Info is buried in article here:

http://www.creativemac.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=53375

Info buried here as well: http://www.dvinfo.net/canonxh/watchdog.php

I have a century optics 72mm wide angle adapter with a bayonet mount that I use on my XL2. Does anyone know if that would work on the XH A1? gracias.

I'm not sure...one thing i'd recommend is finding out if the GL2's built in lens is 72mm (for filters) then go from there. My XL1 is, and i'm pretty sure my XL1 can take all the XL2 accessories (other than the viewfinder)...

The GL lens is 58mm.

The GL lens is 58mm.

Wow...does anyone out there know how big a 3x Wide angle lens filter would be? i'm interested in buying one for my XL1...but i know if i should try to sell some of my filters to balance the cost. Being that i'd only need 1 or 2 of them for my current 16x lens.

The original poster asked about XL2, not GL2 to XHA1. He has a bayonet mount that mounts in place of the stock XL2 lens hood. The question would be whether the new XH series cameras have a bayonet mount lens hood and if so, is it the same diameter as the XL series lens hoods.

-gb-

does anyone out there know how big a 3x Wide angle lens filter would be?The Canon XL 3x lens has a filter thread diameter of 72mm.

The XH has a bayonet mount. It's up to somebody who has both XL and XH cams plus a 72mm wide angle adapter to try it out and report what they find.

I'm looking for advice/insight on getting a wide angle adaptor for the XH A1. [Canon's WD-58H worked fine on my GL2 but those are gone and I'm starting anew.] I'd consider Canon's WD-H72 ($400.00) for the XH A1 but would like to hear about other options near-or-below that price.

Thanks in advance.

Near or below that price? Not me. You get what you pay for in this business... $400 is the lowest amount I would consider paying for a WA adapter. In fact I'm having a hard time with this one being as inexpensive as it is.

Alright... I now recall using the ($160.00) WD-58H indoors, fully zoomed-out, and seeing my window frame appear to be bulging -- no straight lines until zooming-in. I was surprized at this but it was not so noticeable outdoors where I did most of the shooting. This time around I'd like to have a decent WA adapter. Thanks.

I will let you know when I get my Xh-a1's
As I have century optics zoom-through wide angle adapter & fisheye lenses for the XL2.

I pray it will work.. but I have ordered the wide lens adapter from canon just incase.

I have just tested it with 0.6x Century Optics adapter which fit XL1 and XL2 perfectly, but surprisingly it does not fit XH A1 :(

However, I don't give up that easily and since the bayonet differences are minimal, I have modified the adapter. First, I disassembled it (which was very easy) and then widened one opening with precision file, just enough so it could be attached to the cam's bayonet. Then reassembled the adapter. It fits and works perfectly now :) The whole thing took about 10 minutes because I was extra careful. 0.6x adapter produces beautiful results with already sweet XH A1 wide angle and I can zoom in well beyond half the range.

This problem may or may not be an issue with other bayonet mount adapters, but I believe they can be modified as easily. Just be careful not to cause any damage to camera or adapter.

Disclaimer: attempt such modification at your own risk. Using dedicated 72mm wide angle adapter is recommended.

ps. I tried to post some pictures, but I don't have permission in this forum.

Try again Bogdan... I think I've fixed your permissions. Look for "manage Attachments" in the Post Reply interface.

It worked this time - thanks Chris.

The first picture shows the points at which the opening in the adapter had to be widened. Note: it shows reassembled adapter.

Second picture: just satisfaction :)

Amazing. Does the Instant AF function work with this adapter? It looks like the IAF beam just might clear the barrel housing. Thanks for posting these.

Instant AF is not reliable with wide angle adapter because any focal length modifier changes characteristics of optical path. Instant AF relies on direct distance measurement and it's designed for standard configuration.

Normal AF works fine.

Thanks Bogdan,

You have a wonderfully informative and concise posting style. It's a pleasure to have you aboard here.

Whittling away on an expensive adapter takes guts. Glad to see that it worked out for you.

Has anyone put on any wide angle lenses yet?

How well do they work (barrel distortion, ghosting, CA)?

Also does the XH A1 have more or less CA compared to the XL H1?

bogdan, that's an awesome tip. now i regret getting rid of my adapter. in any case, thanks...

anyone who has an issue with taking a file to their adapter can send their adapters to century/schneider. they will change mounts on compatible adapters for the price of parts and labor. i imagine they'll have an xh mount sooner rather than later.

$400 is the lowest amount I would consider paying for a WA adapter. In fact I'm having a hard time with this one being as inexpensive as it is.

2 questions....

1. Do you think the Canon WA is not up to snuff based on the price? Is this not as good of an adapter as say a "century optics .8x" ?

2. Will the Canon WA adapter for the A1/GI work on the H1? I think they are both 72mm mounts........

3. (I know I said 2 questions to start) Are there threads on the Canon to mount a filter in front of the WA lens?

