Funny you should mention that mirror man. Actually just about to pick up a dpa and keep the rode as my second lav.

i've been using the rode lavalier, not the pin mic, and considering it was about $200 including an xlr connector it's been a pretty decent performer. as they say in one of the videos above, the pattern is a bit,... dunno if wider is the word,... it picks up more ambience,... but in a nice balanced natural way, meaning you might not need an extra channel for ambience as the talent wont sound too artificially isolated, yet if your levels are appropriate and your placement decent it'll give you adequately clean audio.

and it is hot as hell,... had to turn down my preamp's to 0 and engage a -15db pad.

Micronic Lapel Microphones ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/micronic007/m.html )

@DouglasHorn @soundgh2 thanks for your observations -- will definitely have to give the countryman a whirl too. And yes, agreed, no substitute for a boom. I do a lot of work in reflective environments w/uncontrollable bg noise and have been very happy with my NT3 for that -- would never want to hold the bugger, too damn heavy, but so much better than a shotgun in those situations. And a lav for that matter.

@JDN - I hear great things about the RODE lavs, I just haven't used them. (My shotgun and hyper are both RODEs; to my ears they beat everything else in that price point.) But with the lavs, it sounds like they're only about 15-20% cheaper than the B6, so I'll most likely stick with the Countryman.

I'll do the B6 buttonhole trick sometimes -- the mic is so small that you can literally slide it through a buttonhole and hide it behind a button. They're also easy to hide in hair or fit simply in a necktie knot, which rarely generates much noise. If I'm hiding the B6 behind clothes, I use the high attenuation cap designed for this. (The B6 comes with 3 attenuation caps to help model the sound depending on how they're being used.)

For my feature films, I've always had a sound team--I only place the lavs on my smallest projects that are just me or maybe one other person--so I don't know about hiding them on that scale. Though I've never seen one show up in the dailies.

I need to try some of these. A year ago I picked up an h1 and a few Audio Technica $20 wired lavs. Used them on a few occasions and did the job.

Would definitely like to try a wireless setup.

I use a Countryman B6 with a Sennheiser G3 system. I think it sounds great, although for most interview setups, I tend to end up using the hypercardioid or shotgun track instead of the Lav (when I'm able to use both for a locked down interview). That said, I think that the B6 sounds great for a lav.

I used the B6 and COS-11s mixed on a recent shoot. The sound recordist said he much preferred the Sanken for its "presence" but to me the difference was minimal. (Around the same difference as the price!) I don't notice much handling noise on the B6.

Outside of sound issues, the B6 has kevlar fibers in the wire which really make them stand up to bad handling. (On camera talent ripping them off or walking away when the transmitter is taped to the back of their chair.) I don't know about the Sankens. Also, the fact that the B6 is ridiculously small is a real plus. You really can hide them in plain site. I feel like it leads to better mic placement, which offsets some sound shortcomings. And being able to hide them so quickly is a boon to me when I'm shooting by myself or with too small a crew.

I'm contemplating buying more lavs and all things considered would like to match up the set. But I'm on the fence about whether to go with Sanken or Countryman. B6s wired for Senn G3s go for about $290, so it's a fair value.

Wanted to but unfortunately was not in stock at the time I went there. What are your impressions of it?

I can attest to the supreme quality of the RØDE lav mic. I use it myself and can say that I’m a very satisfied customer. (The 5-year warranty is definitely a pleasant surprise.) Their MiCon connectors are a great idea, too.