has anyone tried the screw-on wide angle lenses for the Xl cameras? I dont want to buy canons 6x wide angle lens because its so expensive. and I see there are a few companies selling 72mm screw on type. are these any good or is it more of a novelty? is the image distorted? thanks for any input

Hi Joe,

all WA lens convertors have barrel distortion some worse than others and it shows up on 16:9 HiDef pix. I got the Canon WD-H72 here ..

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/canon-xh-series-hdv-camcorders/485828-canon-wd-h72-wide-angle-adaptor.html

Cheers.

thanks Allan, Just hoping something out there is useable

The Canon WD-72 won't screw on the XL lens.....its only for the XHs. The back is too deep and hits the glass before the threads meet.

The Distributor 16 x 9 sells some 72 screw-on adapters and converters..

16X9inc.com

Also, most, if not all of the attachments amplify the CA in the corners of the picture. The 6x wide lens does not and is actually even better than the stock 20x lens.

Jim Martin
Filmtools.com

thanks Jim, I had a feeling the 6x lens was the only way to go. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't a cheaper functional option out there. too bad you don't get to choose the lens your xl-h1 gets shipped with!

The 6x wide zoom is the way to go if you're image critical, rich and don't want to go super-wide. Add-on wide-angle adapters generally do add to the CA and barrel distortion but in all things - you get what you pay for.