I'm thinking of getting the EF adapter and was wondering if it was worth it and what EF lenses do people find most useful (I'll be shooting a couple short films and a small indie feature with the camera)?

Also, would it be worth it to get the manual 16x zoom lens Canon made specifically for the XL, instead?

John,

I don't think that EF lenses are what you need for short films or feature films because the effective focal length of the lenses will be increased by about 7, i.e. a 100mm EF lens would give you the field of view of a 700mm lens on a 35mm still camera. People who shoot wildlife often use EF lenses on their XL camera.

The 16x manual lens is a different thing. It was developed for the XL series and is a great lens to have. However, as the stock AF lens, it falls a bit short at the wide end. Therefore the wide angle zoom lens might be interesting for you if you plan to shoot in confined spaces.

Thanks for the feedback. I guess the EF adapter isn't the best way to go.

The reason I wanted to either use the EF adapter or get the manual lens was so I could do follow focus with the camer (which can I could never really master without the aid of distance markings).

I guess my next question would be if there was a way I could do an accurate focus pull with the standard lens on the XL?

The standard 20x lens included with the XL2 allows you to set focus at a particular focal plane, focus on something else, and then return to that preset position repeatedly. See the controls for this on the fourth and fifth images down this page:

http://www.dvinfo.net/canonxl2/images/images07.php

Hi John,

Everything you want to know about the XL2:
http://www.dvinfo.net/canonxl2/index.php

including the guide to lens options:
http://www.dvinfo.net/canonxl2/articles/article04.php

and fields of view comparison:
http://www.dvinfo.net/canonxl2/articles/article10.php

All that info should make the decision easy! ;-)

I would suggest either the 20x with image stabilizer or the 3x wide angle. if you buy the body only you might want to consider the 16x manual, which won't have optical image stabilizer, but you should be using a tripod any ways (shame) i've used full tele plenty of times. and don't recomend the ef adapter unless you wanna get those big honkin tele lenses for sports, wildlife or spying like that one scene in "the italiian job" where they used the xl1 with one of them beasts.

I bought the xl2 with the 20x lens. Right away I realized that I needed the wide angle for groups in small rooms, etc. The I got the 16x manual which I really like, No auto focus , but it has exact markings for distance from the subject. And you could get a follow focus rig for that lens.
And don't forget the monochrome viewfinder...
Bruce yarock