If you compare the Rode NTG5 to other much more expensive and "professional" microphones like Schoeps or Sennheiser, you realize that the NTG5 in many cases actually beats those several thousand dollar microphones with its specs. And I am happy to say that it is not only fantastic on paper but also fantastic in real life!
This microphone has very good rejecton to the sides and in general the coloration from the sides is low and so it sounds natural both on axis and also off-axis. It is a nice and flat microphone, meaning that you can really EQ the sound in post exactly how you want it to sound.
This microphone also has very low self noise for a condenser shotgun microphone. And not only that, it also has an extremely strong output and only 25 ohm impedance, meaning that even really cheap and not great preamps will achieve fantastic sound quality with this microphone since you don't have to amplify the preamps much at all. So this microphone will keep the noise of your recordings very low in several ways: 1. its very low self noise itself and 2. it keeps your preamp's gain much lower, meaning less noise coming from the preamp as well!
Build quality is very good and I have had 0 problems with two of my Rode NTG5's. As long as you provide 48V phantom power, you should be all set!
Of course you get even more than just the mic, the shock mount system that comes with it is VERY HIGH quality and uses industry standard rycote shock mounting system which is really effective at eliminating any handling noise. Also the foam and fur cover work very well, though you would still need the blimp if you are gonna be recording in very windy scenarios.
Curtis Judd as well as Sound Speeds (a true location sound professional with a career including very high budget Hollywood movies) have both done extensive video reviews on it and both highly recommended it.
){kind=logo}
