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What are the best external microphones for a Canon EOS R6?

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What external mics are you guys actually liking for the Canon R6 these days? Ive been shooting with the R line for a few years and usually my old Rode VideoMic Pro is fine but lately its picking up this weird buzzing sound whenever the IBIS kicks in on my 24-105mm lens. Kinda driving me crazy in post. I have a wedding shoot coming up in Chicago so I need to upgrade to something more reliable. Budget is around 350 max.

  • item: Deity V-Mic D3 Pro?
  • item: Newer Rode NTGs?

Is there something specifically about the R6 preamp that makes certain mics better or is it just interference? Just want to avoid that hum...

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12

honestly been dealing with that R6 buzzing for a while and its super frustrating. i have had issues with the older VideoMic series because they just dont have the shielding to handle the newer RF interference or the mechanical noise from the stabilizer. unfortunately that 24-105mm lens is a noisy beast when it comes to the internal motors and the R6 body seems to translate that vibration right through the hot shoe. staying with my old gear just wasnt as good as expected when those quiet moments at a wedding hit and you can hear the lens motor grinding in the background. its a real buzzkill for professional shoots. the R6 preamps are actually quite decent if you feed them a hot signal but they pick up every bit of electronic junk if your cable isnt perfect. you really need something with a high-pass filter and a dedicated analog gain knob to bypass the camera internal processing as much as possible. switching to the Rode VideoMic NTG Supercardioid Shotgun Microphone fixed the majority of my noise floor issues. it has a way better shock mount than the old Pro version. going the Deity route is an option too but the battery life on the Deity V-Mic D3 Pro On-Camera Shotgun Microphone degraded much faster than i liked which was a huge letdown during long wedding days. just make sure you set your camera manual gain way down to notch 1 or 2 and let the mic preamp do the heavy lifting to kill that hum. since youre headed to chicago stay mindful of the wind too tho... the stock foam on most of these isnt enough for the lakefront winds.

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> What external mics are you guys actually liking for the Canon R6 these days? I've been very satisfied with the Sennheiser+MKE+600+Shotgun+Microphone&linkCode=osi&tag=7649-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow sponsored">Sennheiser MKE 600 Shotgun Microphone lately. It works well because you can power it with an internal battery. Usually, that buzzing happens when the mic draws power through the R6 preamp while the IBIS is working hard. Using the internal battery lets you keep the camera gain super low, which has basically solved all my interference issues tho.




3

Unfortunately I had issues with my R6 setup and that 24-105mm lens combo too. I was shooting a sit-down interview and the IBIS hum was so loud in the quiet parts it made the footage almost unusable. I thought the R6 was gonna be a dream for video but the audio shielding is honestly not as good as expected for a pro-level body. It feels like the hot shoe just conducts every little vibration from the lens motors straight into the mic capsule.

  • Rode VideoMic NTG Hybrid Analog/USB Shotgun Microphone
  • Comica CVM-VM20 Shotgun Microphone I found that the only real fix is using a mic with its own gain control so you can bypass the Canon preamps. The Rode VideoMic NTG Hybrid Analog/USB Shotgun Microphone is basically the winner here because it has that infinitely variable dial on the back. It lets you keep the camera gain at the absolute minimum setting, which is the only way I found to kill that buzz without losing signal quality. Since you are doing a wedding, that safety channel feature is gonna be a lifesaver during the loud reception. The Comica is a decent budget alternative if you dont want to spend the full 300 bucks, tho the build quality isnt quite as tank-like.

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TL;DR: I am in the exact same boat and honestly the R6 audio performance has been way less reliable than I enabled for the price. I have been dealing with that exact same buzzing for about three months now and it is driving me crazy. I use the R6 with the 24-105mm too and no matter what I try that IBIS hum just ruins the audio. I have spent hours on the DPReview forums and looking at the EOSHD boards but I still havent found a real fix for the vibration. It is so disappointing... let me know if you find a site or a video that actually has a solution because I am totally stuck too.

1

Man, I hate to say it because Ive been shooting Canon since the film days, but the R6 audio is just... not as good as expected. I had a nightmare session recently where my current setup picked up every single adjustment from the autofocus motors. It sounded like a tiny construction crew was working inside the lens.

  • Honestly, I think the R series has a shielding problem that my older DSLRs never had.
  • Compared to the Panasonic gear Ive used, the Canon preamps feel way more sensitive to interference from the IBIS.
  • I ended up having to move my mic off the hot shoe entirely because that vibration just travels straight up the mount.
  • Learned that relying on the camera to power anything is a recipe for that annoying hum. Its disappointing for a pro body, but you basically have to find ways to isolate the mic from the body physics.







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