Comica V30 Pro Shotgun Microphone
Overview
The Comica V30 Pro is a great external shotgun style mic in the low price category. It’s technical specs match up favorably with many of the mics in this category. I was particularly impressed with the advertised battery life of 200 hours. I haven’t had it on 200 hours but that’s much more than I’ve come to expect from one of the other favorite mics in this category here on Amazon that I also own.
The ‘dead cat’ that comes with the microphone in addition to the foam wind cover is a real value. It’s a custom fit sleeve that could add $10- $20 dollars to the price of mics that don’t include one.
Specifics
One of the things I was a little concerned about when first working with the Comica CVM V30 Pro was its plastic case and light weight. My first impression was a bit doubtful. However, after working with the mic, I’ve changed my mind.
I was really pleased with how the V30 Pro didn’t seem to change the balance of my camera. Using my Sony AX 53 Handycam shooting some RC airplane flights, it was as if the mic wasn’t even there. I was able to adjust my grip to easily access the camera’s zoom button and beyond that, I hardly noticed the mic at all.
Again, with my Nikon 5300, the mic’s light weight seemed to make no difference to the camera’s feel. I often use a 300 mm zoom lens so when I replaced that with the much smaller 35mm prime lens, even with the mic attached the overall weight of the DSLR was much less than I’m used to when shooting stills with my long lens.
I also like the streamline appearance of the V30 Pro and the mounting system did a good job of limiting noise from the camera. Using the on-board mic the auto-focus motor noise is usually captured on the video. Not so with the V30 which is a good thing.
Operations
There are a couple of things you’ll need to develop habits around when using the V30 Pro or any other external mic. I’ve found the auto sensitivity setting on several of my cameras results in audio that is too loud and often clipped. With that in mind, I usually set the camera’s mic setting to manual and use the signal strength icons to adjust the sensitivity. That will require a couple of extra minutes of set-up time. It is much easier to boost low volume in post-production than to lower volume that is too high. Audio information that is clipped is lost so there is nothing your editing software can adjust.
The other habit you’ll need to get into is making sure the mic is turned on. If the mic is off you’ll get no audio which will really ruin your shot.
The only real con I could find so far was it doesn’t come with any kind of protective case. You’ll need to be careful with it or get a generic case or box for the mic.
I’ve enjoyed using the CVM V30 Pro and can certainly recommend it – especially to the budget conscious video enthusiast.
This CVM V30 Pro was provided by Comica for my honest review. The vendor had no input into the review.
