How can I mount an on-camera microphone if my camera has no hot shoe?
Asked 3/7/2017
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I want to use a microphone that normally mounts in a camera hot shoe, but my camera does not have a hot shoe on top. I usually shoot with the camera on a tripod, and the camera does have the standard tripod socket on the bottom.
What are the practical ways to mount the microphone? Also, what are the correct names for the common mount types: the camera’s bottom screw mount and the top slide-in accessory mount?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
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This microphone mounts on your camera's hot shoe (which is usually used for add-on flash units).
If your camera does not have a hot shoe for external flash, and you said you have no problem using adhesive to mount your microphone to your camera, you can get a cold shoe flash mount, which is just the physical "square slot" mount without electrical connections for flashes, and attach the cold shoe to the camera.

Examples of inexpensive cold shoes: simple stamped steel (left); with built-in clamp (right)
Alternately, you can use your camera's tripod mount socket to mount your camera to an adapter plate (often called "cheese plates", especially in videography contexts) that extends to the side of the camera, and mount a cold shoe or other useful mount to the plate, and then mount the microphone to it. This has the benefit of not gluing or adhering a hunk of metal to your camera.
Nearly all cameras these days have tripod mount sockets, which is a 1/4-20 threaded hole (1/4 inch diameter, 20 thread-per-inch). Note that this is even true for cameras countries that use the metric system; the entire camera industry has standardized on the 1/4-20 (and its 3/8-16 sibling) for tripod mount. From Wikipedia's Tripod article:
Per ISO 1222:2010, the current tripod screw thread standard for attaching the camera calls for a 1/4-20 UNC or 3/8-16 UNC thread. Most consumer cameras are fitted with 1/4-20 UNC threads. Larger, professional cameras and lenses may be fitted with 3/8-16 UNC threads, plus a removable 1/4-20 UNC adapter, allowing them to be mounted on a tripod using either standard.
You can easily make such an adapter plate with a block of metal or wood, and a handful of 1/4-20 screws and nuts from the hardware store.
Originally by user11924. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user11924
9y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
The top slide-in accessory mount is usually called a hot shoe if it has electrical contacts for a flash, or a cold shoe if it is only the physical mount with no electrical connection. The threaded socket on the bottom of the camera is the tripod mount/tripod socket.
If your camera has no hot shoe, you have two common options:
- Attach a cold shoe to the camera body. Adhesive cold-shoe mounts do exist, and a cold shoe is all a microphone usually needs if it does not require any electrical connection through the shoe.
- Use the tripod socket on the bottom with an adapter plate or bracket. A side plate/adapter plate (often called a cheese plate in video use) can mount to the tripod socket, give you a place to attach a cold shoe, and still let you keep the camera on a tripod.
For tripod use, the adapter plate/bracket approach is usually the cleaner and more secure option than gluing something directly to the camera.
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