Review: RØDE VideoMicro II

If you are after an ultra-light 39g camera top mic for vlogging, or as something you can quickly grab if a mic is needed, the new RØDE VideoMicro II might be worth a look.

It has a shotgun design making it highly directional, meaning it is designed primarily to pick up audio from objects directly in front whilst suppressing any extraneous noises from the side and behind.

Major benefits are that power is not needed unlike its bigger brothers, and it also comes with the new RØDE Helix isolation mount to minimise any vibration noise. Additionally, in the box is a fur windshield (colloquially known as a ‘dead cat’) as well as a foam one, along with cables to connect to either a camera or smartphone. If you are an iPhone user though, you’ll need to source externally a Lighting to TRRS adaptor.

To install the mic, simply slip it on to the hot-shoe (although it needs no power as mentioned so a cold shoe is also fine) of the camera and plug it in. Simples. It will automatically override the camera’s inbuilt mic.

Sadly, there is no audio socket for monitoring; you may need to use the one in your camera for that, assuming there is a separate headphone socket.

Audio quality was very good when using the RØDE VideoMicro II with a Fujifilm X-T5, and miles ahead of the inbuilt microphone, even clearly picking up a speaking voice at 3 metres quite effortlessly. For distance longer than that though and you’ll want to look at wireless lapel mic however.

At around $125 it won’t break the bank and will certainly give you a major improvement in your audio quality as a vlogger or videographer.

See https://rode.com/en/microphones/on-camera/videomicro-ii for any more info including technical specs.

If looking at alternatives, the Sennheiser MKE200 is an option albeit another $70.