With the best shotgun mics, you can capture clean audio from a single subject and cut out unwanted background noise. Shotgun mics are designed to be pointed in a particular direction, rejecting noise from other directions, and so are usually mounted directly on top of a camera. They’re simple and highly effective, and are commonly used in film and television production.
If you’re new to shotgun microphones, you’ll quickly realize most of them look pretty similar: a long, usually metal cylinder with some slatted grooves flanking the sides and a cable connector. However, there are many hidden features that make a huge difference to the quality of sound recorded. I’ve picked out a selection of the best for this guide – there are plenty of options for different use cases and budgets to suit your needs.
If you want to look at more types of mics, like lavalier and studio, we have a more general guide to the best mics. But if you’re definitely looking for a shotgun, read on!
Jase Parnell-Brookes is an award-winning photographer, educator and writer based in the UK. They won the Gold Prize award in the Nikon Photo Contest 2018/19 and was named Digital Photographer of the Year in 2014. After completing their Masters, Jase has spent a good chunk of two decades studying and working in photography and optics. Now the Channel Editor for Cameras and Skywatching at Space.com, specializing in low-light optics and camera systems.
Best shotgun mics: the full guide
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Best budget shotgun mic
Røde makes a vast range of video-specific audio kit, from enthusiast-level all the way to high-end broadcast equipment. The VideoMic Go II is at the more affordable end of the spectrum and mounts onto a hotshoe, with an effective shock mount to reduce handling noise. It's fuelled by plug-in power from the camera's mic socket, so it doesn't need a battery, and there are no switches on board to attenuate the output or change polar patterns.
This means you just plug it in, set your recording level, and start shooting. It comes with a foam windscreen to reduce wind noise, but there's an optional "dead cat" WS12 windjammer for breezy conditions that costs another $25 / £20. Frequency response stretches from 20Hz-20KHz, but recordings were rich and full, so we didn't find it lacking in bass. Overall, this is a well-made, good-sounding mic that's very easy to use.
Read our full Rode VideoMic Go II review
Best premium-priced shotgun mic
If you're looking for the best shotgun mic on the market, Sony's ECM-778 definitely deserves to be in contention. It's much more expensive than its rivals from Røde, but I found that it simply outperformed the competition, inside and out. It somehow manages to achieve fantastic directional recording despite its short and compact body (normally, a longer acoustic tube is required to achieve such finesse). This means you get a mic that balances really well when attached to a camera, without sacrificing functionality.
One thing that really impressed me was the frequency response of the mic. The new capsule delivered fantastic results for recording human voices, even at the kinds of distances where you'd expect a mic's quality to start dropping off. The signal-to-noise ratio is also first-rate, with the Sony mic considerably outperforming the other mics in this regard.
As I said, it's certainly not cheap. But if you're serious about video, audio is one of the areas where it makes most sense to invest – and the Sony ECM-778 is one of the best investments you can make.
Read our full Sony ECM-778 review
Best shotgun mic for ease of use
The Audio-Technica ATV-SG1 is a phenomenal on-camera shotgun microphone that is perfectly tailored for vloggers, content creators, and solo shooters. It features a robust, weighty construction highlighted by a solid metal grille and an intuitive layout. One design element I particularly like is the partially shielded gain knob, which completely prevents accidental adjustments on a chaotic shoot.
Performance-wise, this microphone is amazingly seamless. It operates without tedious apps or complex menus, and it automatically powers on and off alongside your camera. The built-in USB-C rechargeable battery is a massive selling point, lasting me well over 24 hours on a single charge. Sonically, it delivers deep bass and a sparkling high end across its 60Hz-20KHz range, with a wide, mid-focused balance that keeps vocals incredibly natural. It handles volumes up to 114 dB without distorting, and the "Safe" mode is a lifeline redundancy feature that records a backup track at -6 dB to prevent blown-out audio.
My only minor niggle is that when the wind shield is fitted, you have to move the fluff aside to read the mode switch. But overall, it’s a brilliant, highly recommended audio solution.
Read our full Audio-Technica ATV-SG1 review
Best small shotgun mic
The little Shure MoveMic 88+ is a veritable Swiss army knife. With four polar patterns, it can not only function as a shotgun mic, but can also double as a free-standing desktop mic for podcast recording and the like, or can connect via Bluetooth to act as a wireless lav mic (it's light enough to carry around, though it is a little big to clip to clothing). If your video recording typically involves lots of different shooting situations, I'd say the Shure MoveMic 88+ could be a cost-effective way to cover all your bases.
