external microphone for t3i

I have had a blast doing HD video w/ my t3i, particularly w/ the 10x "sensor" zoom. I have found the 70-200 II to be a darn handy super duper zoom - something like 120-3200 (though to jump to the "sensor" zoom it requires a setting change so smooth zoom is from equiv 360 to 3,200)

I also adapted a EVF lupe with an eye piece extension (little epoxy) and can now hold the camera in a more typical fashion.

So much for the knocking around fun stuff.

Clearly (audibly that is) the microphone in the camera body is just a non-starter if one is going to do any audio that is even remotely equivalent to the images. Any thoughts on the subject?

I ran into the same problem as you, and I ended up with a Tascam DR-07 that I found on Ebay. I also bought a deadcat for it from furryhead and a mount from Alzo. I'm quite satisfied with the audio recorded from the DR-07, but since it's recorded apart from the video it must be synchronized in post. Once you get the hang of that, it's not a big deal. It's also nice that you can place the mic anywhere, not necessarily on the camera.

At first, I was a bit disappointed from the mount from Alzo. Once assembled, it tended to rattle because you couldn't tighten everything tight enough for it not to. However, I came up with a novel solution--I used duct tape to fill in the tiny gaps that led to the rattling (I couldn't find nylon washers that were thin enough). It's now sturdy as a rock and doesn't make a sound.

Interesting, hadn't thought of that. Cool a whole new set of gadgets and gidgets.

Oooouch, my wife was looking over my shoulder and said I can never talk to you again :).....