The Shure VP83 & VP83F LensHopper Microphone – Unveiling Audio Excellence
Introduction
In the world of content creation, audio quality is paramount. The Shure VP83 & VP83F LensHopper are top shotgun microphones designed to enhance your audio recording experience. These devices offer a lot of features that cater to both professional videographers and content creators. In this review, we’ll explore their performance, ease of use, build quality, and more. Let’s dive in!
Performance
- Exceptional Sound Quality: These microphones deliver clear and crisp audio, recording every detail.
- Directional Pickup: The shotgun design ensures that the audio is primarily recorded from the front, reducing background noise.
- High Sensitivity: These mics are highly sensitive, making them suitable for various recording scenarios.
- Wide Frequency Response: They cover a broad range of frequencies, ideal for capturing both voice and ambient sounds.
Ease of Use
- Plug-and-Play: The VP83 & VP83F are incredibly user-friendly, compatible with most recording devices without any complex setup.
- Intuitive Controls: The microphone features simple buttons for adjusting gain and low-cut filter, making it easy to tune your recordings.
- LED Indicator: The LED display provides a quick visual reference for your audio levels.
- Compact and Lightweight: These microphones are portable and easy to handle, even for beginners.
Build Quality
- Rugged Construction: The VP83 & VP83F are built to withstand the rigors of field recording. Their metal housing ensures durability.
- Shock Mount: The integrated shock mount minimizes handling noise and vibrations, maintaining audio clarity.
- Battery Life: Both models feature an extended battery life, so you can record for hours without interruptions.
Pros
- Outstanding Audio Quality: The Shure LensHopper mics deliver studio-level sound on the go.
- Versatile Usage: Ideal for interviews, vlogging, documentary filming, and more.
- User-Friendly: The intuitive design makes it accessible to beginners and professionals alike.
- Durable: These microphones can endure the demands of field recording.
- Excellent Battery Life: You won’t need to worry about running out of power in the middle of a shoot.
Cons
- Price: The premium quality comes with a higher price tag, which may not fit every budget.
- Size: Some users might find the devices slightly bulky for certain setups.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Shure VP83 & VP83F LensHopper microphones are stellar options for content creators and video recorders who demand top audio quality. With their impressive performance, user-friendly design, and rugged build, they are well worth the investment. While they may not be very cheap, the exceptional sound quality justifies the cost. Don’t let their size deter you; these microphones are your ticket to professional audio recording on the go.
Old Bull –
Superior in every way to the Rode Videomicpro, which I purchased some time ago. Took me ten minutes to figure out how to close the battery door on the Rode last week. That did it for me. The AA battery is installed on the bottom side of the battery drawer on the Shure. Shure even included a battery.The green LED power indicator turns red when battery level is low. Depending on battery type, you have varying amounts of time from the Red warning to change the battery. All options are very forgiving. You’ll have plenty of warning to change the battery once the indicator turns Red.I did a wide by side test when I received the Shure. No exceptions, no conditions, no qualifications, the Shure is better. Not even close. Perfect design, functionality, build and durability. Superior in natural sound, low cut filter engagement, more gain, lower noise level, lower handling noise, smaller size, more side rejection, more battery life, excellent battery compartment access, recessed controls to reduce accidental changes in settings and power, attached cable is stronger and better attached, better cable strain relief, better shock mount support, better shock mount isolation, better and thicker coiled cable, you name it, Shure does it better by far. I would expect the Shure is better than the comparable Sennheiser, as some comment that Senn is a bit too thin for the sake of clear dialog. I like the fuller sound of the Shure, but not the boomy sound of the Rode. Shure is right in the middle, just right IMO.What would have been cool is if Shure had included a carrying bag or zipper case of some kind. BTW, the packaging of the product is as if it were an Apple product. Sweet. I’ve kept the boxes and packaging, although I can’t imagine selling it any time soon. (The Rode is for sale.)A lot of my decision was based on reviews on this site and that “B” company in New York. I want to thank all the contributors for their honest appraisals which helped steer me to the right decision. Hope this helps you, too.