In testing, it performed very well, producing clean audio through all its various configurations, including Bluetooth (which can have a deleterious effect on audio quality). Voice quality was clear and rich, and the mic's noise-reduction features also worked well. If you're looking to use it mostly as a shotgun mic, then simply clip it to your camera, set the polar pattern to Mono Cardioid, and you're away.
Read our full Shure MovieMic 88+ review
Best shotgun mic for vlogging
The VideoMicro II is the smallest on-camera shotgun mic in the Røde line-up, and its price, size, and simplicity make it ideal for vlogging beginners, as well as videographers who need a compact mic to keep in the kit bag for when it is needed.
As well as the mic and a new ‘Helix’ isolation mount, you get a regular foam windshield and a furry windshield too, for when wind noise is worse. There are also two connection cables, one of which is a TRS-TRS type for regular camera connections, and a TRS-TRRS cable for smartphones (iPhone users will need to get a Lightning-TRRS adaptor).
It cannot work as a USB mic like its bigger brother, the VideoMic Go II, however, and it does not have that mic’s audio monitoring socket – though more advanced vlogging cameras will have these anyway.
Read our full Rode VideoMicro II review
Best shotgun mic and audio recorder combo
The Zoom M3 MicTrack is an on-camera microphone and recorder for video-makers using mirrorless cameras or DSLRs. Powered by a pair of AA-size batteries, it attaches to your camera and records audio independently of the latter's built-in digital recorder, storing its data on a microSD memory card.
This will likely improve recording quality compared to your camera's own abilities in a number of ways. But its main sell is 32-bit depth sampling, which offers significantly larger dynamic range than the norm. This helps eliminate clipped and distorted audio caused by sudden changes in sound levels.
Read our full Zoom M3 MicTrak review
Best shotgun mic with a swappable design
This is another mic that can be converted into multiple types, as well as a shotgun mic, giving you a huge amount of latitude for different shooting situations. However, the Boya Magic is something really quite special for many other reasons, too. Its 48kHz/24-bit recording combines with a wide 144 dB dynamic range, resulting in truly excellent audio quality that's a cut above many kits priced at the same level. And what's more, the much-advertised AI-powered noise cancellation functionality actually works!
In testing, the Boya Magic acquitted itself exceptionally well. It was capable of producing crisp, clean audio even in busy outdoor shooting environments – distracting extras like a passing airplane and a nearby chainsaw vanished into the maw of the noise cancellation. It's tiny and lightweight and very easy to set up – indeed, our reviewer George was so taken with it that he has already used the Boya Magic to record audio on several of his other reviews!
Read our full Boya Magic review
How to choose the best shotgun mic
What is a shotgun mic?
A shotgun microphone is a type of directional microphone that is designed to pick up sound from a specific direction while rejecting noise from other directions. It is named after its long, cylindrical shape, which resembles a shotgun.
How does a shotgun mic work?
Shotgun microphones use a series of closely spaced tubes to create a narrow pickup pattern. This pattern is similar to a cone, with the microphone at the tip of the cone. The narrower the pickup pattern, the more directional the microphone will be.
What are the benefits of using a shotgun mic?
Shotgun mics work directionally, which means that they can pick up sound from a specific direction while filtering out background noise. This makes them ideal for recording in noisy environments, such as a busy street or a crowded stadium. They're a popular choice in a range of areas, including journalism, film-making, wildlife documentaries and live music recording.
What does SPL mean?
SPL stands for sound pressure level, and is used to measure the loudness of a sound. Mics have an upper limit called maximum SPL. Higher SPLs can capture louder sounds, or optionally, microphones can be placed further away with the same sound level results. This is helpful if you can’t get close access to a sound source, like a soloist in an orchestra.
What does frequency response mean?
Frequency response for mics is the range of frequencies that a microphone can reproduce accurately. In other words, determines how much sound a mic can capture, from low to high pitches.
The frequency response of a microphone is important because it affects the sound of the recording. A microphone with a flat frequency response reproduce all frequencies equally well. This produces a natural sound. In contrast, a microphone with a shaped frequency response will boost or attenuate certain frequencies. This can be better for specific situations.
For example, a mic that boosts high frequencies is often better for vocals, making them sound brighter and more articulate. A mic that boosts low frequencies, meanwhile, is often better for acoustic instruments, as it reduces the amount of rumble and feedback.
How we test microphones
At DCW, we get offered a lot of microphones to test and play with before they are released – sometimes it feels like we're buried in them! Fortunately, testing is the fun bit. From the supporting videos in the full reviews, you’ll see that our reviewers test microphones in a wide range of locations. This enables them to discover how effective the windshields and the software noise cancellation features are. Find out more about how we test and review at Digital Camera World.
