I know in most situations having an external mic is preferable, but I've been using my A1 on long outdoor treks where simplicity makes life easier. I do get a slight bit of tape drive noise in quiet settings, but I hope to go DTE soon. For ambient sounds such as birds and running water the on-board mic works fine for me.

I was surfing ebay and found a small business that makes windscreens for camcorder mics, including the G1/A1. It's the "deadcat" variety, and I'm happy to say it works like a charm.

I'm sure they're simple enough to make DIY, but for $30 it's not too expensive, and I didn't have to go to a fabric store.

Of course now my camera looks like it's got a tiny British Guard Bearskin hat on it, so I should get a small red uniform to protect the handle.

Would you mind posting a link to what you bought? I might be interested in something like that for more of the run'n'gun style shooting outdoors for family occasions.

I guess that might help!

http://cgi.ebay.com/WindCutter-Fur-Mic-WINDSCREEN-for-Canon-XH-A1-XHA1_W0QQitemZ110153027628QQihZ001QQcategoryZ107936QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

They have a webpage, but the A1 version isn't listed there, so I just ordered mine off of ebay. www.thewindcutter.com

A lot of their screens are meant to fit over a foam windscreen, but for the A1 no foam is needed.

I went to a knitting store where a lady knitted a little sock for my A1, in a hairy thick yarn. It works very well.

I did notice a couple of slight inconveniences using the windscreen. Since the IR receiver for the remote is on the mic, the screen needs to be removed for it to function. Also, the tally lamp isn't visible. But they're not big issues with me.