Thanks everybody for the advice with microphones, most helpful.

Now I move on to headphones. Is the type of headphone important, or can you buy any closed cup to monitor sound?

I usually use 'in ear' personal stereo types. I am sure closed cup type would be better, much more isolation from exteranl sound but i dont use those cos I feel a complete loon wearing them and as my cam is shoulder mounted they get in the way a bit.

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A lot of single-camera operators use in-ear headphones, like Mark W. suggested. It lets you know that something is being recorded. You should always have some sort of sound monitoring, the in-ear set or a "proper" pair.
When it comes to "monitoring" the quality of the recorded sound, then yup, the type of headphone is very important. A pair of closed-back cans are essential. There are two main types which are accepted as "standard" for location recording, the Sennheiser HD25 and the Beyerdynamic DT 250

http://www.sennheiser.co.uk/uk/icm.n...76?Open&print=

http://www.beyerdynamic.com/cms/Head...ctdatabase_pi1

Both cost around the £100 mark. I've got the Beyers and love 'em, others swear by the Sennheisers.

Of course,m when you consider that the majority of shootings you do are going to be played through sub-standard TV speakers the quality of the recording probably wont be that apparent :p

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It's about what you shoot,
how you shot it,
and how you edit it :P