Thanks! The cost of the Canon has me concerned about the quality myself so your input is highly valued.

Peace.

Bogdan,
Does the newly modified adapter still work with your XL2? Thanks for all of your work. peace.

Thanks for taking the time doing this I really appreciate it. I was contemplating doing the same thing, and now that I know it works, I will give it a try.

Does it have significant barrrel distortion, considering that it already starts at a decent wide angle?

Also, can you notice a vast reduction in resolution, or is too minimal to care. (I am not really worried about the resolution drops as so much the FOV gained, but I am interested to see what you've noticed.)

One more thing, would it be possible to post some grabs of stills showing the differences with it on and the point in which the zoom through looses capability?

Bogdan,
Does the newly modified adapter still work with your XL2? Thanks for all of your work. peace.

I don't have XL2 here to test it with, but with almost 100% confidence I can say it will fit XL2 and other XL cameras with stock lenses. It's just the way it attaches to the bayonet.

However, some of you may find the image quality unacceptable. Depends on how strict your requirements are. I will post some examples soon.

...
Does it have significant barrrel distortion, considering that it already starts at a decent wide angle?

Also, can you notice a vast reduction in resolution, or is too minimal to care.
...

No big surprise here. There is significant barrel distortion and loss of resolution near the edges, but it holds very well in the center.

Personally, I find it usable when extreme wide angle is more important than resolution for practical and/or artistic reasons. One more thing. It's 0.6x adapter (vs 0.75x in WD-H72 for example). It pushes the angle of view to the limit.

As far as critical zoom-in point is concerned, nothing surprising here either. It allows precise focusing as you zoom-in, until it doesn't :)

Definitely, WD-H72 promises better performance, but not so wide angle of view. If it proves to deliver pristine quality edge to edge, it will be worth $400 and I will go for it.

Some examples below. I did them in 30F and framed similarly so you could have better picture of distortion and resolution problems. Hope this helps and does not disappoint too much. It didn't disappoint me. I was kinda expecting it.

The first two images show LCD screen and all four are pretty compressed jpegs. Originals are a little bit sharper and cleaner. Oh, it's raining here and it affected outdoor shots a little bit.

XH A1 is amazing :) Cheers!

looks allright to me, especially for artistic views as you said. Thanks

Talked to my vendor this morning and they just got the Canon WA adapter and it does "not" work on the H1. They didn't tell me why, but I was told it did not work. FWIW.

I was just hunting around the Internet and didn't see any WD-H72's in-stock (on the english websites). Where did you find it?

I was just hunting around the Internet and didn't see any WD-H72's in-stock (on the english websites). Where did you find it?

Christine at ZGC told me they got some in. Call her and check on it. I am not sure how many or if they are all already sold but it is worth a try.

Thanks Marty. I just talked to Travis at ZGC and he said they had two left, so I ordered one. He also said that they are out of filter kits because of all the A1 sales. (Am I getting caught up in the hysteria??? :-)

Agreed, $400 is a bargain. There was no vignetting evident in the spaghetti video. As the WD-H72 appears to be a quarter-turn twist on lens I'm wondering what the filter options are? It's obviously got larger front glass (unknown size) and in the owner's manual on p154 it shows the WD adaptor with it's own hood. B&H has the clearest photo, they spec it as a .75 but it's engraved with a .8 - In looking at a pic on the watchdog site (thanks Chris!) it looks like internal threads on the base lens PLUS the external bayonet leading me to think the placemant of 72mm filters would be between the XH lens and the WD adaptor vs the front of the wide adaptor. If this is right, it's so wrong. Add that matte box to the shopping list!

We've got the WD H72 wide angle. It screws in to the camera's 72mm threads; it's not bayonet.

The front friction-fit lens cap says it's 109mm (the outside diameter of the w/a lens). The enormous hood included with the wide angle clamps on.

There are no threads or bayonet on the front of the wide angle lens, so you'd have to use a matte box for filters.

It is marked as .8x. It's a nice, sharp, contrasty zoom-through wide angle, but still has some barrel distortion at the widest.

It is better than our 16x9 Inc. wide lens.

chuck

Were money no object- what's the best wide angle adapter available for the XH-A/G1?

I doubt anyone anywhere has done an objective, complete side-by-side comparison of different wide adapters that would fit this camera, but since Canon developed their new WD-H72 wide angle adapter specifically in conjunction with the XH cameras and early user reports like Chuck's sound pretty good, that's an odds on bet for the best adapter.

ZGC sent my WD H72 promptly (see above) but I've been distracted and have not spent time with it. Below are some quick photos of it (hopefully I'll take some with it soon B^).

The kit includes the WA, two lens caps, a hood and a bag, http://www.io.com/~smg/xha1/0157_WA_KitContents.jpg The bag will hold the lens and hood but the size of the hood makes the fit loose and somewhat unsecure compared to the bag for the GL2's WA (which I used for packing in a backpack).

