Just sharing my experience: I went through this last year and it was kinda rough. I tried to save money with the Rode VideoMicro Compact On-Camera Microphone for $60, but unfortunately, the signal-to-noise ratio was realy bad on the 90D... the preamps are just so noisy. I eventually bought the Rode VideoMic GO II for $99, but I still had issues with it blocking my screen view slightly. Budget setups are hard tho.

Agree! Rode VideoMic GO II has better isolation than Rode VideoMicro's looser pickup, but u gotta watch for preamp noise. Professional audio takes care! What's ur take?

ok so, in my experience after filming with the 90D for literally years, the built-in mic is basically useless for interviews cuz it catches every single vibration from the lens. Shotgun mics use a directional pattern to focus only on what's in front of the camera while blocking out that motor whine! honestly, it makes a massive difference. For your situation, I would suggest the Rode VideoMic GO II. It's super compact and sounds AMAZING, plus it's well under ur $150 budget. Also check out the Sennheiser+MKE+200&linkCode=osi&tag=5422-20" target="_blank" rel="nofollow sponsored">Sennheiser MKE 200 which is even smaller and has a built-in shock mount. ngl, both are fantastic because they're tiny enough that they wont block ur flip-out screen when you're checking framing! Just make sure to use the fuzzy windscreen if you're outdoors or the wind will lowkey ruin everything. good luck!!

Summarizing what has been said so far, the consensus is that while the Rode options sound great, they tend to interfere with the 90D flip-out screen and struggle with the cameras notoriously noisy preamps. Honestly, the market is really saturated with Rode clones right now, but if you look at the research, brands like Deity are starting to offer better isolation for the price point. I think the best way to handle this is to look at mics that offer a bit more output to help bypass those internal Canon preamps.

• Deity V-Mic D4 is a solid contender that rivals the Go II but feels a bit more modern in its design.
• Takstar SGC-598 is an older, bulkier choice but it is famous for having a gain boost that really helps with the 90D hiss, though it is definitely not compact. Quick tip: Honestly, just buy a cold shoe extension bar. It moves the mic to the side of the camera body. This basically solves the screen blocking problem entirely regardless of which mic you choose, right? It is a much better fix than limiting yourself to tiny microphones that might not have the pickup pattern you need for interviews.