What exaclty is a "floter"? I've never heard this term.

Happens all the time with the 20x lens in low light with bright lights where lens flares are more easily seen. OIS is the culprit. I never experienced this with the 16x manuals lens.

Sweet Spot For 20X Lens
 

Hi. My "Search" function is on the fritz so I apologize if this subject's been covered over and over. I've got the 20X lens with my XL2 and was wondering if anyone has done and testing with the lens to determine the best apertures? Thanks in advance.
Sprague

Wide open... I like to use it long and wide open is the best way to keep it, that will give you the best DOF and keep the image from getting soft... try to squash light with filters if possible, I try to never go over f4 or f5



ash =o)

Many thanks.
S

Betcha shoot fully manual too huh!

Focus Issue with 20x Lens
 

Hi there everybody!

I just recently got my XL2. I have some previous experience with using other people's XL2s, as well as lots of experience with Betacams, etc.

My question is about focus. When I zoom in and focus on the eye of a person, for example, then zoom back out, the picture looks kinda soft to me. I have seen items in the foreground that actually look sharper than the subject. It's almost like the back focus is off, but the 20x auto lens doesn't have a back focus. Has anybody else experienced this, and is there anything to do about it? Otherwise I might be tempted to look at the 16x manual lens instead.

THANKS!

Rob

i had something similar at one point and i took the lens to canon to get adjusted, they said it was just fine.

I think what might be happening is that you zoom all the way in and focus, but at the long end ofthe zoom the lens is an f3.5, you focus at that f-stop which has a fairly large amount of depth of field then pull out and the lens opens all the way to f1.6 which has a much shallower DOP so the focus actually has to be more precise on the shorter end which seems backwards, try setting and keeping the aperture at 3.5 all the way through the zoom out and see if you still have the problem, if so you definetely have a back focus problem,

that said, you wouldn't be disappointed with the 16x manual, which keeps a steady f-stop through it's whole range.

-Jon

pressure gradient and the 20x lens
 

Hypothetical question:
This is kind of silly, but has been bugging me for a while.

If you are in the eye of a, say, 940> mb hurricane with a tight pressure gradient, would the rapidly changing conditions be bad for your lens in the way of bubbles, etc? If there are any weather videographers here, I would love to draw upon your experience in this and a plethora of other regards.


Jeff

There is a caveat in the XL-H1 manual to the effect that a gas bubble may form in the liquid between the plates in the 20x lens at aircraft cabin pressure altitudes (about 7000 feet). While this is appreciably less than 940 mb I suppose the potential for this to happen is there for any of Canon's OIS lenses that use this basic architecture.

Haven't traveled with the H1 yet, but I carried my XL2 with 20x and 3x lenses on multiple airplane trips and haven't actually seen any bubbles, even though I know at least once I had cabin pressure altitudes well above 10,000 feet. The barometric pressure in a hurricane would be the least of my concerns -- water and wind-driven objects would be higher on my list of worries!

Okay thanks… I was going to segue into the airplane caveat, as you termed it, so I am glad that you covered that.

I do wonder if anyone has ever documented a major hurricane, on the ground, in high def? I think Jim Edds uses a dvx100, and it is only a matter of time before one of these idiots takes the plunge in this regard.

My camera was destroyed along with my house during charley, but the tape survived... which is all that matters!

Focal length on standard 20x?
 

Hi all,

I've been trying to figure out (with no luck) if there is any way at all to find out what the focal length is set to in a numerical format on the standard 20x lens that ships with the XL2.

I know there are no markings on the lens itself due to the mag-rings and in the viewfinder it's just a mark between W and T...but if I wanted, for example, to set the zoom to the equivalent of an 85mm prime, is there any way at all for me to set that number exactly?

Thanks for your help,

Shawn McBee

Canon 20X lens / No picture
 

I have 2 lens the factory 20X lens and the 3x lens, today I had a shoot and when I connect the 20X lens I had no picture. I then connected the 3x lens and I had picture and everything worked fine. I reconnected the 20X lens, made sure I heard the little pops that the lens does. It did, but still no picture, has anyone else had this problem???

Did you take the lens off without turning the power off? You may have blown a lens fuse and it is preventing the iris from opening.

Matt