3x XL2 lens work on a Canon SLR?
 

I'm looking to buy an SLR and want to go Canon, but on my budget the Nikon D80 is looking pretty sweet. I might be able to squeeze a few more bucks for the Canon 20D or 30D, if the 3x XL2 lens will work on a Canon SLR.

Anybody know?

thx

BO'B

It works the other way, but not in that direction. You can buy an adapter to put Canon EF lenses on an XL body (although there are limitations that make it not all that useful), but you can't put the XL's lenses on a Canon still camera

Canon XL 3X & 20X lens hoods - lock positions
 

Together with my .7X and .5X wide angle adapters, I have decided to pack a 3X lens along with my 20X lens (and an arsenal of Nikkor optics!) for my next expedition. I’ll be leaving in a few days, so a quick response will be a big help.

For those of you who already own both 20X land 3X lenses, could you please check if the lens hoods from both are interchangeable? (I don’t have the original Canon 3X hood).

The 20X lens hood bayonets OK on to the 3X lens, but the bayonet lock fitting (on my particular one) is different, so the 20X hood locks in a slightly off-centre position (which would cause it to vignette at the extreme corners – the normal unlocked position of the 20X hood on the 3X lens does not cause any vignette).

If the 20X and 3X hoods are supposed to be interchangeable, then it means that the locking front bayonet at the front of my particular 3X lens has been fitted – with the three tiny screws - slightly off-centre.

Unfortunately, both my lens bellows and Matte Box vignette very slightly at the 3X widest setting, so I would like to use an original 3X lens hood (or my 20X hood).

One nice thing is that the new Red Eye .7X FX HDV adapter work on both the 20X & 3X lenses (and hopefully the new 6X lens) so I look forward to seeing wide-angle and extreme wide-angle results for above and underwater shoots during the next few months.

I have thought of just buying a simple 72mm thread wide lens hood, but most I’ve so far tried still vignette slightly with the 3X lens.

So, if anybody has both lenses, please just try to bayonet the 20X hood onto the 3x lens and see if it locks in the correct position.

I've just been told that the 16X and 3X lens hoods are interchangeable. Strange that the later 20X lens hood locks in place but at a different angle than both the 16X and 3X hoods...

Hi,

I have a Canon 20X and a 3X wideangle. I just tried what you had asked and did not have any luck. I compared the grooves on each hood and they differ. They will go on but not straight. In other words, if you put the hood on the other lense or vice versa, it will sit sideways or at an angle.

Who ever told you that is correct.

20X versus 3X
 

Hi Tony,

Without disassembling the hoods, a quick measurement shows the hoods are not interchangable. I ran a string around the receptacle for both and found the circumference of the 3X is about 3/4 inch more than the 20X lens.

Sorry, Michael

Thank you very much for that information – it really helps a lot! At least it means that there is nothing wrong with the bayonet fitting on my 3X lens.

I’ve contacted Canon UK and had no joy in obtaining a 3X lens hood at such short notice.

It ‘seems’ that the old 16X lens hood will fit the 3X lens, but it could possibly vignette, so I’ll continue to look for an original 3X hood while I’m out in France, or look for another Matte Box that doesn’t vignette.

I doubt if I’ll be able to find a hood that’ll not vignette once a .7x adapter is placed in front of the 3X or 6X lenses, but as I’ll mainly be only using it that wide for underwater work it shouldn’t matter that much – I’ll just use the 3X hood when I’m doing above surface shoots.

Thanks again Gary and Michael.

Focus with 3X and Century Fisheye
 

Hi all,

I recently purchased a Century fish-eye lense to mount on my Canon 3X lens. I would have thought I had some zoom range but it only seems to focus (in manual) at one zoom point. Is this typical or do you have the ability to change the zoom setting and still be able to focus?

Regards, Michael

Mine took a crap as well. One day I tried to use it and nothing happened. The 20x that came with it works fine but I the three x can't be focused or anything. I am pissed. It's just over a year old and I don't even know if they will fix it. @$!$^##!^. I don't need this right now!

I've never had a problem with my 3x but did get a "check lens" error with my 20x. Most certainly a contact pins issue in my case.

Incidentally, wasn't the 3x designed for the XL-1(s) and are the focusing issues related to the non adjustable flangeback in relation to to the minute design differences between the XL-1 and XL-2 ?

