Top Shotgun

[plexisys]

I'm looking to buy a pair of top of the line shotguns to use for rentals to others. This is for film/TV work. What do you consider to be the better top one or two shotguns? PS, I know there is no "best". I'm just looking to find 1 or 2 quality sets/brands that clients would want to use.

[9sbean]

Originally Posted by plexisys

I'm looking to buy a pair of top of the line shotguns to use for rentals to others. This is for film/TV work. What do you consider to be the better top one or two shotguns? PS, I know there is no "best". I'm just looking to find 1 or 2 quality sets/brands that clients would want to use.

Schoeps CMIT5. Excellent sound, low weight, built-in filters for blimp compensation.

[drpro]

Sanken CS-3e, Neumann KMR81i, Sennheiser MKH416, Sennheiser MKH60 all very good and used throughout the industry. For hypercardiods Schoeps CMC641, Sennheiser MKH8040 or MKH8050.

Regards
David

[Petrus]

Sanken CS-3e is the most versatile shotgun for film & video work at the moment at least. It is a 3 capsule array and has cleaner directivity pattern at all frequences than any other similar shotgun mic. It can even replace hypers in indoor situations, where traditional shotguns are not usable.

[tsvisser]

Sennheiser MKH-416 sort of the standard, the sound that everyone is used to and although not THE best, does its thing very well and is a known quantity and a great workhorse mic for rental environments.

Rode NTG-3 is more or less a 416 wanna-be and performs it role very well. Few people could tell the difference, its cheaper, and might be a very solid rental unit, since it is much much cheaper than the 416.

Sennheiser MKH-60 has better specs than the 416, a little bit more honest sound, a pattern that is a bit lenient for novice users too, but is more money and for rental, I sort of ask... why?

Schoeps CMIT-5U has a heritage and technical alignment with the other Schoeps capsules. If your in a high end rental market, it might be attractive, but for general purpose rental markets, it would seem gross overkill. A little delicate for rental applications. Do your clients know it humidity issues... the fact that it's electric blue versus video/film friendly black, and maybe their not using full zepplins, shooting TV style with softmounts only, and bright LED indicators on the mic body itself. If you were renting a mic package with interior / exterior mics that included other Schoeps capsules could be cool, but wouldn't consider it for my general purpose roster.

Sanken cool mics, I'd probably not hold them in inventory until you actually have a lot of people coming to you asking for them.

416 416 416 is my vote. (and maybe an NTG-3 for those that don't need the Sennheiser name and you prequalify as rental risks)

[jwh1192]

416 ... awesome for crowd reaction, voiceovers, interviews, sound FX capture, better outside than in confined spaces ... i use schoeps for indoors / small spaces ...

cheers

john

[matthewd]

I had a good try with the newish DPA 4017 a while back and was very impressed with it - its extremely light which is good news for boom ops and the off mic sound in particular is much less coloured than many of its competitors. The Schoeps I would say is probably equally as good - I haven't compared them side by side. So I guess the question is do you want blue (Schoeps) or black (DPA).

Matt

[tourtelot]

I like the idea of having the Rodes as rentals. The Sennheiser 416 is known for it's robust build, but at more than twice the price, it might seem to be less of a good investment. The Rodes are guaranteed for ten freakin' years!

I use the Sanken CS-3e as my short shotgun and love it above all else! It is an awesome microphone, and I find that I can indeed use it indoors, and do that more often than not. Great reach, great off-axis rejection and a rejection that isn't frequency dependent. That makes it really good when the generator is too close. The conventional interference-tube mike gets more "omni", less directional, as the frequency goes down.

BUT! The CS3e mics are a little notorious for being fragile and I would never rent any of my "good" mics out, as a pretty strict rule. That's where the Rode might be the perfect solution.

D.

PS Man, oh man, is the DPA expensive!

[John Willett]

If you are renting for film and TV work, you need to have the products that people want and will pay to rent.

The industry standard is still the 416.

The others that are liked are the MKH 60, Schoeps, CMIT and (possibly) the DPA.

In the UK it does seem that the 416 and CMIT are the two most popular ones.

Cheaper ones, most people already have, or will buy if they use them regularly. I would only get one of the cheaper ones if you get a demand for it - and remember, the cheaper the mic, the less it will earn for you.

[DannyL]

I absolutely agree w/ John. When I (or anyone else I know) is renting equipment we are looking for a specific model, not something that "sounds like" a specific model. I have seen contracts forfeited and thousands (actually, it was tens of thousands) of dollars lost because someone thought they could substitute one product for another.

So...when I need an 816 or a 416, I want an 816 or a 416. They may or may not be the greatest but they fit my application and I may be matching to other work that I have done previously, so I do not have a choice.

You should research what is typically needed in your country, get the correct insurance and but the equipment that people want to use. It is your customers' choice and if you don't have what they want they will go elsewhere.

Danny

Originally Posted by John Willett

If you are renting for film and TV work, you need to have the products that people want and will pay to rent.

The industry standard is still the 416.

Cheaper ones, most people already have, or will buy if they use them regularly. I would only get one of the cheaper ones if you get a demand for it - and remember, the cheaper the mic, the less it will earn for you.

[petsematary]

I'm kinda thinking of getting myself a shotgun. Never really liked the cheaper ones though so Imma have to go with a used "premium" model. NTG3 was awesome... tried that. Sennheiser and Beyer have some kickass ones too, obviously. But I feel like my limit is around 500 bucks. Any good deals out there in that range? What should I look for? NTG3's are so new there doesn't seem to be any "old" ones on ebay quite yet.