External microphone for shooting video on an iPhone?

April 20, 2015 3:12 PM

Suggest a microphone to plug into my iPhone 5S to improve the audio of my iPhone videos? Lavalier preferred, but a little shotgun thingie would be ok too. Hoping to achieve improved voice quality with less roomtone, and I need the audio file to record right onto the video file- I don't want to sync it in post. Thanks!
posted by pseudostrabismus to Technology (4 answers total)

I just purchased this lavalier; I'm sure there are more expensive ones, but this one seems reasonably priced and gets good reviews.
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 3:24 PM on April 20, 2015

I use the Audio-Technica ATR 3350. It should come with a splitter so you can monitor with your earbuds while you use the mic. I got mine on Amazon for under $30.
posted by univac at 10:21 PM on April 20, 2015

I got one of these a while back; it's absolutely brilliant for what you need. It doesn't come with a splitter, however, which as univac says above would be useful (though not critical).
posted by gmb at 11:10 PM on April 20, 2015

The excellent X/Y mics of the Zoom H4n are now also available for iOS devices:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/audio/news/introducing-zoom-iq6-ios-microphone-h4n-sound-quality-iphone-ipad

If you want to do voice recordings, just talk into one of the mics and convert the stereo file to two mono tracks in post, where you may choose to throw away the channel from the mic you didn't talk into. I have a Zoom H4n and find the mics remarkably good. On the plus side, if you have such a great X/Y stereo mic with you at all times, you can also record perfect ambient recordings as well. Always nice to add to your edited timeline to give the impression of continuous time.
posted by hz37 at 12:27 AM on April 21, 2015