While I was in Sydney, I also took the chance to shop around for some video accessories, which are hard to find in Hong Kong and I’m not a big fan of having things shipped as I like to see them before I actually buy. I was interested in getting some upgraded microphone equipment but I was a bit shocked with the prices of the NTG mics and the poor exchange rate didn’t help either.

 I already have a Rode Videomic (above) which works fine so I decided to stick with that and instead just bought a couple of additional key items, including a 3.5m extension cable for the mic, so that I can use it for interviews or when I need the mic close to the subject and not attached to the camera. 

I also bought a deadcat for when I do outdoor filming or interviews.

The last accessory I bought was a Belkin car-mount which comes with 2 suction pads (instead of the one that I currently use for my Gopro) as this will probably ensure a much safer attachment and is also much more adjustable than the Gropro suction mount which is rather limited in its range of motion. I haven’t tested the car-mount with the Canon XA10 yet but it should be strong enough. I’ll keep you posted on how it comes out when I pluck up enough courage to try it out.