Those of you who have done this, what handheld microphone would you recommend for doing man-on-the-street interviews? Sound will be recorded directly to tape on the XL2.
Not quite On the Streets, but a very noisy venue, my Senni MD42 Omni Reporter's mic with an XLR Senni Tx butt-plug. Rx on my XM2 straight into camera. This removes the need to be umbilically XLR-ed - connected - to the camera. Good idea when people are milling about.
If you have an AT897 (or similar short shotgun), it'll work hand held. As Spot has recommended previously, slide a foam bicycle handgrip over the barrel to cut down on hand noise.
I have a Sony ECM 678 half-shotgun which is good, but also the Shure SM58 works well for hand held interviews - it is a "stage" type mike and therefore only picks up from close range, which makes it good for minimising background noise.
Keep in mind that any directional mic (with one or two exceptions) will have "proximity effect." This is where the mic gets quite "bassy" when it is close to the sound source. Omnidirectional mics, like the EV 635a, don't do this, nor does the EV RE16 which is a directional, dynamic mic with what EV calls "Variable-D" that virtually eliminates proximity effect.
Personally, I'm with BrianStanding, I would use the EV 635N/D-B, which is a 635a with a black finish and a neodymium magnet for much hotter output. The RE50 is nice, too.
SM58 is a great mic for this sort of work, same with the AKG 330, and the EV 635, which is the same as the EV PL5. Were I needing a close in, hand held, mic, I'd look at the PL5/635. Cheap on Ebay, sounds great. It's an omni, but one that only works close in.