Intelligent Accessory Shoe

The JVC MZV10 Stereo Microphone is an external microphone that's compatible with JVC HD EVERIO camcorders that feature an accessory shoe and a mic input with plugin power capabilities.

From the manual: "The HVL-FH1100 flash is for use only with video cameras equipped with the Intelligent Accessory Shoe." The alpha380 does not have such a shoe.

Most mics will work if the plug fits the socket on camera and it fits on the hot shoe okay, I never use Sony mics on my Sony camera, you end up paying for the name, not the item.

If you can it will be listed in the manual you got with camera, mostly the Mic sits on top in a shoe, chances are though it will not have ext mic.

Sony is a company which does not want you to be free to buy the accessories of your choice. This is true with too many of their products.

The only option I know of is the option I went with:

External microphone produced by Sony itself. I purchased the shotgun microphone: http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=11038016&tab=featuresTab

You can see them all here, but be sure to put the model (HDR-HC3) in there to filter your actual options: http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=8198552921644492284&N=4294966295&accessory=true#

I purchased mine on eBay for a better price and to avoid Sony.

One other thing I did is: I purchased a handheld, pocket-size voice recorder with a tie-clip microphone. Mine is an Olympus.

Hello,
ECM-HZ1 Microphone is compatible as HDR-HC3 has Active Interface Shoe for this mic.

Yes, its compatible as HDR-HC3 has Active Interface Shoe for this mic.

If you put the camcorder in manual mode, there is a microphone sensor that will move when sound is picked up by the external microphone. In manual you can keep everything else automatic. The off for the mic means that the built in mic is turned off when an external mic is attached.

For microphones with a 3.5 mm miniplug you can use a plug-in at the front of the camera. There is a little plastic cover over the hole under the word "MIC". I would call this an emergency solution because for most recording purposes you would want a microphone with XLR connectors.

This camcorder comes with an external shotgun condenser mic and XLR adaptor. If you have the operating instructions that come with the camera, you can turn to page 29 where there is a description of how to install the supplied external microphone.

When you slip the hot shoe plug of the XLR adaptor into the intelligent accessory shoe, the internal microphone is by-passed. In case you do not have the operating instructions you can download them from the Sony manual site.
http://esupport.sony.com/perl/select-system.pl

Put briefly, Attach the XLR adaptor to the accessory shoe on the top front of the camcorder and tighten the screw of the adaptor. Connect the hot shoe plug of the SLR adaptor to the intelligent accessory shoe of the camcorder, located behind the adaptor screw. When you push the hot shoe plug into place you should hear a click. Sometimes you have to use a little strength to get it correctly seated.

I hope this helps.

An instruction manual is available for download at www.canon.com
Your camera, according to the manual, has a single input for microphones, and in the internal menu, AUDIO DUB has to be set to MIC. IN. when using an add-on microphone. An MA-300 hot-shoe microphone accessory can be used, and then the input controls would be on this device, not the camera. Your camera can also record in two different audio qualities: 16-bit two channel or 12-bit four channel. If you are using an accessory you may need to select 12-bit in the internal setup menu in order to have enough channels to add on the additional microphone(s).
Finally, and hopefully not, the camera may have an internal hardware problem, and so would need to be serviced.