The kit comes with an sheet of instructions, http://www.io.com/~smg/xha1/0181_WA_Instructions.jpg http://www.io.com/~smg/xha1/0182_WA_Precautions.jpg http://www.io.com/~smg/xha1/0180_WA_Specs.jpg http://www.io.com/~smg/xha1/0184_WA_Diagram.jpg

Here is a closeup of the end that attaches to the camera, http://www.io.com/~smg/xha1/0165_WA_CameraSideThreads.jpg

Here is a look at the other end, http://www.io.com/~smg/xha1/0161_WA_SideTop.jpg (No filter mount as indicated in the Precautions above).

We've already heard that it obstructs the Quick Focus lens. Here's a look, http://www.io.com/~smg/xha1/0169_WA_QuickFocusObstruction.jpg

Here is a front view of the WA mounted with the hood, http://www.io.com/~smg/xha1/0188_WA_HoodMounted.jpg and a side shot, http://www.io.com/~smg/xha1/0195_WA_SideMounted.jpg

The lens cap can be placed on the WA directly or on the hood however mine does not mount as securely as I'd like. http://www.io.com/~smg/xha1/0191_WA_HoodCapMounted.jpg I scratched up the lens cap (and the hood) because I was not careful enough packing it a backpack.

Thanks for the pics and specs - That's' more info on this lens than I've seen on any other site including the OEM.

This is the only clip I've seen so far that demos the before & after of the adaptor:
http://media.dvinfo.net/canonxh/XHA1WA-1.m2t

Don't get misled by the lens on the table with the bayonet, I thought it was the WD-H72 but obviously not.

Yikes, 1.6 lbs of glass. 26mm of wonderfulness. Soon!

Looking at it from the front, what is that in the lower left corner of the lens hood? I'm guessing it's access for lens cap removal??

Thanks for the pics and specs - That's' more info on this lens than I've seen on any other site.

I think this site is great.

Looking at it from the front, what is that in the lower left corner of the lens hood? I'm guessing it's access for lens cap removal??

You're right. There is a screw behind there for fastening the hood. Here is the shot with the hood screw (engaged/tightened), http://www.io.com/~smg/xha1/0215_WA_hoodScrew.jpg

Having bought an A1 today, I followed Bogdan's example and modified my Century Optics 0.7X lens converter to use with the A1. The whole thing took around 15 - 20 mins, and the converter still fits on the XL2. Given the non-existent second-hand market in Singapore, this is great news for me because I would be lucky to get $50 for it if I sold it with my XL2.

Thanks Bogdan for showing the way!

Richard

Just stumbled onto this post. Wow. I modified my 0.6x wide angle adapter and my .7x wa adapter almost 2 years ago to get them to work on the 16x manual lens. I didn't realize how this was viewed as a big deal. Wish I'd have posted it sooner.

Great news though. It makes for a lot more flexibility and saves money too. I never wanted to have to buy 2 adapters for 2 different lenses. Especially when the only difference is a few millimeters of steel on the lens mount!

Peace!

It's not as sharp as Canon's adapter corner-to-corner (Chris has posted some impressive examples), but soo wide angle. I'm glad it was so easy to adapt for XH A1 and that it works for you. I'm also glad I didn't sell mine too soon. I will definitely keep it in the arsenal. Cheers!

Over on Xlcinema, there are some pics from a canon event held in NY the other day.

One of the items showcased is a Canon WA adapter for the XH series (though I suppose it'll work on the 72mm XL).

Good to see some accessories rolling out.

Barlow Elton reports:

http://xlcinema.com/look/showthread.php?t=1483

I don't think it will work on the XL-H1, from what I have heard.

What are some other wide angle options that would work for the A1, other than the Canon one. I would like more than .8x, preferably .6x or possibly even a fisheye. I use extreme wide angle shots on occasion for weddings and I don't need zoom through at all, just wide. I am not worried about barell distortion either. Just wide, is all I am looking for.

Century Optics usually has something around a .6X. I'd think any 72mm threaded one would work.
http://www.zgc.com/zgc.nsf/product/B7C378A12C4BA4A485256D83004C0F0B

Thanks for the help Bill. I was looking on a forum, maybe this one some time ago about a lens named "RED" is is a single element lens that threads on a 72mm thread, with no zooming, and was built by some videgrapher.

Does anyone have a link for it? Has anyone tried it for HD? I want a wide angle lens for a few weddings coming up, just for artistic perspectives and b-roll, so I am not considerably concerned about softness as I will be using SD in the end.

I think you mean this one--Red is close, but it's Red Eye:

http://www.studiodaily.com/studiomonthly/currentissue/7289.html

The big question though is how do these resolve for HD. They're intended for standard definition.