D. Hoover –
Update: the microphone has worked very well this far for our needs. But, it doesn’t have good low frequency pattern control. Expect to use a high pass filter if you are in a confined area to make it sound more realistic. That’s expected though with a short shotgun mic. The longer it is, the lower the frequency it can control. It looks like that’s why they tailor the response how they do. I’m always EQing different amounts of 200Hz and under out depending on the situation to make scenes sound consistent. But, it’s a good sounding mic with great transient response. Just take care to learn how to use this one.For $300, this is a great setup. Since it is good for the money, I give it 5 stars. It’s pretty awesome that it is a flash recorder as well. The microphone is pretty directional and captures transients well. So, that means it capture details well. The only thing I don’t care for is the frequency response. The way it drops off after 10 kHz leaves me some top end I wish I had. It also rolls off the bottom end slightly starting around 200Hz, which can be good or bad depending on the situation. For voice it works well enough for a general purpose shotgun microphone. It’s really about convenience with this mic. Sure, I can get a much better sound with my $250 Audix VX5, pop filter, yamaha 01V console, and ADAT interface, but the price is high and convenience is low on that setup. I use that for voice overs. So, for the overall package, the VP83F gets the job done, has quiet enough circuitry, and can give you a good enough sound to make it sound professional. It just won’t blow you away with sound quality or anything. It is definitely an upgrade from any internal camera mic. However, if my camera had a mic input of it’s own, a $300 shotgun mic would sound better.
Michael Posso –
I’m a 100% a beginner. I barely know nothing about DLSR’s and sound.But I did do my research. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE FUNDS GO FOR A CHEAPER RODE MIC. It works very good because this is a pretty penny to spend. But I intend on getting the most out of it so i decided to go all out and get this one. Its ranks above my buddies rode mic in durability, sound, noise reduction, but you pay for what you get.I work with someone who was really into photography and he told me about his friend who was really into sound. It motivated me to get myself the Canon EOS 70D as well with this VP83F shotgun mic. I was originally going to go with Rode but after doing some research, everyone has said that Shure has a better overall.And to be honest i wasn’t going to buy this mic.I was going to go with the non flash integrated mic. Because once again i don’t want to have to raise or sync things in post. But the the difference the clear audio that you have on the chip is pretty amazing. It’s more work, especially for beginners, like myself. But never the less its going to be well worth it (at least to me it is). If you’re just going to be using it for vlogs short clips and all on youtube. It’s going to be a pain in the ass to do things constantly having to turn press the record button multiple times over and over. That being said, you don’t have to use the integrated flash. You can go directly to the camera. BUT! If thats all you want go for the non integrated flash shure mic or an alternative.I hope this helped.
Jay R Barrios –
I had purchased this mic for doing event such as weddings because I was using a Canon Rebel xti 5 (about 6 years ago). As I remember it had improved the quality pretty well. I had also used it for A Panasonic GH4 but that camera has a pretty good mic system, so it doesn’t need it.Now I’m using it to do zoom conferences and it works pretty well. I use the mic jack on my computer directly and set the mic to +20 DB. The only draw back is having to replace the battery, but having some rechargeable ones ( I use eneloop) should do the trick.I did a test to see how well the noise cancelation worked and even when having an AC about 4 feet away you can hear me pretty well.So I recommend this even if you just want to use it as a mic for your pc, just get a small stand for it.
Borja Godoy Gago –
Gran calidad de audio para tu reflexNecesitábamos un buen micrófono para nuestra canon eos 250D para grabar conciertos de ópera. No esperábamos tan bien resultado debido a que la ópera es compleja de grabar bien, pero es maravilloso el sonido que detecta para complementar una cámara réflex. Si quieres un audio más profesional evidentemente tienes que ir a un sistema de sonido con interfaz de audio separado. No tiene su propia controladora de audio y esto hace que en ocasiones entre algo de ruido blanco, pero solo en ocasiones
TotoRecensioni –
Probabilmente il migliore microfono shotgun sul mercato.Da quando ho acquistato una mirrorless con ingresso microfonico, il passo successivo è stato acquistare un microfono shotgun, in modo da poter avere un audio di qualità, sempre sincronizzato e facile da usare.Le alternative sul mercato non mancano di certo, ma volevo qualcosa che fosse anche facile da gestire (lato batteria e autonomia) e compatto.Vediamo assieme perchè questo Shure VP83, è probabilmente il migliore nel suo campo.***CONFEZIONE E MATERIALI***Confezione ben curata ma minimale. All’interno infatti troviamo semplicemente il microfono, una batteria stilo, i manuali d’uso e un adesivo SHURE.Appena preso in mano la cosa che più colpisce è la qualità dell’assemblaggio. La parte inferiore infatti è completamente in metallo, realizzato da una monoscocca, quindi con una qualità con pochi pari. La parte superiore invece è composta dallo shotgun, protetto da una spugna antivento.Faccio notare che il filtro antivento viene venduto a parte, ad un prezzo di circa 50 euro:
Harry –
Brilliant sound qualityWhen I first got this mic I felt that I’d overpaid for it. Even maybe bought something surplus to requirements. A little shotgun mic for £300… sounds a bit steep. Except it isn’t just a little shotgun mic. It’s a recorder as well. I bolted it onto a C-stand this morning and used it to record some VO narration and I have to say I am blown away by the quality. It’s sold Shure quality, for sure. I took it into Premiere, did a tiny bit of adjusting and got it just how I wanted it. So I guess the point is this – this a audio recorder and shotgun mic which on camera gives you a great way of capturing atmospheric sound / interviews with more than one person / run and gun interviews with one person / and general event footage. And that sound can be captured in exceptional quality on a mini SD inside the shot gun as well as in the camera. You could do what I did and hook the mic onto a stand / gorilla pod and use it as a stand alone recorder. You can monitor the audio and easily adjust the gain. It’s not perfect, but I researched this a lot and like what I’ve now got. It feels solid. Yes, it’s pricey, but in the long run it will pay back – and in fact, it already has.
