Last year, I bought a pair of Sennheiser headphones HMD 280's with built-in microphone. Why? To be able to interview people with a digital camcorder and capture my questions in reasonable quality on location. I think I have only succeeded by 60%....not pleased with the microphone's sensitivity.
Two years ago I remember looking at two prototypes for broadcasters working in the field. One was the DT-790 which came with with a hyper cardioid microphone inside the gooseneck boom. That's for cameramen who want to shout commands or comments back to the studio.
But the one that interested me most, was the DT-797, which comes with a condenser microphone (cardioid) which, they say, has been developed to be used by commentators during live broadcasts (e.g. sport events) and reporters. I have since bought a pair and can say they are brilliant for work outdoors. I use it if I want to do interviews on a simple HDV video-recorder which has an XLR input. The other channel carries the signal from the wireless lapel microphone (a set from Sennheiser which still seems to perform well.
The headphones offer a frequency response of 5 Hz – 30 kHz, and the microphone boom can be used on either the left or right side or moved into standby (upper) position. The single-sided cable is available with different connectors which allow all necessary connections.
The price is around EUR 300,- (retail). The (standard) connectors for the DT 797 (the version with condenser microphone) will be a 6,3mm jack and a 3 pin XLR.
