Review and comparison of 12 shotgun microphones where I buy the winner! See which of these XLR microphones is the best for video and which you should avoid.
The Microphones
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- Sennheiser 416 (Winner)
- B&H (PAID LINK)
- Sennheiser MKE 600
- B&H (PAID LINK)
- Azden SGM 3500
- B&H (PAID LINK)
- Azden SGM 3500L
- B&H (PAID LINK)
- Rode NT5
- B&H (PAID LINK)
- Oktava MK-012
- Amazon (PAID LINK)
- Rode NTG3
- B&H (PAID LINK)
- Rode NTG5
- B&H (PAID LINK)
- Rode NTG4+
- Deity S-Mic 2
- Deity S-Mic 2S
- Rode NTG8
- B&H (PAID LINK)
Video Chapters
- 0:00 Introduction
- 0:31 Test Qualifications
- 1:58 The Microphones
- 5:06 Sensitivity Test
- 6:52 Rejection Test
- 8:03 Sound Quality Test
- 12:29 All Scores Tallied
- 13:48 Buying Recommendations
Final Recommendations
- Sennheiser 416 is the best overall.
- Sennheiser MKE 600 is the best overall budget option if you don’t need a super sensitive microphone.
- Azden SGM microphones are my favorite $500 options.
- The Rode NTG5 is great if you need a very sensitive microphone.
- Rode NT and Oktava microphones are amazing and affordable if you don’t care as much about sensitivity.
- Deity microphones offer build quality as good as a $1000 microphone with a price tag of under $400 and are very sensitive with decent rejection.
- The Rode NTG3 is great if you have some cash and want nice low frequency (bass) warmth.
- The Rode NTG4+ and NTG8 are a hard pass for me.
DISCLAIMERS: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This video was not paid for by outside persons or manufacturers. B&H let us barrow a few microphones but they were returned after the production of this video. The content of this video and my opinions were not reviewed or paid for by any outside persons.