Daniele Cuomo –
Ottimo microfonoOttimo microfono mono esterno per la mia Canon EOS 6D Mk2. Registra la voce umana in maniera molto naturale .Molto sensibile ( ha registrato perfettamente una voce proveniente da un’altra stanza) E’ dotato di una sospensione anti-vibrazioni che a prima vista sembra delicata, ma con un po’ di attenzione non mi è mai successo niente. Per registrare musica amplificata (concerti, eventi….) può essere messo in attenuazione di 20 Db. Consiglio vivamente di regolare l’audio della macchina fotografica in manuale al minimo per non avere fruscii tipici di una doppia amplificazione. Prevalentemente lo uso per registrare concerti e lo monto su un cavalletto a parte posizionato distante dalla camera (con cavo di prolunga acquistata a parte). Questo perchè gli obbiettivi Canon con motore USM per quanto possano sembrare silenziosi, non lo sono abbastanza soprattutto nella messa a fuoco ed il sia pur lievissimo rumore che emettono veniva registrato disturbando il parlato. Ho adottato l’eos 24-105 STM che ha risolto il problema e con il quale posso tenere il microfono agganciato direttamente alla macchina fotografica senza problemi. Il cavalletto separato per il microfono è stato adottato in quanto a seconda del luogo dove avviene l’evento potrei dover usare obbiettivi diversi dal 24-105 STM e quindi con motore USM.
Frank Schlecht –
Hochwertige KlangfreudeIch suchte ein leichtes Mikrofon zum Filmen mit der Spiegelreflexkamera eos 1dx bzw. der Systemkamera eos m5.Größe und Gewicht des Mikrofons sind angesichts der sehr guten akustischen Parameter wirklich beeindruckend. Klein kompakt und dennoch durch die Federaufhängung sehr gut entkoppelt. Der äußere Eindruck ist hochwertig.Die akustischen Eigenschaften habe ich mit der Kamera, intensiver jedoch direkt am PC getestet. Habe kurze Sprachaufnahmen mit eine Musiksoftware erstellt und in Echtzeit über Kopfhörer gehört. Das Eigenrauschen des Mikrofons ist sehr, sehr gering. In einem ruhigen Wohnrraum kann man also problemlos Sprache oder Gesamg aufnehmen. Damit kann ich das Mikro auch auf einem Stativ montiert z.B. für das Nachvertonen von Videos sehr gut einsetzen.Es gibt jedoch eine Kleinigkeit, die mir nicht gefällt: Die beiden dreistufigen Schalter an der Rückseite des Mikros sind sehr klein, eine Stellung der jeweils mittleren Stellung erfordert viel Fimgerspitzengefühl. Ich habe deshalb Bedenken, bei Außenaufnahmen mit Handschuhen die Schalter angemessen bedienen zu können. Da werde ich mich in Geduld üben können.Zum Ende noch ein echter Pluspunkt: Die Stromversorgung mit einer normalen AA Batterie hat meine Kaufentscheidung sehr positiv beeinflusst. AA Batterien bzw. Akkus habe ich für Blitzgeräte ohnehin immer dabei, zu dass ich hier keine Spezialbatterien benötige. Das ist einfach und Klasse.Ein tolles Mikronfon zum sehr angemessenen Preis.