Hi Steven!
When I started back in the early 2000’s, I had one of those cheap ATR-55 shotgun from Audio-Technica. Those with a 3.5mm output! I replaced it with an Azden SGM-1x which was a nice upgrade and around 2009, replaced it with a RØDE NTG2 because it could be battery powered. Personally, since I bought that AT875r, I haven’t heard a better mic. I’m used to work with the Sennheiser MKH-60 with some co-workers, and personally, I prefer my 875r! Still, it’s almost like 1000$ less expensive than the Sennheiser!

As for the iSK, I totally agree, for 50$ it’s a steal! They sound really great and have a decent noise floor. I’ve used them quite a lot for indoor dialog as they tend to pickup less reverb and echo indoor. In our test video, I’ve been surprised how good the 897 sounds indoor, as it’s quite similar to the NTG2, which was not very good in such situation. With the help of a good compressor in post, if your signal is decent and clean, the 897 is particularly directional and sounds as good as the 875r. Since I replaced my NTG2 with Audio-Technica, there’s little chance I get back with a RØDE someday. I prefer the sound quality of the Audio-Technica better.

As it’s been mentioned in a comment on Facebook, another video on why and when using a shotgun over an hyper-cardioid mic would be nice, so stay tuned, it might be happening in the upcoming weeks!