3X auto focus (not talking about backfocus problem)
 

I'm wondering is my 3X faulty or is it just how it is.
I shoot weddings and use autofocus most of the time.
While 20X is very good at it, the 3X is giving me problems- quite a lot of hunting, some times just a bit out of focus which I can't see on the 'nice' viewfinder XL2 has, but when I get home I can clearly see the softness all around.
When shooting on the dance floor (lowlight) the autofocus becomes totaly unusable.
Is this how it is and I should just use manual focus or should it perform better?

Blury video - focus problem with 3X
 

Hi Marko,

First off, you probably know cameras like the XL2 rely on white-black transitions to auto-focus the lens. So in low lighting or a target that doesn't have easily distinguishable transitions, you're better off either using a manual focus and if necessary, press the focus button once while pointing at your target.

Anyway, if you need help focusing with your 3X lens, try first focusing before the shoot - focus on a target pattern that's the same distance as your subject. Here's a freebie BackFocus target that will work if you don't already have something like this to use:

http://www.dsclabs.com/images/BF%20Comp%20060920.pdf

Regards, Michael

Thanks for the tip Michael, but when shooting weddings it's hard to do these preparations and the situation can change every second.

I was wondering if people are having similar problems with the 3X especially wedding shooters?
Or should I send it on a check?

I agree - in a real-time, no second takes wedding situation there's no time for fancy footwork, it must be right first time.

It does sound as if your 3x has a problem though, as the first dance is usually a very high-contrast situation of white dress, black suit, dark background that the contrast induced auto-focus thrives on.

It's odd though as the 3x is a wide-angle lens, and you'd have thought the extra dof would hide the inaccurate focus at times. If you test it in good light, zipping hither and thither in an effort to catch the auto-focus out, how does it perform?

Do you have a wide-angle attachment that you could attach to the 20x, Mark? I'm just wondering if this would show up the fact that the 3x is faulty if tested in low light.

tom.

The 20X has very slow autofocus and does tend to hunt in difficult situations (far more than a pro-level stills camera for example) but I've also found the 3X lens to be even slower than the 20X, especially in low light levels.

I rarely if ever have a second chance in obtaining some of my subject footage, so I make sure that I shoot as much manual focus as I do autofocus. (I do however like and depend on autofocus in a few situations).

(The 20X & 3X AF lenses are not as easy to manually focus as the 14 X Manual focus or 16X MF Servo lens, so I prefer to combine some autofocus with manual focus when using the AF lenses). The Push AF button is also a nice feature (absent from the 20X lens).

One thing I've noticed with the 3X lens is that when you are using AF on say, a waist-tight shot of a person in the middle of the frame and autofocus is locked on the face, the focus will shift momentarily if the person's hands move even slightly towards the centre. Often the depth of field is enough with the 3X lens to just manually focus on the main subject and leave it locked on for a lot of the footage, and this will avoid the slight seesaw soft/sharp detail encountered when using only autofocus.

I do like to use the 3X lens a lot even though I rarely zoom and tend to leave it locked in the widest position, but also like to use the 20X IS lens + 0.7X FX HD Red Eye for ultra-steady footage when on choppy boats etc; or even combine the .7X with the 3X for ultra-wide angle stuff (and at that angle almost everything is in focus from tip of nose to mountain backdrop!).

Follow up - 3X focus problem in low light
 

Rehi Marko,

Sorry I didn't understand you're doing wedding shoots as opposed to a staged video shooting talent (where you could establish a focus). In that situation, I'm in complete agreement with everything Tony stated - well said!

Regards, Michael

Well, I was hoping mine was kinda of faulty, but seems like that's the way it is.
I realized that in lowlight my only option is manual focus and at good light the AF is not so bad.

Thanks for the reply guys!

Find your infinity focus. At 3.4mm full wide you should be able to lock off focus and everything over about 4 feet away should be in focus. The only real adjustment on that lens is within about 2 feet(at full wide) from the camera. The AF is hurting you by hunting through the range when it's almost totally unnecessary to do so unless you're right up in someone's face, when you are then push the button. Good Luck, Chuck.

