Wind screen for a Canon Xf300

[Steve Porchet]

Has anyone come up with a wind screen for a Canon XF300? I tried the Rycote one but I was not impressed with the way it attached, let alone if I was to use the LCD screen which caused it to come loose.
I was thinking there might be another option out there that can be held on with two sided tape (and I've already tried the Rycote with the tape and it didn't work)

So any help here would be greatly appreciated, thanks everyone, Steve

[Chris Stevens]

I've also not found anything practical for a wind screen. Having bought the Rycote offering & like you found it interferes with the LCD, I'm going to cut it up & stick it around the mic gauze. Will let you know how I get on!

[Steve Porchet]

Thank you Chris, I would appreciate your input.

[Didi Schoeman]

I bought the Rycote windjammer for the XF 300 & 305 two months ago before leaving on a wildlife adventure series shoot in Mozambique.

When the windjammer arrived I immediately realised that it wasn't going to stay put on my XF305, so off I went to the shops and bought black Velcro strips and multipurpose glue that promised to stick to anything, material, plastic, metal etc. which was good enough for me.

I cut the rubber bands off the windjammer and then glued (I know horror) the soft sided velcro in strips onto the outline frame of the onboard microphone, e.g. the strip in the middle, a strip on each edge starting from the left and right sides of the remote receiver on the front of the microphone moving backwards and then a strip across the back from the left to the right side of the microphone. If you are neat and tidy with your handiwork the strips are not noticeable and because it's the soft sided velcro it doesn't hook onto anything when you don't have the windjammer on, the black strips look like they're supposed to be there.

I then glued the hard velcro strips on the inside of the windjammer, one down the middle, then on the rim of the windjammer, right around corresponding to the strips on the camera with a gap where the remote sensor is located on the front of the microphone.

When everything dried, I stuck the windjammer on and it fit perfectly. It works incredibly well, it's been trough the roughest shooting conditions with strong wind conditions and it solved my wind-noise problems 100%. I've not had any problems with the windjammer coming off.

The only thing to watch out for now is camera handling noise... that in my opinion is the only drawback from using the onboard microphone as appose to a rifle mic on the external bracket... but if you are monitoring your sound it's something you can prevent.

It really baffles my mind that Rycote doesn't supply the windjammer with pre-attached velcro on the inside and self stick velcro strips cut to the right lengths that you could stick onto the microphone... that would make things tidy, neat and very effective unlike the totally useless rubber bands that's attached to the windjammer... I cut those off and haven't looked back!

Hope the info is helpful.

[Steve Porchet]

Well I fixed my problem and only spent about $5.00.

I will attach some pictures to show what I used and how I did it. Later I will post the whole process on youtube. It was pretty easy and took about 30 minutes.

First I went to a local fabric shop, and when I told them how much I needed (less than a 4" square, the lady just cut me a "sample" piece. She also gave me a sample of quilting batting) I then purchased some Peel n Stick fabric fuse (used for hemming up seams) and some black thread and needles.

1. Cut a piece of the batting so it would fit over the mic ONLY (do not let it go past the mesh of the mic, you'll see why later), then cut a strip of fuse tape narrow enough to fit on the center bar of the mic, then place the fuse tape on the center bar and remove the paper cover. Next center the batting on the tape and press it down completely.

2. Take the 3 1/2 X 3 1/2 piece of fur and make sure it fits from the front Canon logo to the cold shoe, then make sure it fits from the left side to the right side (I opened up the LED screen to make sure I didn't go to low) Remember, it's ok if it's not completely tight, just be sure you have enough material.

3. Now come the fun parts. Making sure you are still back to the cold shoe slide your fingers forward to the front then find the corner and move your thumb to the side and pinch the fur at the corner (see picture). Keeping it pinched remove it from the camera and turn it inside out so you see the join you just made. Next I used 2 needles to mark the joint (see picture) then cut along the 2 needles. Make sure your edge matches up (see picture)

4. Stitch up the joint you just cut and then do the same on the other side.

5. Cut strips of the Fabric Fuse and place it on the camera all around the mic mesh. (I used a full wide strip in front of the cold shoe but cut the strip in half on the sides, and I did not cover the tally light or remove sensor with tape) Now apply your fur cover and press it down and you are finished!

One of the reasons I used the Fabric Fuse tape is because when I want to remove the cover that tape can be removed by just rubbing your thumb over it and it rolls right off.

I hope this helps someone as well as it's helped me... take care!

[Steve Porchet]

Here are the rest of the pictures of the on camera windscreen I made.