This is a very high quality shotgun mic made by Sennheiser. It is a tube mic, and it is very thin, so it is a pretty fragile mic. It has a lot of outdoor applications, so I won't recommend you keep it inside but you'll definitely want to be careful with this one. This mic is manufactured in a specific way to make the pickup pattern extremely directional. This means that whatever this mic is pointed at is going to come through very clear, even at fairly long distances, and not much else is going to get in to the signal. It is a very sensitive mic, so it will pick up very tiny details in your sound field. It does come with a windscreen if you take this outside. Going outside with this mic when there is any wind will be a disaster without the screen. You will get a constant rumbling and whooshing sound that you won't be able to EQ out. This mic is definitely meant for sound for film, and other documentary type uses. It is not a terribly musical mic, but it is very sensitive and therefore useful for sound for film purposes. Your sources will sound very realistic through this mic. The windscreen they provide you is actually not so great, I would recommend picking up a different one. One of the larger, fluffy windscreens will serve you better than the somewhat puny one that is provided.

OVERALL OPINION

I used to use these when I did more sound for film and TV. These are great when you want to mic up something that you can't get very close to due to filming constraints and when a lavalier mic won't cut it or is also impossible. This is definitely one of the best shotgun mics out there in my opinion. Sound through this mic is very clear, and it works very well for speech in open or noisy environments. It is a little expensive, but hopefully your film production company is picking up the tab on this mic. I wouldn't recommend it for music. If I were running a film sound department, I'd definitely stock up one of these.