Looking for GoPro mic recommendation

[Matt Hixson]

Could some of you videographers out there recommend a good microphone to use with a GoPro Hero 4 Silver? I am looking for something that would be suitable for doing rig walkaround type of videos as well as just speaking-to-the-camera outdoor videos where I don't need to pick up the sound of every creek, airplane, and bird tweet.
Something that mounts to the camera would be fine, but I'd also be interested in the wireless options where you clip a small microphone to your shirt collar and can then walk around somewhat more independent from the camera location.
Thanks for any help!

 

[Lassen]

One method I went with was a lav mic for my iPhone. Just plug it in, drop the phone in your pocket, do your stuff and then in production, combine the audio track with video. I found this method to be far better than using a lav mic connected directly to my DSLR as its audio circuitry was rather inferior. I'm not certain of the audio capability in a GoPro, but can't imagine it's very good. I have a GoPro but haven't put its audio abilities to the test yet.

 

[Matt Hixson]

One method I went with was a lav mic for my iPhone. Just plug it in, drop the phone in your pocket, do your stuff and then in production, combine the audio track with video.

That's a great idea. Do you have any preferred audio recording apps for the iPhone?
The GoPro's internal mic sucks pretty much. With the waterproof case on it's worthless, and with the open back on it's only slightly better. Here's a video I made in my kitchen to show how to poach eggs and you can hear for yourself how bad the audio is.


One of my video projects is going to be redoing that video with better audio. :)

 

[LiveWorkWander]

Hey! So, there aren't great on camera mic options for the GoPro. What I mean by that is ways to mount a mic to the GoPro. However, if you figure a camera rig with a little handle, a GoPro, and a way to mount a mic here are some suggestions for what you'd need:

This lil doo-hicky will allow to use the mic I highly recommend:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=895505&gclid=CjwKEAiA_p_FBRCRi_mW5Myl4S0SJAAkezZrlX6xz1RTKsIYTNAMU3IXuunaJq43NjU-wPiaz8Du_hoCtGrw_wcB&is=REG&ap=y&m=Y&c3api=1876,92051677682,&A=details&Q=

This mic is fantastic for run and gun kind of shooting:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=1183909&gclid=CjwKEAiA_p_FBRCRi_mW5Myl4S0SJAAkezZrvyV8aCaRQRdOqXY6-9OgcsBo17-97shJJiVr8eg6ixoCZ9Pw_wcB&is=REG&ap=y&m=Y&c3api=1876,92051677682,&Q=&A=details

Now...how to mount it all into a sexy vlogging package of selfie domination (skip to 2:25):


That's a nice setup though the mic he's using is much more expensive than the one posted above.


Hope that helps!

 

[Lassen]

Right now, my preferred audio recording app on iPhone is Voice Memos. I can toss it in to Garage Band on my Mac and clean it if necessary or maybe not. Let me do a couple quick tests and I'll get back to you with results and post it here. It's fun stuff to work with. One of the most important things to remember to get good video, you need good audio and good lighting. A good story will from person to person vary, but audio and lighting typically don't.

 

[Lassen]

Ok, so I did my little test comparing the GoPro Hero 5 Sessions internal mic vs the Rode microphone for the iPhone. In this, the Rode won pretty easily. In shooting video with DSLR cameras, I found that the audio recording on the cameras I had were never that great, ok, but not great. So I got the Rode lavalier mic and it works great.

At any rate, here's the link to the video:
Hope this helps!


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