How is the optical quality of the manual lens for the XL2 - compared to the other "auto" XL2 lenses? I've spent some time with those crazy, infinitely spinning, lens barrels. Please tell me there is a viable (quality) alternative for finishing on film. I'm aware of the Cine and Digi Primes alternative.
Thanks.

Bill I use the 14x manual and have been extremely happy with it, I'm not sure how it will hold up on the xl2 (I had an xl1) but I think it will still be ok, the newer (for now) manual lens is a 16x and I hear it's good but I think it might not be worth the cost for me to swap it. Chris has pretty comprehensive comparison on the watchdog section of this site.

As far as the digi primes it was my understanding that those were b4 mount lenses and not capable of being mounted to the xl series bodies. I could be wrong on this. I believe that even the mini 35 doesn't have b4 mount capabilities. I do think that you can still use a mini 35 with zeiss super speeds or cooke s4's if you'd like to have prime lenses on an xl2.

Thanks Nick, I somehow missed the fact that the 16X was a new lens, and, like the XL2, has not been widely available for comparison to the "auto"s optics. Thanks also for Chris's link.

The 16X manual lens is not so new. It was released at about the same time the release of the XL1S and replaced the 14X. Most users have reported that the 14X was extremly sharp, even sharper than the "new" 16X manual lens and defninitly a great improvement from the auto 16X. But it is impossible at this point (too early) to put a judgement between these manual lenses and the new 20X auto lens. These two lenses will certainly shine with the new improved resolution of the XL2.

I think the 16x Manual Servo and the 14x Manual lenses will be excellent on the XL2. The resolution increase won't put these lenses on the sideline at all.

You can read more about the 16x Manual Servo here (http://www.dvinfo.net/canon/articles/article82.php).

Thanks guys, I look forward to using this combination of manual lens(es) and the XL2.

What do you think the chances are that Canon will release an updated manual lens?

Well, as you know, they really like to keep those things secret.