I have a nice Rode NTG-3 shotgun mic, but it is long and a bit cumbersome at times. I wanted a short shotgun that I could leave in my FS5 camera bag. The SONY ECM-XM1 fits my FS5's mic holder perfectly, and the short length is easier to manage. The Rode NTG-3 is a superior mic when it comes to audio quality, but the SONY mic is also very good. I found a good deal on one, and think it is a very good value.