According to the website, this item is now availble. Has anyone ordered it or used it? What are the results? Is it still too early? I'm new to this, but very willing to learn. Can someone give me the basic explanation for the description use at the site below?

http://www.zgc.com/html/anamorphic_attachment.html#xl1

I'll have more info on this once I get back from COMDEX.

Have any reviews been done yet regarding the XL-1 and the anamorphic lens attachment?

Keep an eye on the Watchdog. If I'm lucky, I'll get a short one up assuming I can do a quick site update before I leave for DV Expo on Monday. Gonna be a busy weekend...

What is the latest report on the XL-1 Anamorphic Lens Attachment from Optex? Has anyone used it? Does it deliver on its widescreen look?

See the report on the XL1 Watchdog front page. Third paragraph down. It's been there since Nov. 30th, but I hope to update it soon.

I appreciate the info, I saw that a while back from Optex. I was looking to see if anyone has actually field tested one, offering his/her own personal opinion on its performance and giving those quirky little comments that usually help you "really" decide whether to purchase one or not.

Thank you for the update. I'm just surprised that no one has written anything on it, considering everyone was talking about it so much just a few months ago.

I also have another question, for what it's worth, could this attachment be used on a 3x Wide Angle Lens? Would that give a continuous stable usage of 530 lines of resolution throughout filming, maxing out the chips for an even cleaner picture, lessening any aliasing? Is the NTSC version capable of even more lines or is 530 the absolute maximum?

I have an NTSC. I know more and more people are talking about PAL. But I'm just trying to get the most out of my XL-1.

I kinda doubt it can be used with the 3x since it's inoperative at the wide end of the 16x. I'm gonna try to get ahold of one for a week or so, but it'll probably have to wait until the end of the month, the way things are shaping up right now.

The XL1's resolution is not a function of the lens but rather of the CCD's and circuitry. Also, although an anamorphic adapter may produce a truer 16:9 image to the cam I believe that, again, a truly anamorphic image again requires a different CCD set.

I think I understand what you are saying. I had read somewhere that if the CCDs are hit with too much information, a picture with high saturated colors and heavy contrast, it would not be capable of sampling that high, and so can create artifacts or aliasing or both, supposedly caused by the guesswork of the chips based on their own limitations. Something I would like not to believe.

The reasoning for my post was that I also read that the better the image to the CCDs, a cleaner picture by way of optical lens, the better the guesswork the chips will make, which would reduce those problems.

I would like more information as well, I would be excited to get it, but it seems like it wasn't really made for the XL1 but you can use it by getting an adaptor and not having the angle too wide, and not having the apature too wide and, and, and... It would be nice if they built one specifically for the XL1 but if there isn't better option in the next couple of months I'm probably going to buy it and do what I can with it.

so did you ever get the anamorphic?
let's hear some user reports...