Does anyone here have any experience with this lens for HD acquisition? I know some SD-lenses perform quite well, but I haven't found anything about this particular one.

I had a YH18 so I presume the lenses are very similar. Used it a bit on my EX-3 and sold it. Images were soft and you could probably get by with it depending upon your application. Some might even like the softness since the EX does produce such sharp images. Try it and experiment with detail settings to see if it works for you. Not much of answer-- just a qualified "maybe."

Thanks for the info, Ned. The problem is I won't have an opportunity to try it, as it is for sale abroad. But it's with a 'money back warranty', so I'll probably risk it. Unless someone else has more hands-on experience. Let's wait and see for some while...

I've used a a YH19x6.7 on an EX3 and PMW-F350 and found it to perform quite well. It was almost as good as my Canon KH20x6.4 which cost a lot more money.

Thanks, Alister. I was hoping you would have some experience with this lens. Sounds good, especially as it's only 1/4 th of the price of a second hand KH20. Now I just have to make sure it fits the Sony bayonet. I presume there are some models for JVC too. Or does the 'KRS' in the name have to do anything with the bayonet type?

Don't you have any pictures available? If there is a cable coming from the handgrip it's for JVC/BTS/Panasonic and if there isn't it's for Sony.

I would definatly ask for some hires pictures before buying a lens online.

The KRS just means the following:
K: No extender
R: Zoom:Servo Focus:Manual
S: Iris Servo Control

Hi Sander,

I have once seen a lens exactly like this, with a cable from the grip, that fitted a Sony XDCAM camera perfectly. So the presence of a cable is not conclusive, there are still different bayonets for different camera brands. Some of these lenses have a hot shoe for XDCAM camera's, but some others do have the cable connection (and no hot shoe), depending on the date of production supposedly. I do have a picture and I attach it here.

Mine did not have a cable, itnused the Sony hotshoe. The majority of Sony fit lenses will not have the cable. There were a lot of these lenses made to fit the Panasonic 1/2" DVCPRO cameras so be careful!

Thanks for the extra info, Alister. The vendor claims it will fit a Sony cam, but I want to be 100% sure. I add a picture of the bayonet. Can you see by the look of it if is Sony or Panasonic?

The Sony and Pana Bayonets are almost identical. I can't tell from the picture, sorry.

OK, Alister, thanks anyway.

Hi there.

I occasionally put my Canon YJ13 6.0 KRS lens on my PMW350 for a wider shot than my standard lens. It produces nice sharp pictures at the wide end but fringing is evident at the long end.

Works well but strangely I cannot see the clips show up in XDCam EX Clip Browser. Must be some lens info type problem.

Hi Guys, thanks for all the advice. I ordered the lens - with a money back warranty - and I'll keep you posted about the results after testing.

Sorry folks, no test results, Im afraid. The lens I received today proved to be the wrong bayonet type, although I specifically asked for 'Sony 1/2 inch' over and over again. Time to find out how far the 'money back warranty' from Adorama goes...

Happy ending: got a complete refund from Adorama, in a very short time and without any discussion. Too bad they didn't check more thoroughly if the lens reallly had a Sony bayonet. Anyway, the 'money back warranty' worked fine, so no harm done.

In the meantime I found and bought this little and inexpensive mint condition Canon lens in the UK: YH16x7 KRS, with Sony hot shoe contacts. Tested it and it appears to be quite sharp, except at apertures wider than 4. It shows quite some breathing, but surprising little CA. It's very light (not even 1 kg) and together with the lightest V-lock battery it makes a very comfortable lightweight combination for the PMW320.

For those who are interested in lens comparisons: in the end, I managed to find another YH19x6;7 KRS with Sony bayonet+ hot shoe contacts on Ebay and bought it for an interesting price. I made some comparison shots to the other, smaller and lighter YH16x7 KRS, with a maximum aperture of 1,9. The YH19 has a wider maximum aperture: 1,4.

I attach two screen shots (cropped in Photoshop) from those two inexpensive SD lenses. I must admit I do not see that much difference in sharpness or CA. On a 42 inch flatscreen they both look very very sharp indeed. I think I'll keep both.