I am shooting a wedding tommorrow night (sd, 4:3...) and wanted to try my 3x WA lens that I used with my XL2. The back focus is totaly out of adjustment. At first I thought it was my lens, then I spoke to Dan Keaton and he told me that you have to do the flange back adjustment on each lens you use. According to Dan( and the manual), the H1 saves the set up for different lenses.
Here are my questions:
1-On p.26 there are two adjustments-AF and MF. Are you supposed to do both and in the order on p.26?
2-On p. 27 there is a section called "resetting the flange back adjustments". I assume this means that once you've adjusted for the new lens,this proceedure sets the adjustment for that lens in memory. Is that correct?
3-Once this is done and I put the stock lens back on, the H1 "remembers" the setting for the stock lens?
Thanks
Bruce S. yarock
www.yarock.com

Dear Bruce,

I believe you should stop after completing one of the two procedures on page 26. You can choose to let the camera do the focusing for you, if so choose the "AF" procedure. The "MF" procedure requires you to perform the focusing manually.

I would just choose a scene with enough contrast so that the camera can perform autofocus and use the "AF" procedure. If this does not work, then do the "MF" procedure.

The "Reseting of the Flange Back Adjustment" should not be used. This would be used if you wanted to reset the flange back adjustment to the default setting for the lens you currently have mounted.

I am curious as to how the "Flange Back" adjustment works on the XL H1?

Does it move the CCD block forward and back to achive back focus, or is there some electronic magic performed?

Also, I what to know if the Flange Back adjustment works with all Canon lenses, specifically:

3x Wide Angle Zoom
14x Manual
16x Manual

Bruce Yarock called Canon and they reported that this adjustment will not work with the 3x lens. I called and they said it would.

I welcome any comments and/or real world experience.

The in-camera Flange Back adjustment definitely works with the 3x wide angle lens. However the FB menu option is grayed-out (not available) when using either the 16x or 14x manual lenses. No matter though because you can adjust the back focus directly on those lenses anyway. Hope this helps,

1-On p.26 there are two adjustments-AF and MF. Are you supposed to do both and in the order on p.26?No -- choose one or the other. If there's good light available, then you can trust the auto FB function to do the job. If the available light isn't all that great, then choose the manual FB option. In poor light, forget it... you need to be able to see accurate focus at the full telephoto end of the zoom range in order to get an accurate back focus adjustment.
2-On p. 27 there is a section called "resetting the flange back adjustments". I assume this means that once you've adjusted for the new lens,this proceedure sets the adjustment for that lens in memory. Is that correct?Nope -- resetting will clear the existing value for a particular lens, as Dan points out above.
3-Once this is done and I put the stock lens back on, the H1 "remembers" the setting for the stock lens?The XL H1 remembers positions for up to ten different lenses... more than any of us will ever use, probably!

The XL H1 remembers positions for up to ten different lenses... more than any of us will ever use, probably!

Just curious, ten lens models or ten unique lenses? For example, if you have three XL-H1 bodies and three 20x lenses, can one of the bodies remember the settings for all three 20x lenses, or does this feature only work for, say, a 20x, 6x, and 3x?

Best,
Christopher

Dear Chris,

Thank you, I appreciate your insight into the workings of this camera.

I am still curious as to how the camera actually performs a back focus adjustment. I assume that it must be moving the CCD block.

Dear Christopher,

Good Question!

Thanks, Chris.Now if I can only come up with a low light setting similar to what I had on the XL2...
Bruce S. Yarock
www.yarock.com

Update...
I did the FB adjustment with the 3x lens and it's fine.
Bruce S. Yarock
www.yarock.com

Thanks, Chris, for the clarification on using the flange back adjustment. I followed the instructions, and the H1 did its' thing. I've used my 3x lens for several interviews in tight spaces, and have been pleasantly surprised on how good the hdv footage looks when viewing on hdtv. And the H1 is a LOT lighter with the 3x....
Next I'll try the 16x.
bruce yarock
www.yarock.com