I'm looking into buying a new mic to acheive great sound for video.( But I gotta tell ya, I'm not all for spending $200+ for a decent shotgun mic.) What I need you to tell me is... these new "Spy Microphones" or "Bionic Ears" that allow you to hear faint sounds with great detail, or a conversations from 300 feet away. They're fairly cheap, but does anyone know if this would be a practical idea?

Tizz Buddy, Doctor Nota, How about some advice?

Thanks (eh!)<------ hahahaha

1clue3

Those bionic ear mics are SUPERDUPER directional mics, meaning they have a very, very narrow cone of sound. Either that or they're just ultra-sensitive mics. In my opinion, they would be absolutely horrible for everything but hidden camera, "candid camera" type movies where the camera might be very far away from the subject.

Your milage may very, but your ideal situation would be a directional mic, also known as a shotgun mic.

I had an Audio-Technica ATR-55 mic for about fifty bucks that worked fine, but I'm moving up to an XLR mic because I can't stand the low-value sound of minijack mics.
If your camera doesn't have an XLR jack (like mine) then get a Studio1 XLR adapter. These cost 129.99 for the cheapest model (the XLR-BPO) and unfortunately they're practically non-existent in discount online warehouses and Ebay. The mic I'm going to get after careful research for best-bang-for-your-buck ratio is the Azden SGM-1x

It took me a very long time to do my research because there is precious little information for audio for LOW BUDGET films.

Basically if you are ABSOLUTELY DIRT CHEAP and can't wait to save your money (usually it's almost ALWAYS better to put off filming for a month or two to save your money for a proper fix, in my experience... Especially since audio is so important) In which case I'd spend the approximately $270 total on the Azden or a similar mic and the Studio 1 adapter. But if you need a quick fix in a hurry, you can get a cheaper Azden shotgun.

Bear in mind this is for general use, ideally mounted on a boom. The SGM-1x comes with a shock mount for boom mounting but if you go with a cheaper mic then this site tells you how to make one yourself:
http://www.volksmovie.com/tech/inventions/micshockmount.htm

Either way the shock mount is vital.

Anyhow, any mic you get is going to sound HORRIBLE if you don't use it properly. I learned this the hard way. The thing about most camcorders in a student's price range when paired with condenser mics is that they either have auto-gain control or crappy manual gain control. Even with good gain control, you still have to understand that it all boils down to the fact that condenser mics boost the gain (essentially volume) when the subject is very quiet. This means it boosts EVERY NOISE in the area, creating a horrible "hollow" sound. So you have to make sure your subject talks rather loudly and you have to get the mic as close as concievably possible to the subject or it's going to sound horrible. You just can't ignore audio in your film. Even if the visuals look TERIFFIC, the audience will know something's wrong. They might not know for sure, but they'll be unsettled and it will make your film much worse for the wear.