In my relatively few years of mixing reality TV (please don't judge me solely on that), I have mostly been using the equipment (mixer, recorder, lav, boom, etc) that the production company has rented for the shoot.
My question is primarily about microphones. Usually it's been Sanken COS-11, Sonotrim/Tram, and MKH-416 in my kit, and if I've been a good boy Santa may sneak a B6 into the package.
Recently, I have found myself more frequently shooting on loud busy city streets and being less than thrilled with the amount background noise. I have also seen a large number of shows (i.e. Apprentice, Bachelor...) shooting on NYC sidewalks with traffic direclty in the background and the noise level is significantly less.
Can anyone suggest or recommend different lavs or booms that I can use to increase the quality of my recordings in these situations? I'd love to add some new weapons to my audio arsenal, even if I have to buy them myself just to have on hand for these instances.