(Above: The original Rode VideoMic, with its problematic, but easily-replaceable rubber bands. Photo copyright Kei Izumi.)

I’ve used DSLRs to shoot video from the very beginning of my business, and it didn’t take long for me to realize that the built-in microphone on my Canon 5DII was awful. My solution came in the form of the original Rode VideoMic. It mounts directly on the hotshoe of the camera, gets perfectly usable directional sound, and came with a nifty shock mount that uses teeny-tiny little custom rubber bands to float the microphone in the air, away from any potential bangs and jostles.

But there was a problem. The little rubber bands break. They get old and squeak. I watched the supply that came with the camera dwindle smaller and smaller as they gradually broke, and this week at the very end of a shoot, disaster struck — four of ’em decided to break within about five minutes of each other.

My glorious little mic no longer floated on air. But I found a fast, easy fix that (so far at least) is working wonderfully.

The rubber bands supplied by Rode are great little miracles of engineering. They also cost $12-ish, not including shipping. While that’s not unreasonable, I’ve got a Lowe’s home improvement store close to my studio, so I figured I’d pop in and see if there were any alternatives to be found.

Tucked away in the plumbing section, I found a 10-pack of tiny little black rubber O-rings for $2.50. I don’t quite know how sizing works for plumbing fixtures, but they’re #5, which this handy chart says is a 3/32 inside diameter and 7/72 outside diameter. They fit around the mic and mounting posts with just enough stretching to keep everything nice and taut. As an added bonus, the shock mount squeakiness that was plaguing me thanks to the ever-advancing age of the Rode bands is gone.

I’m no microphone industry insider, but I’d guess that Rode was aware of the issues. On later models of the VideoMic, they’ve moved to using a nifty Rycote lyre mounting. It looks cool, and would certainly solve my rubber band issues, but I think I can hold off until my current mic dies the true death.

That mount is a mighty pretty shade of red, though.

Update: Shortly after I wrote this, the hotshoe mount on my VideoMic broke pretty badly when I rolled my camera on a hard turn in my car.

Always secure your gear.

To replace it, I picked up a VideoMic Pro. It still uses rubber bands, but bigger ones in a  more cradled setup. It’s also a distinctly stubby little thing. Still has great sound quality, though, and I’m sold on Rode’s products.