One of my other lives is as a Sound Engineer. We have been operating our own studio for about 12 years now. During that time we have used many mics and after having consulted with other SE's (asking their experiences, swapping mics for projects) have come to the following conclusion.
Bear's suggestion is a good one. Even the cheap Audio Technica's will still give you pretty reasonable reproduction.
AdrianF is right; with mics you
generally get what you pay for, but his last comment is also true, I have also heard some really cheap "china made" mics that don't sound too bad, and the odd one that sounds pretty good.
Of course these are the exception to the rule, but you must be able to test the end results before you pass over the cash. Audio quality is the chief consideration, but anything you can find out about the build quality will be your second consideration. You don't want to bump or drop it and find you have to kiss it goodbye.
It also depends on what you are after. If you only need a mic to put on your DSLR or a boom setup, to have that versatility, then one like Andy is asking about may be just the ticket. On the other hand, if you want reliably, consistent, quality sound every time then I suggest you save your pennies and go for something that has a rep for giving a consistent, classy sound each time.
Having said that, our cheapest mic is a Lawson L47MP studio mic that cost US$2000.00. My point is that my experience is with middle-of-the-road studio mics, and while the comments I have made are true of mics in general - having done a small amount of videoing over the years, it is not my forte. But I think mics is mics
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