Kodak ZI8 & Canon XM2... help!

[Artigrigan]

Hello there,

I'm a teacher in a college prep, and I plan on shooting a little documentary on our master singers who are very impressive and talented. The thing is I can't really ask for too much money to my school, but I can ask a little. So I wanted to ask them for an external mike for all the music parts, and for another small mike for the interviews. I'd like to use the video cameras I already own. So I have 2 questions for you guys, if you'd like to give me your opinion on this I'd really appreciate it. (I know one question is sound-related but I couldn't really create 2 topics for this).


1. What type of mike for the music parts ?

2. I have a Canon XM2 and a Kodak ZI8. The Kodak is HD and not the Canon, which is getting old, although initially it was much more expensive and sophisticated than the Kodak. I like the HD idea, but I really don't know what to do. If it were you and you had to pick one of the two to shoot the film, which one would you use, knowing that both can use an external mike?

Thank you so much in advance.

-Arti

[aedipuss]

the rode stereo videomic is very nice. i'd shoot hd if possible but why not shoot with both at the same time and see which you prefer. you can always take the audio from one and combine it with the video from the other if you need to.

[Artigrigan]

Thanks for your reply. My school owns the Videomic, I've used it and I agree that it's a very nice mike, but I didn't think for music it would do an appropriate job, I might be wrong about this. The only issue with shooting with both cameras is that I don't think I can mix images that are HD/non HD together, that would look pretty weird. I'd rather make a decision before starting the whole thing.

[aedipuss]

this mic has near dead flat freq. rep. and decent bass. not sure what you're looking for but i've used one of these at many concerts and recitals and haven't heard anything better in this price range.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=839897&Q=&is=REG&A=details

as for mixing video it depends on your intended output and skill. it's quite possible to do and is done all the time. get a decent video editing program.

[fishycomics]

Kodak ZI8 as main video, and standard res cam as a pip. if a mic cannot be obtained, a voice recorder.