Sony ECM-HGZ1

Prior to purchasing the Sony ECM-HGZ1 mic, I was absorbing reviews online like a sponge. Many were negative, but the ones that were positive essentially said the negative reviews were from people who did not know how to use it, or perhaps had unrealistic expectations from a $100 mic. I ended up on a page with reviews on this mic after I had purchased mine, and decided to write my own review on the product. Here goes:

I have a RODE Video Mic and would have loved to use it except, I got the mic quite a bit before I got my HDR SR7 and was utterly disappointed to learn that the AIS was not the same size as a regular shoe.

As I PREFER to do interviews without the subject holding a MIC, I opted to go with this Sony “shotgun” mic.

Now, First of all, I was a little disapointed with it’s “performance” as many have listed on reviews I’ve seen.

That was until I realized, this $100 mic can’t compare to the $500+ real shotgun mics out there.

Having said that, I interviewed someone on a street corner with cars driving by and sometimes honking and you could tell what the subject was saying pretty clearly. I would have LOVED to have heard only the subject and no cars, but again, I can’t expect it to work like a $500+ mic.

I also interviewed a band in the waiting room, with another band playing 2 doors away in the theatre. I had to shut the door, but once I did, it was fine.

For it’s purpose, I have been able to interview people with this mic, unless I have a band playing (or dance party going) in the room next door.

For $100, that’s good enough for me. For anything else, there’s … lavaliere mics :)