What is phantom power?

What is phantom power?

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...

With more sophisticated microphones, you have to consider a thing called phantom power, or non phantom power. You've chosen a particular microphone, whether it be a shotgun or a lavaliere, or any of the choices you have for microphones. You find out now that it's a phantom powered microphone. What that essentially means is the camera you're using, or something else, has to supply power to the microphone. A phantom power microphone doesn't power on its own. There's no battery in it. If you have a way to do that, that's a great choice. More common, probably, is the non phantom powered microphone - the mics that are self powered. There's a battery in there somewhere that runs the microphone, and sends an amplified signal to the camcorder or to whatever the recording device is. Some of the best mics out there though can be non phantom power.