Need EF adaptor for XL1, who to trust?
 

I need an EF adpator to replace the 16xAuto I broke -- already have a box full of primes ready, but locating an EF adaptor is giving me a headache. I've been on eBay, Craigslist and a slew of photo/video sale sites, and if they're not in stock, a rip-off or selling broken merchandise -- I mean...I've seen these things go for $400 all the way to $720 --

Anyone know of a place I can trust with my boss' money? Anybody have an EF adaptor they'd like to sell?

Mods, if this needs to be moved, please do. Thanks.

-T

BTW, I shoot video for my church, and it's VERY dark in the main building. You can see examples of what I have to work with at the site:

http://church.newcc.org/sermons/Dyna...SermonList.asp

ANyone have low-cost suggestions for improving the lighting?

you will LOVE this site. i buy 80 percent of my equipment there
ken

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

http://www.dvinfo.net/sponsors of course!

Hopefully you are already aware that the EF adapter will magnify the field of view of your prime lenses by a factor of 7.2 times.

Here's one from the classifieds. By most accounts, these adapters are pretty robust. I have a used one, and short of scratching the optics or dropping it, I don't think too much can go wrong with them.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=104297

But you might be wasting the bosses' money.

As Chris pointed out - 7.2 x 50mm is over 350mm lens.
Even a 28mm x 7.2 is around 200mm.

They're great for telephoto but not medium or wide angle.

Ted,

Sending your 16xAuto lens to Canon Factory Service, or buying a new dedicated lens are your best options. Repair may cost you much less than new lens. EF adapters serve different purpose and also they won't give you that amazing image stabilizer performance that Auto lens gives.

Look for a used 16x auto lenses. That may be the better deal for your and ability to use the camcorder for other than long shots.

The stock 16x lens is something like 5.5-88mm focal length, with 88mm being full zoom.

The EF adapter does not change the focal length of the lens - it translates the lens-camera automation electronics protocols and provides a relay lens and a mounting adapter for the lens-to-CCD distance. Mounting a 28mm prime (whihc is fairly wide on a 35mm camera) on the EF adapter will give you a field of view that corresponds to mid-zoom on the stock lens, if you can work with that.

I was aware of the 7.2:1 mag. ratio -- and wanted to use the EF to shoot tighter on the speaker. Even at full zoom on the 16auto, it's not close enough. And with a set of lenses already available, the adapter is a no-brainer...

Thanks for pointing out DVinfo's sponsors...never saw that before.

Dear Ted,

I used to have an XL1s, with the 16x lens.

I later upgraded to the 20x lens from a brand new XL2. This lens is compatible with the XL1 and XL1s, XL2 (and the XL H1, but I would always use the XL H1 20x lens on the XL H1).

I also have the EF Adapter and appropriate prime lenes.

For your environment, I would not even consider the EF Adapter, the XL1s or XL2 lens would be much better.

Before I bought the EF Adapter, I would first listen to the experts who have used one, and then rent or borrow one.

You say you have a "set of lenes available", are these Canon EF lenses, or another line of Canon lenses?

The 7.2 times multiplication factor is a huge hurdle to using the EF adapter. And, your primes will not allow you to frame properly, unless you have a large set of lenes. Since you will be shooting in a church, your options to move the camera forward or back may be very limited.

I assume that you are aware that it is very important to turn the camera off each time you change lenses.

As you are aware, I have an XL2 lens available for sale. However, please do not think my advice is tainted. Ask others, and pay close attention to what has been written above.

An XL series lens with the Canon 1.6x tele-extender might be an option worth checking.

The 1.6x extender makes much more sense to me (or better yet, the 20x auto lens). EF lenses are fine for certain types of specialty work, but I can't understand using them for event videography. What if you have to change focal length during a shot? No way to do that smoothly on any EF zoom lens without a cumbersome work-around.

As Chris notes, an EF and prime combo is pretty much a 1-trick pony.

In any case, keeping a steady image may be difficult at the long focal lengths implied.

xl1s lens adapter and questions
 

I have the XL1s camera with the lens adapter and have used it with the tamron 400 lens,wirks fine but everything is manual control .It is large and heavy but the lens has tripod mount.
My question is can the XLs1 lens be fitted to a canon digital camera like the 5D,is there an adapter for that .
Also does this camera retain is money value,mine has 2hours on it

Check used camcorder sales venues, Craig's List, E-bay to see the extent to which XL1s retain value now that they are manufacturer discontinued.

To my knowledge no one has offered a mount adapter to put a XL1s lens on a non-XL series camcorder, especially a 35mm size body such as the 5D.

The value of doing this is highly questionable. The XL series lenses are designed for use on a camcorder with a nominal 1/3" image sensor, not a 35 mm still film frame that is nominally 7.2x wider. Performance with a larger image sensor would see significant fall-off of image quality outside design sensor size region as well as major vignetting.

Note that the 1/3" is not the actual physical size of the XL1s sensor, but is a relative term based on the size designations used for the imaging tubes in early television cameras.

lens adapter
 

thanks for the info ,you're right about using the video lens on a 5D,its just that the xl1s camera sits alot and it would be nice to get some extra use of the lens from the xl1s ,it is a good lens