B&H Photo News Roundup: Week of January 29, 2023

It's always quiet before the storm, and the storm heading our way soon is B&H's own Depth of Field conference centered around fashion, wedding, portrait, and event photography. Being both in person and online this year means that anyone can experience it. In other news, RØDE released the NTH-Mic, a detachable, high-quality microphone for the brand's superb NTH-100 Headphones. Additionally, our video team put together a great comparison of lavs versus shotgun microphones for interviews.

Let's check it out.

B&H Depth of Field Conference starts Tuesday!

Catering to fashion, portrait, and event photographers, the Depth of Field conference is an annual event hosted by B&H that presents some of the top names in photography today, letting them share their knowledge and expertise. And all of it is open to you!

This year, the physical show will take place at the New Yorker Hotel, here in Manhattan (and down the street from the B&H SuperStore), on Tuesday and Wednesday, February 7-8, 2023. If you are planning on attending, be sure to register!

At the show, you'll be able to experience a packed schedule of events hosted by these photographers, as well as get hands-on time with some of the latest gear. The two stages will feature photographers such as Mark Seliger, Bruce Gilden, Sam Hurd, Flo Ngala, Anaya Anti, and so many more.

The Photo Experiences will offer a few different studio setups for you to practice, test gear, and ask our experts any questions you may have. Also, in-person attendees will be able to participate in the Depth of Field Challenge for a chance to win some sweet prizes.

If you aren't able to attend in person, don't worry―we will be posting all these talks online following the event.

Mark your calendars and start checking the schedule right now!

RØDE releases detachable NTH-Mic for its headphones

When RØDE released the NTH-100, we were impressed with how comfortable they were and how good they felt―amazing for a first product in the category. They had a clear target audience of creators, including podcasters and streamers, and while they were very good for those users, the headphones lacked one thing: a microphone.

The NTH-Mic is the solution. This detachable microphone benefits greatly from RØDE's existing history of producing high-quality microphones of all varieties. This is a premium condenser mic designed for a flat frequency response that should be ideal for picking up voices for streams and video calls. It plugs directly into the 3.5mm jack on the ear up and has a 4.8" boom arm to set it in the proper position.

If you haven't yet gotten your hands on the NTH-100, RØDE is making a new model that comes with the NTH-Mic, called the NTH-100M that includes everything you need. If you do already have a pair of headphones, then the stand-alone NTH-Mic will be the perfect upgrade. The mic itself includes a splitter cable, as well as an 8' TRRS cable.

This is a very simple and very useful option.

Learn whether a lavalier or shotgun mic is better for interviews

Produced by B&H's resident audio pro, Gabriel Richards, we present this video demonstrating the differences between lavaliers and shotgun microphones for interviews. Richards is clear up front in saying that this isn't a "which is best" video. This is a video to help you understand when and where you might want to choose one over the other. Once you get some experience and are building up your own audio kit, you will want to have lavaliers and shotgun mics in your bag.

We highly recommend you watch the video (it's runs less than four minutes). If you do want the quick info, here are the bullet points:

Lavaliers can be more convenient if you are moving around or working on location, since you can mic up your talent and leave them there.
Lavaliers have cardioid (less background noise, harder to get positioned properly) and omnidirectional (easier to position and more forgiving) pickup pattern options.
Mounting on fabric or under clothing can result in accidental noise if they get knocked or brushed.
Lavaliers are often visible in the shot.
Shotguns mics use very directional supercardioid and hypercardioid pickup patterns to minimize background noise.
They are positioned away from the speaker (ideally within 8-10") and can remain out of frame.
Can be mounted on a boom, directly on camera, and elsewhere.
Shotgun mics can be more versatile.
Shotguns generally need some mounting accessories and potentially even an operator.
Shotguns need to be positioned properly for best quality.

That should be enough for you to get started, but if you want to be an expert, hit Play.