Zacuto are listing a new range of Z-Finders on their website, and mighty interesting they look too. As well as introducing a more basic solution in the form of the Z-Finder Jr the standard Z-Finder has now transformed into two models, The Pro 2.5X and Pro 3X. I felt the last Z-Finder has too much magnification at 3X so it would be great to try out the 2.5X version.

Those with keen eyes will also have spotted the move away from stick-on mounts to a mounting system that requires the use of plates under the camera. Also new in the Pro models are anti-fog glass, lens caps and rubber boots to stop the diopter thread from collecting dust and dirt. There’s also a mention of a protective case.

I’m not sure I’d welcome the additional plate under the camera, the design looks great and I can imagine it makes the rig a lot sturdier but with that extra plate and something like a Manfrotto 394 fitted under it there’s going to be a lot of height between the camera and whatever it’s mounted to. With the new plate and a 394 fitted it must put the camera a long way above the rails on something like a mini-baseplate. The rails on my rig can only go up another few mm so I’m not sure I could even make that work.

Find out more at Zacuto.com

There’s some nice reviews of the video features in the Canon 550D appearing on the web. Ninofilm has posted a very in-depth and informative review as a first time DSLR shooter coming from the EX3.

http://ninofilm.net/blog/2010/02/23/canon-550d-review/

It’s nice to see footage samples without any post processing so that you can see the real quality of images that the camera is capturing. The 550D footage at 720p seems just as nasty as the same mode on the 7D to me, although the much nicer 1080p footage seems to match up too.

Mic windscreens are not something you normally consider to be fashionable or by any means funky, but when it comes to the Zoom H4n ‘Readhead’ windscreens it’s an entirely different story. My windscreens only turned up today so I haven’t had chance to try them outside yet, but you have to admit these things are well cool, I almost feel like I need to pick up some hair products for them!

Check out all the colours at www.redheadwindscreens.com I went for a gun metal and a midnight for $54 with free worldwide shipping.

People say that much like dogs, an h4n often looks like it’s owner… I don’t believe a word of it!

Find out more at www.redheadwindscreens.com