If you can afford the lens, by all means, get it. It will provide the best wide angle shots for the XL1. It's as good as it gets, provided you understand the limitations outlined above. The 0.7 is a more affordable substitute but is not as sharp as the 3X WA. It also is not as well corrected and shows more barrel distortion.

thanks for everyones advice! I was looking back into my days of schooling in photography where you could easily stop down to create greater DOF... that didnt necessarily give me the result I was looking for and instantly went to blame it on the new lens. However, my last shoot I did try shooting a mid-range aperature and concetrated more on the focusing and got some nice results back. BUT, I still stand by my guns when I say this lens is much more difficult to focus then the standard 16x is. I am hoping a new viewfinder down the road will help remedy that.

So now I feel much better about my $1200 purchase! I would not have been able to get the shots I did if it wasnt for this lens!

thanks guys,

Chris

Hi Chris...

I use a Century 0.7 WA adapter and have it mounted on my 16x lens almost full-time. A lot of the shooting I do is at close range and I developed a habit of shooting wide from years of news photography.

The results are good. Not tack sharp, but definitely acceptable. It also allows me to use the full 16x zoom range, although the long-end of the lens is now 0.7 of the max focal length.

Dean Sensui
Base Two Productions

I got a 3x wide this week, practical for my needs as I'll always stay wide with it. I have not yet had a chance to really try it out for sharpness however, I'll give you my first impressions this weekend.

I have actually done my third shoot with it and I can say I am happy with my purchase now. Still getting use to focusing it but my shots have come out perfectly these last 2 times.

I still think , this lens is soft for the most part. It's possible to achieve focus, a decent one, but not razor sharp like on the 16x. They cut some corners with this lens.

It also only has one ND filter setting, which lies between too much for indoor and to little for bright daylight.

It's zoom and focus rings feel like they are digital. You can spin them 360 degrees and you never get a real feel of pulling focus. A rack focus nightmare.

You widest apeture is going to be 2.0/1.8

However, if you need to get a nice wide angle shot, this will do it for you. If you are far back enough, you will be able to get a decent shallow depth of field going.

going price for used 3x wide lens for xl1s?
 

is $800 shipped considered a good price for a used, in good shape 3x wide xl1s lens?

I picked up my 3x lens for $900 brand new in box off E-bay

Ken, was that from those Seaggie guys? Or Somewhere in NY/Brooklyn?

edit - My bad - JOHN :)

Who is ken? i bought it from someone in brooklyn, ny

$800 seems a little high for a used one, especially off Ebay. I'd probably be more likely to spend $100 more and get a new one. Whichof course, may or may not be new...

<<<-- Originally posted by John Threat : Who is ken? i bought it from someone in brooklyn, ny -->>>

Sorry John! I meant John. Sorry, I've interacted with so many K-names this past 2 weeks, I've got K on the brain. Appologies :)

The one i got from ebay, and i know this doesnt happen everytime
was absolutely new and flawless. I seriously doubt it was ever mounted anywhere.

a Note for new 3x lens users
 

The 3x wide angle is a nice lens. There's one issue I thought you should know about. If you're planning on using screw-on filters, you can use a maximum of one if you're going full-wide. Since the lens zoom is fairly weak in magnification, most people will be using this lens wide anyways.

I shot video this weekend, and the results in Vegas show a nice circular masking over the corners where my polarizer was sitting. I did not see this in my viewfinder during the shoot (FU-500 colour) however, so just a friendly warning. :) Perhaps the colour viewfinder is just too small (both in physical size and resolution) to pick up small problems like that...

Using a single filter is fine, I had a UV filter on for protection, and it was a bright day so I threw on the circpol.... all my full wide's are problematic, I can cut and crop but damn.

Otherwise I'm enjoying my 3x.

That's a good tip, Andrew. I've never tried to use more than 1 filter with mine, but I can certainly imagine how a stack would begin to vignette the image at wide settings. Using the "thin" models of filters, where available, may enable you to use two without causing trouble.