Yeah, realized that the DOF is really deep so I'm better of doing the focus in manual.
Thanks

hey, I just got the 3x wide lens, and I shoot on boats in sunny conditions... and the autofocus definitely requires help... When I pan, it almosts brings the new subject into focus, but not quite... where then I either push the autofocus button a couple of times, or now as I do with the 20x due to the fast pace of filming, use a finger on the zoom and a finger on the focus rings, and as I'm moving about I gently zoom and focus at the same time... I thought there was something wrong with the 3x lens, so I guess it's kind of good to hear of someone else having the same thing.

Better Wide-angle XL2 Setup: Canon 3x or stock lens with adapter?
 

Double-post...please delete, mods!

3X Canon lens is kind of milky???
 

Hello All,

I have a Canon 3x that I bought off of ebay... maybe I was asking for it.

Anyway, I've been cleaning the surfaces carefully, but my footage appears a little milky... is there anything I need to do with the camera or should I call Canon or what?

thanks!

Sounds like it's going to have to go to canon. My guess is something is wrong internally.

3x lens ND filter specs?
 

Hi Guys,

I'm trying to come up with a comparison chart of F-stop/ND filters to help me maintain continuity when switching between different lenses. Does anyone know the specifications for the ND Filter on the 3x wide lens? 1/6, 1/32, etc. I've searched the forum, but couldn't find an answer for this in other threads.

Thanks.

3X Lens Questions
 

I recently bought a used Canon 3X lens. Seems to be in great shape, glass is good, no marks or scratches. But there are two things it's doing that I'm curious about.

First, when I zoom out the lens makes a very soft ticking sound. It happens whether I use the zoom rocker or spin it manually. It does not do it when I zoom in or when the camera is turned off. Should I be concerned about this? It does not seem to effect the function of the lens.

Second, when shooting in very low light the autofocus pulses in and out as it searches for focus. My 20X will do this a little in the same light but will find focus fairly quickly. Is it normal to have less low light sensitivity with the 3X lens?

Thanks,
Josh

Trade a 20x for a 3x...?
 

Since I hardly use the tele on my 20x lens, I was thinking of selling it, or trade it for a Canon 3x lens... unless someone can talk me out of it. Seeing on B&H that the 3x cost $330 less than a 20x, I wonder what could be a fair trade?

-- peer

Hi Peer,

Just so I understand your application with the 20x, are you just shooting at its widest angle, and not zooming in at all? If this is the case, then the 3x lens might be your answer.

As for me, we use the 3x about 80-90% of the time, and use the 20x for the rest. I find that both lenses are indisposable for our application (interviews, indoor, wildlife, landscapes, shallow/deep DOF, run and gun, etc.).

I guess if someone here were looking into buying an XL2 body only, you can sell them your 20x.

Best,

--JA
www.madjavaproductions.com

Yes, that's pretty much it. Still, I'd like to have some zooming capability, hence, I hope the 3x's full tele (i.e. 75mm) will be sufficient. I haven't found out yet.

Although I've ordered a Century .6x lens for my 20x, I don't like the idea that its image quality won't be as good as with a 3x installed. (It's funny though -- the older I get the shorter the lenses I want. I bet I'll end up using the .6x on the 3x ;^)

By the way, any suggestion how much I can get for my perfect 20x ?

-- peer

So does the 3x have different DOF properties properties than the 20x? I wouldn't assume so, as the imaging plane is the same. Is that correct?

Sam

Problem with 3x lens
 

I see looking through earlier threads that some of you have had the same problem as I have on my 3x wide angle lens. All of a sudden, in the middle of a shoot, i got the "Check Lens" message, followed shortly afterwards by a total loss of funcionality (no zoom, focus or appeture control).
Although this seems to be a "feature" of some of these lenses, no one actually states what the problem is and how easy it is to repair.
Can anyone enlighten me please.

I can now answer my own question as I have just received my lens back from the repairer. It needed a firmware upgrade. 1 week away and £70 worse off.

Why would a perfectly usable lens one minute suddenly need a firmware upgrade the next?

I suspect only the service tech who repaired it can give you the right answer, but since you seem to be looking for a guess... I'll make one.

An internal fuse blew.


Fuses blow because of two reasons. A surge in voltage, or a 'shock'. When they are older, they become more succeptable to either.

That's just a guess.

Not saying you did this, but one possible cause is to remove the lens while the camera still has power. Hot crossed contacts on removal equals zapped lens. Always power down or go to standby mode when changing lenses.