; and
c) With the ATR55 microphone in tele-mode and the wind filter.
This is what I heard:
a) Without a microphone (only the HG10's onboard microphone).
Lots of noise. If this was a movie, you'd hear wind and everything else. In a word, the sound is crap.
b) With the ATR55 microphone in normal mode and the wind filter.
Ambient noise is gone. I hear my voice but it is faint. I suppose indoor it is better. Considering I am only at arms length of the ATR55 I would have liked better sound reception, as such I am slightly disappointed.
c) With the ATR55 microphone in tele-mode and the wind filter.
My voice is clear and the ambient sound is gone. I am impressed by the audio quality. I am confident that I can use this microphone for general use for my hobby movies.
Overview
If you're going to invest in a relatively good consumer camera with a microphone port, such as a Canon, spend a few more bucks and get a shotgun microphone. The ATR55 refurbished is about $40 and it makes a decent entry point. I'm glad I made this purchase.
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 "Hard to use" | 2009-05-28 |
| - Reviewed By User: AKN6RCE4N29HJ |
| I bought an ATR-55 a couple of years ago to use with video production at a middle school where I was teaching. It is painfully difficult to use. The amplitude produced by the mike is very low. Using the internal battery, I have to set my software to +30dB gain to get much of anything from it. While the directionality works quite well, the downside is that if it is used where air is moving, forget it. Nothing but noise. You can't really hand-hold it; just the blood moving in your hand will be picked up. With a computer, the vibrations will be heard and with a video camera the zoom and every touch of the tripod will be picked up. Used in a perfectly sterile environment, it is great but for real world, forget it. |
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| "Is this on?" | 2009-04-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: A286D88PM22GDM |
| Works fairly well, but wasn't quite as sensitive to sound as I'd hoped. Still, I'm happy enough with it considering the price. |
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| "Underwhelmed by Performance" | 2009-03-24 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2LAZGRINLU6EQ |
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R5X9NGD6PLGX1 I recently purchased this microphone, hoping to improve the audio picked up by my Canon GL1's built-in microphone. The price was good, the reviews seemed to lean a little more on the positive side, so I decided to bite. I assumed quality of the audio would be better, that it would filter out surrounding noise more efficiently, and that it would make my videos sound more professional. It also may be of note, that I planned on using this mic with a lot of handheld camera work, which you may or may not do. Well, it seemed to offer little to no performance upgrade from the camera's mic. To be fair though, the GL1 doesn't offer a lot of control over audio levels, so your milage may vary.
CONS:
-This microphone will pick up camera noise if mounted on the camera. The included shoe accessory to mount on your camera is absolutely useless if you want clean audio. I recommend using a shock mount if you have one (or better yet, a seperate mic stand).
-Despite the fact it can be mounted to the camera, it is in no way made for handheld work. The slightest bump of the camera or mic, will register as a loud thud in recorded audio. Using the zoom on certain cameras will be out of the question because it picks zoom motor noise and the sound of you pressing the buttons.
-Normal mode makes the audio sound compressed and unnatural compared to my camera's microphone.
-Tele mode does amplify the incoming audio significantly, but unfortunately doesn't filter out much of the noise that a directional microphone should.
-Not a professional level mic, by any means. If you have a $1000+ camera, this will be the weak link in your production. The Mic built into your prosumer (not consumer) camera probably works better.
PROS:
-Slightly more directional than my camera's microphone.
-Tele mode works well if your trying to capture the sounds of something further away than your camera mic would normally pick up. But be prepared to clean up audio in post to get rid of possibly unwanted ambient noise.
-The mic makes voices sound a bit clearer, but only in close range (no more than 10 feet away).
-An improvement if you have a very poor quality mic, or no mic at all.
-The simple fact that the mic is not attached to your camera means that you can place the mic close to your subject, even if you can't get the camera close. You'll need an extra long cable, of course. Make sure to place the cable in an area where it will not be bumped, because the cord can pic up reverberations if it's disturbed.
If I could do it again, I would have saved a bit more money to get a nicer mic in the $100-$200 range. This mic is really designed for amateur use only, as it sounds nowhere near broadcast quality. If your looking for a good mic to mount on the camera for handheld work, a nicer XLR mic would be a better bet. If I would have thought about it, I would have checked Youtube before I bought the mic, as there are many tests using this mic vs. other video mics. I would recommend trying that site to hear actual audio tests of this mic, and various other mics that Amazon sells- before you make a purchase. Also note, that this is a mono mic, so you'll need a mono to stereo adaptor if you'd like to hear this mic in both L&R channels. |
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Expedited Available
