MKE 600 Shotgun Camera Microphone | Phantom & Battery Power | Switchable Filter for Wind Noise Minimisation | Black (505453)

The MKE 600 is arguably the best value for money solution used by serious video shooters requiring a high-quality shotgun microphone without a thousand-pound budget. After listening to a professional blind test comparing this with the industry standard MKH 416 and a couple of more expensive Rode mics, the MKE 600 seemed like the obvious choice; costing considerably less money, yet still offering crisp, natural audio with depth and clarity, whether indoors or out in a range of situations. It offers the option to shoot phantom power or independently with a convenient single AA battery. The XLR to Jack port with a cable plugs straight into my S5IIIX, plus it can also be plugged into a portable field recorder like a Zoom or Tascam if needed. The build quality is solid and built to last, yet light and looks the part if you are dealing with clients, which never hurts. It seems to be fairly low sensitivity, which has both pros and cons, but I turned it up to +6 gain on my Lumix and I’m very happy with the results, whether over a boom or shooting on camera. There are some negatives, but no deal breakers. Although it has the AA battery option, it gives no indication how long it will last, and could power down if you are not paying attention, so in practice it makes sense to use a fully charged battery with every shoot and power down when not needed. Maybe keep a spare in the bag as well. The case it comes with is barely large enough to take the microphone without adequate space or padding for any extra accessories, so you may need to budget for a separate case with more protection later on. The shock mount is frankly poor and rather awkward, so I picked up an alternative that is a clear improvement, offering flexibility of movement, facility for boom usage and better damping against vibrations for well under £10. The switchable low-cut filter helps reduce unwanted ambient sound, but a good-quality fur “deadcat” will be indispensable if working outdoors, just as with other shotgun mics. Sennheiser makes one for this model, but I opted for one from Rycote on sale at Amazon, and it works really well. If this ever becomes a full time job, I may get the MKH 416 or even a DPA 2017, but those represent a serious jump in cost. This gets you surprisingly close, while still offering exceptional value and quality at far lower entry cost.

This is a perfect microphone for my Galaxy S25 Ultra. The sound is so much better, it's compact and easy to pack away after filming. This is the ideal microphone for a camera phone. You will need a phone cage to be able to attach it. Highly recommended.

I've become very fond of the MKE 600. They don't have the brilliance and sensitivity of much more expensive shotgun mics that I've used for broadcasting work, but I've never come away disappointed from using the MKE 600. It's robust, has a superb omnidirectional pickup pattern and is fuss free. It's got a surprisingly low noise floor for the price and a major bonus for me personally is I've been making a podcast in a horribly EM noisy environment which has forced me to ditch dynamic vocal mics. Shotgun mics in general just don't care and can record next to as buzzy an AC power supply as you like and the MKE 600 will ignore it. If I've any criticism at all, it's that the area of sharpest pickup is almost unforgivingly narrow, and off axis sound attenuates rapidly. That makes it great for getting a voice from across a room like any shotgun - good for singles, great for duos, but if you're putting 3 people on camera, getting them all crammed into the "sound beam" on an MKE600 can be arduous. Probably time for different/multiple mics at that point! You can get cardioid mics cheaper than this, such as the rival Rode NTG-2, but based on my experience I would strongly suggest spending the extra £40 and getting the Sennheiser. To give it it's dues, the NTG-2 is capable of sterling, competent work, but I've found the MKE pips it in pretty much every technical aspect, adding just that little extra sweetness to location sound. I don't recommend any shotgun mics cheaper than the NTG-2, and since this is only a little more money for better features, I say you should start here. This much quality sound for what is still a reasonable price in the semi-pro/pro mic market makes it a highly recommended buy!

I am beyond impressed with its performance. The design is sleek and modern, making it look as professional as it sounds. It is also incredibly lightweight, which makes it easy to transport and use. One of the features that I love the most is the battery for phantom power, which ensures that the microphone is always ready to record in any situation. But what really stands out is the quality of sound that this microphone produces. It captures audio with immense clarity and precision, which is perfect for my needs as a content creator. Whether I'm recording interviews or capturing ambient sounds for my videos, this microphone delivers exceptional results every time. Overall, I would highly recommend this shotgun microphone to anyone who is looking for a reliable and high-quality audio recording device. It's definitely worth the investment!

Great audio bandwith, but at a cost of quite high self nose that is on correspodning boost settings at 16/26/40dB. Nothing that denoise can't handle but always need to remember to register few sec of silence for a denoiser. Pairing with camera directly, it's best to set mic boost at max anyway, because almost every camera has even worse self noise when boosting audio in camera instead.

このマイクは小型ですが音を拾うことにはSONYのショットガンマイク( ECM-VG1)に負けていません。ただ単４電池で稼働するので切れていたりすると大変です。常時スペアのバッテリーを持っていましょう。撮影が終わったら電源スイッチを切ることを忘れずに（自動でONOFFしません）

The sound of dialogue in my videos becomes too good for me i am not use to it haha , its just perfect and i dont need to do much in post

At the price I paid, fantastic. Weather i want to enhance my cell phone video audio or for my dslr. Mic works great.

I bought this late 2020 and used it during video capture of all family / tourist video's over Christmas 2020 on my Sony a6600 aps-c camera. The built in wind shield / shock mount worked well in light to moderate wind conditions except for a hilltop arboretum/kite flying area where I had to use the included furry accessory. It has a decent super/cardiod pattern and its for fact is unobtrusive and cant be beat for compactness cant be beat. I definitely prefer this over my Deity D4 Duo. Highly recommended.