Two condenser microphones in one: Normal for close- and medium- distance recording, "Tele" for long-distance pickup. Designed for video use. Camera-mount, pistol-grip/mike stand clamp, foam windscreen, battery and 1/4 phone plug adapter included.

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Product Description

Condenser shotgun microphone

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #767 in Musical Instruments
• Color: black
• Brand: Audio-Technica
• Model: ATR-55
• Dimensions: 9.00" h x 3.00" w x 13.00" l, .81 pounds

Features

• 2 condenser microphones in one
• Normal for close- and medium- distance recording, Tele for long-distance pickup
• Integrated 3ft. cable terminated with 3.5mm mini plug
• Designed for video use
• Camera-mount, pistol-grip/mike stand clamp, foam windscreen, battery and 1/4 phone plug adapter included

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Customer Reviews

Very good at its intended purpose
Been using my ATR-55 for over a year. Really like the amplified TELE feature that seems to reach out and grab sounds, without picking up hardly any surrounding noise. But hey, its uni-directional, so that's one of the things it's supposed to do. Nevertheless, the NORMAL zone is about a 120degree V in front of the mic, and the TELE is about a 90degree V-zone. Was videotaping our school's football game, and filmed one half in TELE mode, and the second half in NORMAL mode. The TELE mode was almost eerie, because you could pick up the voices out on the field, but all the surrounding noise (fans) could hardly be heard. The NORMAL mode picked up a little more audience noise, so it sounded more natural, but nevertheless still filtered out the other people talking in the press tower with me. The TELE mode is very nice for lectures, so that it doesn't pick up distracting noises, including that of the camcorder's mechanism - that's why I go this in the first place, because the OMNI-directional microphone in the digital camcorder was picking up too much noise (including its own motor) during really quiet lectures. Just be aware that this unit is _not_ stereo - you should either get a mono-to-stereo adapter to use with it, or set the sound input on the camcorder to mono. Otherwise, you'll just get sound coming out of one speaker on stereo play-back. If you need stereo, get the ATR-25, which is very nice and also uni-directional, but lacks the ATR-55's TELE feature. Basically, TELE was more important to me than stereo, but it might be different for you. I wear headphones plugged into the camcorder while filming, this way I can better monitor the sound pickup, and make a determination between whether TELE or NORMAL is best for any given situation - the difference is noticeable. I gave it four stars because it is very good, but I'm sure units like a nice Sennheiser are better, but for much more money. This is a nice looking, solidly built unit, and a decent value to boot.

Jeckyl and Hyde
I've rented the high end gear before (Seinheiser shotgun with full zeppelin setup) and I've got to say that this little mic is an odd little option that I like having in my bag of tricks for shooting movies.

It is VERY easy to use. I love the tonality in the 'standard' mode, though the range is quite low when compared to other high end mics. So, as a 'shotgun', the standard mode is pretty useless. However, it delivers a very rich and engaging tone and I find myself using this mic in 'standard' mode very often for regular vocal performances.

The 'tele' mode definitely extends the range...Quite a bit further than the high end mics in fact. The problem is that the overall sound can become a little thin. It definitely doesn't have the same warm quality as the standard mode. However, if you can't get a boom in close enough (and you don't have LAV's), the telescopic mode can really get you out of a jam.

Standard mode = great sound with good directionality, but poor range.
Tele mode = thin sound, good directionality, very good range.

cheep+decent pickup=worth it
this is a good mic
i just got back from our first shoot using this thing insted of onboard camera mics
what a difference
the range in incridble
we had someone just walk out and keep talking, i switched the mic to tele and i could hear him allmost 100 meters away from the camera on headphones
has both tele (for long distance, often picks up to much back ground noise, and is not best for close up situations) and normal(which has decent distance as well and works fine indoors)
the only problem was that we kept getting it in the picture, but thats not a mic malfunction, just me being stupid
the windscreen is very useful, i have allways had trouble with wind using onbard camera mics, and this works much better
yes, it is mono, only putting out sound to the left ear, but using premeire you can just duplicate the left audio track and it comes out fine.

well worth it
only downside is the tele pickup gets a bit fuzzy with background noise