Hi guys, just wondering if i can get a little help with microphones for my sony handycam.

bought my HDR-HC7E a couple of months back and absolutely love it, but with some big projects coming up i need to get an external microphone. The HC7 has the mic input, but im not sure if the standard handycam shotgun mic requires a mount, or if it just slots onto the space ontop of the camera (flash mount? hot shoe mount?).
If anybody has some recommendations for reasonably priced external mics, im completely open to suggestions.

Cheers

Did you buy the actual Sony Mic, or are you going with another? The Sony may have the mount built in. If you are using another mic you will either need some type of hot shoe mount, or a pole and mount to put them on. Look for something that has a shock mount, meaning some type of rubberbands or foam thingee lining the plastic or metal that makes up the mount. The shock mount will help keep down any noise from banging the mic or sound from the camera, or handling the camera. The Beyerdynamic EA86 is a nice shoe-shock mount that holds your average shotgun mic very nicely on mini-cams, I use about four of them in my introduction classes. Follow the link below to see the mount.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?shs=beyerdynamic+ea86&ci=0&sb=ps&pn=1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=RootPage.jsp&A=search&Q=*&bhs=t

thanks for the quick reply, much appreciated. I didnt buy the song external one, my problem is im just not sure how i connect them onto the top of the camera. Ive been looking at something like this
http://reviews.cnet.com/microphones/sennheiser-mke-300-video/4505-6469_7-30235309.html?tag=sub
, but i have no idea if it requires one of those shock mounts to connect to my sony, or if it will just clip on the top. None of the manuals or FAQs have anything about the connection so im stuck.http://www.cnet.com.au/camcorders/0,239035877,339273859,00.htm
thats the camera, dont know if you can get an idea of the mount from there, but thanks anyway.

stoopid mounts

looking at the picture that camera doesn't appear to have a standard hotshoe. this means that sony either wants you to buy their mic or doesn't think you would need one. I would be looking at an adapter to mount it on a bracket from the tripod mount or if you have the luxury using a second person and a boom.

According to the Sony lit, you do have a mic input, just no place to put the mic. If you can't afford a boo, check out the following link for bracket ideas.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/shop/4403/On_Camcorder_Accessories_Camcorder_Brackets.html