Hello there,

I've been working with the XL1 and XL1s in conjunction with the standard 16x auto lens and the 3x wide-angle for some time now. I am fed up with both lenses. They do their job when you gotta be quick but in controlled situations I'd like to be more in control over the lens too. The servo driven zoom and focus is a pain. Also (and oddly enough, nobody has mentioned that so far, I believe) whenever I zoom via rocker or zoom ring, the focus ring does not respond. I find this a real pain too. Quite often I found myself zooming in with the super-slow crawl, realizing that my focus went off and left with no possibilities to rectify my focus without letting go from the zoom, thus ruining a potentially interesting shot. Obviously you'd check the focus zoomed in first, but sometimes things had to be rushed. Did you encounter the same problem?

Anyhow, I am thinking of getting a manual lens. As far as I can see there are three (adaptors aside), but correct me if I am wrong:

Canon 16x
Canon 14x
Fujinon/Optex 14x

I am a bit puzzled that people don't seem to bother too much that the Canon 16x has not got an iris ring. Is my thinking wrong that, if I get a manual lens, then I want it to be truly manual, down to the iris? Imagine the same scenario: super-slow-zoom in (I admit I love it), light situation changes, turning the wheel gives you nasty half stop jumps, thus ruining the shot again.
Has Canon's 14x an iris ring?
Are the Canon 14x and Fujinon 14x still available? How much are they?
Has Canons 14x a servo for the zoom?
Is my thinking right that a lens, with a mechanical iris ring AND capable of automatic exposure would need a servo for the iris? Does such a lens exist for the XL1(s)?
Why wouldn't it be possible to turn the iris to a desired position and the camera decides automatically on the apropriate shutter speed to get good exposure?
What are the problems if the lens doesn't talk to the camera at all, like the Fujinon does?
And one more; I never got that: what is the issue with white balancing not being possible in auto on those lenses. What has white balance got to do with the lens?
Also, I hear conflicting messages about their optical qualities. Any opinions on that?

Ups, sorry long message... Any reply appreciated. (Please excuse my English... it's not my mother tongue...)

Cheers to you all,

Oliver.

Only the Canon 16X is still current and available new. The Canon 14X was a great lens (I own one) and was discontinued several years ago, when the 16X was introduced. The Fuji 14X is a converted lens and only shows up occasionally on the used market (check our classifieds. Much has been already written on this subject, so you may want to do a search of previous posts.

Oliver,

Unlike Jeff said, the 14X lens is still available new for a lot cheaper than the 16X.

Check at theses stores:

EVS: http://www.evsonline.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=3161A002

B&H: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=186614&is=REG

Both lens are great! The 14X doesn't have servo zoom or built in ND filter, while the 16X can be switched to mechanical or servo zoom and have 2 built-in ND filter.

As you already said, the 14X has an iris ring. The 16X iris is controled via the iris wheel on the camera.

Hope this help,

The 14X lens from Canon is discontinued and some dealers may still have "old stock" on hand for sale. Sorry for the confusion in my prior post.

Jeff, Jean-Philippe,

thanks a lot for your replies!
If the Canon 14x has an iris ring, can the camera still choose an appropriate shutter speed to ensure correct exposure? (Was this a stupid question?)
If the Canon 14x hasn't got an built-in ND filter, whats the big deal in screwing one on at the top? Inferior image quality?
What about the issue with white-balancing?

Again, thanks you so much for your replies!

oliver.

Howdy from Texas,

Also (and oddly enough, nobody has mentioned that so far, I believe) whenever I zoom via rocker or zoom ring, the focus ring does not respond.

Actually we have discussed this here on the boards, but maybe not on the main site. See this current thread: Focus while Zooming (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=20262). Basically, it ain't possible on the auto (white) lenses for the XL1 / XL1S.

Has Canons 14x a servo for the zoom?

They are uncommon, but there are some third-party solutions which adapt an external drive motor for this lens.

Thanks Chris,

at least I know now that it isn't me but these bloody white lenses from Canon.
The Canon 14x servo for the zoom attachment: Any idea where you saw it? How would it conect to the zoom rocker?

Thanks for your reply!

oliver.

Also see this article (http://www.dvinfo.net/canon/articles/article82.php) on our site which discusses the 16x
lens in particular, but also compares it to the 14x lens and lists
the differences between the two.