Sennheiser MKE 600

Sennheiser MKE 600 Shotgun Microphone — Pro Dialogue Capture for Video and Film

The Sennheiser MKE 600 is a short shotgun condenser microphone built to upgrade the audio on DSLR, mirrorless, and cinema camera rigs. Its pronounced directivity lets the MKE 600 pick up the subject in front of the lens while effectively attenuating noise coming from the sides and rear, making it a strong fit for indie films, TV, documentaries, and on-location interviews.

Designed to slot straight into a production workflow, this model ships with a shoe-mount shockmount, a foam windshield, and a coiled XLR-to-3.5 mm TRS adapter cable so it can be mounted on a camera, tripod, or boompole from the moment it leaves the box.

What Sets the MKE 600 Apart in the Shotgun Mic Category

What makes this shotgun stand out is its combination of a true supercardioid/lobar interference-tube polar pattern with a switchable low-cut filter, giving it unusually clean off-axis rejection without coloring dialogue. The all-metal housing and integrated shockmount deliver very good suppression of structure-borne noise, so handling and camera vibrations stay out of the recording.

Polar Pattern and Directivity — How the MKE 600 Isolates the Subject

Directional control is the single biggest factor in on-location dialogue quality, and the MKE 600 is engineered around it. The supercardioid/lobar pattern delivers pronounced on-axis pickup while attenuating sound entering from the sides and rear, so the mic reaches further than the omnidirectional capsules built into most cameras.

• Polar Pattern: Supercardioid / Lobar — pronounced directivity with effective rejection of side and rear noise.
• Off-Axis Rejection: 5 dB at 60°, >15 dB at 120°, >10 dB at 180° — keeps ambient and reverberant sound out of the dialogue track.
• Frequency Response: 40 Hz – 20 kHz — full-range capture with a natural roll-off below 40 Hz to prevent sub-bass buildup.

Power, Sensitivity, and Headroom — Built for Real Production Setups

Powering flexibility is one of the MKE 600's most practical advantages. It accepts standard 48 V phantom power from a camera, mixer, or field recorder, and falls back to a single AA battery when phantom is unavailable, with a dedicated on/off switch and a low-battery indicator to prevent surprises on long shoots.

• Powering: 48 V phantom or 1× AA battery (not included) — works with cameras that lack phantom power, up to ~150 hours per battery.
• Maximum SPL: 132 dB SPL (phantom) / 126 dB SPL (battery) — handles loud sources without distortion.
• Sensitivity: 21 mV/Pa (phantom) / 19 mV/Pa (battery) — high sensitivity reduces the gain needed from noisy camera preamps.
• Equivalent Noise Level: 15 dB(A) phantom / 16 dB(A) battery — low self-noise for clean dialog, ADR, and Foley.

Physical Design, Filtering, and Connectivity — Ready for Camera or Boompole

The short, lightweight body is sized to fit on a camera hot shoe or to disappear on the end of a boompole in tight interiors. A switchable low-cut filter at 100 Hz tames rumble from air conditioning, traffic, and handling, while the included foam windshield reduces wind noise by up to 25 dB.

• Low-Cut Filter: Switchable, 100 Hz — rolls off low-frequency rumble on location.
• Dimensions: ø 20 mm × 256 mm length — compact shotgun profile for camera and boom use.
• Weight: 128 g — light enough to sit on a camera rig without unbalancing it.
• Output: 3-pin XLR male on mic; XLR female to 3.5 mm TRS male adapter cable included (~40 cm) — connects to cameras, handheld recorders, and field mixers.
• Housing & Mounting: Rugged all-metal body with included shoe-mount shockmount (1/4"-20 female) — built for daily production use.

Who the Sennheiser MKE 600 Is For

The Sennheiser MKE 600 is the right choice for video producers, indie filmmakers, documentary shooters, and mobile journalists who need focused, broadcast-quality dialogue capture straight from a camera or boompole. It suits anyone stepping up from a built-in camera mic to a dedicated shotgun, especially on noisy sets where off-axis rejection matters more than absolute reach. Because it can run on a single AA battery for around 150 hours, it also fits run-and-gun crews using cameras that don't supply phantom power.

Sennheiser — Decades of Broadcast and Film Microphone Engineering

Sennheiser has been designing professional microphones for broadcast, film, and live production for more than 75 years, and the MKE 600 sits in that lineage as a compact short shotgun aimed at camera-mounted and boom-mounted dialogue work. The mic is backed by a 2-year manufacturer warranty and is supported by a dedicated accessory family including the MZS 600 shockmount, MZW 600 foam windshield, MZH 600 blimp, and KA 600 / KA 600i adapter cables.