I would definitely advise buying an XLR based mic and the best quality you can buy is Sennheiser in my opinion. You can get a beechtech adapter to provide the best quality sound levels using an XLR mic, however we have just finished a shoot using the Sennheiser We112 radio mic which we plugged directly into the cannon and with a mini jack cable…..a little messing with the audio levels on the camera (note you need the firmware update to do this) and you can get excellent quality sound very simply.
I would not advise straying from Sennheiser or Sony if you want the top level of sound quality, these XLR mics are used in TV production and will serve you well, although they will be a little more expensive than some of the others mentioned above
Corporate Video Manchester