Windjammer xf100

[Michael Fousie]

Actually, I've had great luck with nothing but the foam from the H4n on my XF100. It seems to cut the wiind better than the furs I have. I shoot in wind in Zion National Park and on the Oregon Coast on a regular basis with great results. It's worth a try if you have one.

[Martin Catt]

Foam alone, or fur alone doesn't work as well as both of them combined. The foam just provides dead air space for the fur around the microphone. The combination of dead space covered by fur works like a zeppelin, only without the cage-like structure providing the air space.

Typically, the first thing I do for any camera or mic after I've unpacked it and checked it for function is to make a fur windscreen to fit it. If it doesn't have a foam cover, I make or adapt one. I can hand-sew a fitted fur cover in less than an hour, using nothing more than a plain needle and thread, a straightedge, and a Sharpie marker to lay it out. All the covers I've made are a distinctive blonde fur with red tips, because I bought about two yards of it on sale five years ago.

The cover I made for the XF300 fits over the H4N foam cover, and is held in place with a drawstring. Unfortunately, that means the flip-out display has to be stowed with the cover in place. However, when I'm doing documentary work with the on-camera mics, I've got the camera on a shoulder mount and am using the rear viewfinder instead. If somebody wants to see a take played back, I just pop the windscreen off, flip out the viewfinder, and press Play. The cover goes back on in five seconds.

I suppose with a little creative stitchery and some velcro it would be possible to make a windscreen that allows the flip-out to be deployed while shooting. I'll look into it when I get several other fires stamped out.

Martin