RØDE - NTG2

Three? OK a used rode NTG2 should be under 150. An MXL BCD1 is a surprisingly nice mic. Also the venerable Shure SM 57. Can't go wrong with those.

I’m a huge fan of the Rode NTG’s. I saw KEH.com has an NTG2 used for ~$180usd. This assumes you have a way to handle an XLR cable instead of a 3.5mm TRS and some kind of microphone mount. I run a NTG-5 to a Zoom H6 recorder. That also works as an audio interface so I can use my NTG-5 for zoom meetings & etc. I also prefer this setup over Lavs for interviews or talking heads on my video work.

O.k. here's what I did and it worked really well, but it's a *lot* of work. I rented an external recorder (Zoom H6), a shotgun mic (Rode NTG2), and a camera (Canon EOS C100 EF). Since I was a one man band I bought a cheap, tall, telescoping mic stand, which allowed me to shoot *without* a boom operator (which worked really well). Attaching the NTG2 to the mic stand, and getting it as close as possible to my actors it did pretty well. In post I synced the scratch audio from the camera to the external audio...but here's the pain point. For every take I wanted to use I first had to denoise and then boost the audio, and then sync. I chose -6db for everything to make it sound uniform. So, for every take I'd have three files - 1) the video w/scratch audio, 2) the external audio, 3) the denoised and boosted audio, and 4) the video synced with the denoised and audio. tldr: Always use an external recorder and sync it to the scratch audio, definitely use a shotgun mic, and get it as close as you can to your actors. Good luck!

Keyboard is honestly a difficult choice but I use anything that has linear mechanical switches, preferably lubed for that clear 'thok' sound. I currently use the Glorious GMMK Pro with their Glorious Fox switches. I have a full audio interface through the Elgato Wave system, with Sennheiser 660S open-back monitoring headphones, a Rode NTG2 shotgun microphone or a Logitech Blue Sona dynamic microphone depending on what I need, and a pair of Mackie CR#-X 3-inch Reference Monitors if I don't want to use headphones. Mouse-wise I use the Razer Naga Pro V2, with the swappable side-plates for MMO's and General Gaming.

Ah, I didn't catch that. You know, there isn't that much in that price segment that have their own powerdelivery. Most in that price segment reley on independent recorders (with phantom power), or audio-interfaces in a handle like the Sony FX3 and FX30's and some Panasonic's got. Not to mention other professional camera's. In a lower price segment there's the Røde Videomic NTG and most other VideoMic's from that brand, Sennheiser MKE 600, the ME66, Røde NTG2. There are good suggestions in r/LocationSound In general I don't like selfpowered microphones, specifically because their power indicators are way to sloppy. I need to know how many minutes I've got, not green, orage, red. Also: some have internal powerpacks, that can only be charged via USB and that's just a no go scenario, I need to be able to pop in fresh/ new batteries. Edit: added an opinion on self powered microphones.

I can recommend the rode ntg 2 and tbeir mini USB mic isn't bad either. Read up on the ntg, I use it with an audio interface because I think it might need 48 volts but I'm not totally Shure (see what I did there?)

Short shotgun mic. You say it needs to be 4ft off camera, near the camera. I think that'll be nice. It'll pick up the room a little, especially if it's live/reflective. But it's for theater auditions, so I'm pretty sure that's your guy. Like this https://rode.com/en-us/microphones/shotgun/ntg2?srsltid=AfmBOoptorUPQ_B2G24joDIAWFTQ7nXQ849C00px1wC74nXv7U0EKO2g Or check out some short body shotgun mics too. Hard to find a decent one for less than $300 though. Shotguns are not a super versatile mic, but it's probably going to be your best bet for 4' distance. Your AD converter will clip before the mic overloads at 4'. And if it does clip or overload? Use some mic technique and remember to aim off axis to the mic when you belt. And, of course, you still have to get a conventional xlr/phantom power mic into your camera or whatever you're recording with. Cheers and good luck!

I use a second hand Rode shotgun mic, homemade pop filter, homemade mic stand, positioned about 2" from my mouth when I'm recording voiceover. My voice comes out clear, no background noise despite not sanitizing my environment at all. Moving closer to the mic is my recommendation, if you haven't already, it does wonders.

Did pretty much my whole feature doc I used neewer cm28 and a rode shotgun.

There aren’t many amazing TRS mics I’m afraid. Rode makes the NTG which might be worth a look. Or get a preamp for the camera that supplies phantom. If you could find a secondhand me64 or me66 with a K6 module - those are Sennheiser shotguns that you can use a battery instead of phantom & adapt to TRS