external mic for canon hg10????

You don't need one, but some people use them for a more professional sound. The internal mic on the HV20 (a sister camera) could pick up the sounds of the camera's tape drive, it was slightly audible, so some people got around this by using external mics.

All professional quality mics have XLR connectors. If your camera doesn’t have XLR, then you will need something like the ‘Beachtek DXA-2s’. This will allow you to add a quality pro mic like the popular shot gun ME-66 with K6 power mod capsule from Sennheiser. I would also add a shock mount and softie if used outdoors. The total for everything is about 1k, but the sound is like night and day. Now 1k is not that expensive ultimately when you consider the price of top notch mics like the Sennheiser MKH60 or my favorite, the Schoeps MK41. Go to B&H if ordering online.

For just shooting family and non-critical stuff, the Rode Video Mic (around $150 at B&H) works well for me with my HG10. It has it's own power supply (battery) and in the battery compartment there's dip switches for 3 levels of attenuation. There's also a low end roll-off switch on the unit.

If I need better sound I use my AT 4073A with a Beachtek that has phantom.

AVS Forum - View Single Post - Owners, Help Me Choose! Cannon HG10 or Sony SR7?

Don't know the price for it. It supposedly picks up surround sound.

Apparently, it's a good mic, but it's not a surround sound mic.

It has two settings. One picks up audio directly in front of the mic (shotgun mode), and the other is more normal, picking up "surrounding" sounds as well..

This is a stereo, 2-channel microphone. It does not upgrade your videocam to 5.1 or any other surround sound format...

- Mike