Nielzen,

I don't know if Canon will or has come out with an XL-1s with manual lens, but there are retailers who will sell you the body with any lens. I just bought an XL-1s with the 3x lens from ZGC - one of the sponsors of the Watchdog. Check them out. They are in the US and you are in Denmark but their prices are reasonable and their service is excellent. www.zgc.com

Shooting PAL vs. NTSC
 

I'm shooting a film (probably using the XL1S) and want to get as close to a film "look" as possible. Do you have any thoughts about shooting PAL? In his book "Digital Moviemaking," Scott Billups makes some good points about the benefits of 25 FPS, higher resolution and color space of PAL -- but his book is mainly about shooting in DV and then printing to film. We won't be printing to film -- we'll distribute on DVD and Beta SP (NTSC.) We're editing on a Media 100 XS. Given that, do you still see a benefit to shooting in PAL?

Xm-1?
 

In his book "Digital Moviemaking," Scott Billups talks about a Canon XM-1, which he says is the PAL version of the XL-1 that "lets you shoot in 25fps, progressive, and has an anamorphic setting that actually compresses the image horizontally" so that you can get true 16:9 images. He references Canon's www.canon.co.uk site, but the XM-1 they show there appears to be the GL-1. Does anyone know about any version of the XL-1S that offers an anamorphic setting, rather than the 16:9 cropping that the standard model does?

Scott Billups makes very, very few errors but unfortunately he is mistaken about the Canon XM1. As you have discovered, the XM1 is the European designation for the Canon GL1.

The PAL version of the XL1S will be available soon in the USA (since it's about to be popularized in Canon marketing ads about Steven Soderbergh using one to shoot his movie). How it will be designated, re: model number, I'm not sure.

There are two ways to shoot in 16x9 with the XL1S. One is to shoot in normal 4x3 mode with the 16x9 cropping guides visible in the EVF. The other way is to switch to the electronically derived 16x9 widescreen mode which will cost you some vertical resolution.

A third way will come when there's a viable optical solution in the form of a 72mm anamorphic adapter. Optex has one that works marginally well; I understand Century Optics has one in development.

Answered your copy of this question in the General DV Discussion forum -- please don't double-post like that -- we can resume this conversation under that other thread. Thanks,

Automatic focus does not work on EOS lens with the XL1. So you'll be manually focus and zooming. To answer your question, zoom all the way in with your EOS lens and set focus. Everything in the zoom range will now be in focus.

From what I hear, the new EVF cable that comes with the XL1S is a bit longer. You could always make a short EVF extension cable out of Canon replacement parts. I agree it can be a problem.

Promax real-time card?
 

Has anyone heard any news about Promax releasing a real-time card? I read they had one in the works and it would offer uncompressed capability as well. I was thinking about getting the RTMac card but will hold off if the Promax card is real.

lenses
 

hey, i have been shooting with the xl-1 for the past few years and have decided it is time to move on from the standard 16x lens it comes with to something manual. i would like to treat this xl-1 more professionally, see what i can get out of it.
does anyone have any suggestions?

Check the XL1 Lens options article on the Watchdog, it basically says it all.

Syncronisation
 

Hello,

I want to do a several camera shoot for a school choir. Is there a possibility to connect several XL1 cameras to syncronize their timecode or will I have to use external recorders and a timecode generator?

Thanks,

Björn

We always just shoot each camera individually and capture the complete tapes individually. Once in the computer, it is a simple matter to get the tapes in sync. Just find some point where something specific happens and sync to that point. Some examples could include:

Camera Flash
Someone coughs
Start of the shows music

(Sound usually works better for syncing than visual events but a camera flash can get you very close.)

Once the sync is close, we will then play the sound of one tape with the video from the second tape and verify the lips are in sync. This frequently requires some fine tuning of 2 to 6 frames. Once these two are in sync, repeat the process for the third camera. We always sync to the sound we plan to use - frequently from an external microphone or direct feed from the sound board.

There is really no need to go to the expense of external device and the inflexibility required by laying down cables.

Nikon AI to XL Adapter
 

Has anyone used this adapter?
Optex also sells this one and it is a lot cheaper than the Canon EF adapter (which I would also like to know more about).
Any info is appreciated.

I Like The Bogen 3502 Ball Leveler Adapter
 

I just got the Bogen 3502 75mm ball adapter and paid about $72 delivered. Sorry Chris, I tried using ZGC but they said they did not stock them.

Anyway, if you are on the low end of tripods and heads, I really recommend this bad dog. It works fine Bogen 3221 sticks and at $65 makes leveling a snap. It is very rugged and easily supports an XL-1. My only regret is I did not have it when I was shooting from the Lion's Gate bridge in St. Augustine!

You may have to look around for it though. I know when I was in Pheonix last year looking for such a device, the camera store (which was very well equipped) they never mentioned anything about it.

Happy Mardi Gras,
Nathan Gifford

digital photo mode / frame movie mode
 

I am curious to know what you XL1s owners think about the XL1s' photo mode and frame movie mode. How does the camera perform in capturing a single frame at a time?

Any and all input is appreciated.

Scott