Suggestions on field recording mics?

[lithren]

Hello! Considering i don't have a lot of experience with mics, please be a bit patient with me

I am in need of a mic for field recording in an anthropological study. I will be recording acoustical instruments starting from violins to drums (and maybe some voice) both inside and outside and i would like to know what's the best i can get for about 200 euros (in Europe). Also i am eventually considering one of the USB mics that came out in the recent time for directly recording on a laptop or maybe someone has some experience with the MicPort and tell me if it's worth it: http://www.centrance.com/products/mp/

Or should i just go for a Zoom H2?

I'm open to any suggestions and i preffer to spend a bit more if the results are better.
Oh and even though i can't afford it (for now) i would like some suggestions on what some of the best mics for this job would be.

Thanks a lot.

[clueless]

I've only done field recordings with an MD and a £5 Sony stereo condensor mic (:love:)

when 'you do it right' it does indeed sound delicious, but there are numerous pitfalls, namely mechanical noise being picked up by the mic, self-defeating 'automatic' settings, Sony's insane hardwired protection - which means you can COPY copyrighted media TO your MD, but can't transfer ORIGINAL media FROM your MD... and a kafka-esque menu system. the idea of a dedicated lump recording to solid-state media - which you can shove into your lappy to transfer the files - is thus rather appealing

[Hovmod]

Nobody will be surprised by this: i'm really happy with my zoom h4. The internal mics are pretty good, nice true xy stereo, settings are simple and quick, files drag and drop, it's small enough to take everywhere. Can be used as audio card. Cons? Sensitive to wind, the infamous BEEP (fixable). I've used it for a lot of stuff, from rock concerts to birds, with good results. Does not work in lincolnshire.

[Gregjazz]

I'd imagine some sort of stereo shotgun mic would be nice for field recordings...

[james0tucson]

I've only done field recordings with an MD and a £5 Sony stereo condensor mic (:love:)

I got my Edirol R-09, gave my Sony MD away, and did not look back. MD got the job done, but I still regard it as a black, dreadful period.

[lithren]

OK guys... i guess i'm leaning toward the Zoom H2 now so if you have any bad experience with that let me know.

Thank you.

[lithren]

after googleing a bit i found this:
http://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org/res_audioequip.htm
http://www.vermontfolklifecenter.org/ar ... uides.html
i post it in case someone will stumble upon this topic and find it useful.