Should I use a lavalier, a handheld, or a shotgun microphone?

A lavalier is a small clip-on mic worn on a lapel or collar, wired to a bodypack transmitter or a camera, or run wireless through a compact transmitter; it stays out of frame and leaves the talent's hands free, which is why interviews, presentations, and on-camera hosting default to it. A handheld mic is held by the performer, so it puts mic technique in their hands: working distance and angle change the sound as they move, which is standard for live vocals, hosting, and stage use, and it is available in both wired and wireless versions. A shotgun mic is a narrow, highly directional microphone using an interference tube, usually mounted on a camera or a boom pole, built to isolate sound from directly in front of it while rejecting the room and off-axis noise around it, which is why film and video production reach for one over the other two.

Mount a lavalier on talent who needs their hands free and cannot hold a mic. Hand a performer a handheld when they are working a stage or an audience. Boom or camera-mount a shotgun when the mic itself cannot be in frame or on the subject and the boom operator can stay close.

• Lavalier mics clip to clothing and free the hands; they need a bodypack transmitter or a wired run.
• Handheld mics put technique in the performer's hands: working distance and angle change the sound.
• Shotgun mics reject off-axis noise better than either, which is why booms and camera mounts use them.
• None of the three is a universal choice; the job in front of the mic decides which one is right.
• Lavalier and handheld mics both come in wired and wireless versions; shotgun mics are almost always wired.