I have done a lot of audio recording. I have done zero video recording. Or less.
A friend--and I guarantee to you all that it is not me--loves to belt out the ballads at his local karaoke establishment. He's got a surprisingly good voice. He records himself with an entry-level vidcam and its built-in mic, mounted on a tripod. The resulting clips aren't particularly distorted but it's obviously an omni mic and there's lots of audience chatter and room reverb.
When I heard it I recommended using an external, directional mic. Should've kept my mouth shut. The budget vidcam doesn't have a mic jack, and so the next question was, well, what would be a good cam with an external mic input?
And I have absolutely no idea. All my toys are audio, and I'm keeping it that way.
I'd guess the budget is probably around $300, particularly if he wants to add something like a Rode Videomic. It should also be very straightforward to operate.
No one's expecting magnificent high-definition broadcast quality video from the setup--just a document that's not painful to listen to.
Can anyone suggest either a budget video camera with an unexpectedly good (probably cardioid) mic, or one that records well via its mic jack?
Is the Rode Videomic the way to go, or is there something better around or below that $150 price?
Thanks. Will not be changing my name to eyemonger.