What do I need in order to use an external microphone for my camcorder?

What do I need in order to use an external microphone for my camcorder?

Tim Smith (Camcorder Training Specialist) gives expert video advice on: What kind of sound quality can I expect from my camcorder?; What do I need in order to use an external microphone for my camcorder?; Can I use professional microphones with a consumer camcorder? and more...

Now, if you've decided that you need to use a microphone other than the one that's built into the camera -- first thing you need to know is does your camcorder have a microphone jack? If it doesn't, then there's really nothing you can do about it. But if it does, you have lots of different options. You might find one called a mini microphone jack, which is like a small headphone jack that you might have seen on your iPods for a microphone, all the way up to a professional microphone jack, called an XLR. So depending on the type of connection you have, that's the type of microphone you need to buy. There's also different microphones available to perform different functions, too, so really take a good look at what you're going to be recording and make the right microphone choice.