I wanted to know what I need to do to attach a boom mic to my Canon Gl1. People keep telling me complicated things about xlr's and other things which doesn't make sense to me.
Just to clarify: Some people are confused about a "boom mic". The "boom" is a piece of equipment - most often a pole of some kind - that the microphone is attached to.
What you're looking for is a good shotgun mic. That in itself is a generic term that means any long barreled mic. You want a good condenser (externally powered) mic with a ?lobar? pick up pattern to put on your boom pole. Lobar pick up means the mic focuses its audio pick up to a narrow area. This is why you want to use a boom pole to get the mic as close the the actor as possible - you?ll get clean dialogue tracks with less ambient noise.
The "XLR" is a type of connector. ?url? 
?/url? It's standard on all professional mics and cameras - the GL1 doesn't have this connector. When you buy a professional mic it will have an "XLR" connector. So you will need an adaptor.
?url? http://www.shop.com/op/aprod-p26987268-k24-g4-?canon?/url?
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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
So the XLR is a connector at the end of the mic or am I misunderstanding it?
Yes, XLR is just a kind of connector. A cheap mike has two wires going into a tiny little jack plug, an XLR mike has three wires going into a huge XLR plug. The difference is that with XLRs connectors are far more robust and you can have cables of a hundred feet or more without having to worry about electrical interference, whereas you'd get all kind of nasty junk on your sound-track if you tried the same with a cheap mike.
You all have been extremely helpful. I just have one more question. I have been doing a little research, and I know that an XLR adapter fits on to the bottom of the camcorder. But is there something under that XLR adapter that can fit the camera on top and the tripod on bottom? Or when the XLR adapter is secured to the camera you have no choice but handheld.
I think you'll find they normally have a tripod screw hole in the bottom of the adapter. It would be silly otherwise, but check just in case :).
You guys are awesome. Thanks!
