I see these mechanical adapters for the xl1-xl2 that go from xl-pl, xl-nikon, xl-arri std etc... and was wondering why it is you loose 1 or 2 stops of light.

Is it because less light is directly reaching the CCD due to the difference in target size? or that film just requires less light and 16/35mm lenses are simply designed accordingly?

thanks for any info on the matter

Hi,
The reason you loose light is due to the the extra elements the light has to pass through before getting to the CCD. The ground glass inside such an adapter diffuses the light, which also prevents some of the light getting to the CCD. Also, any lenses inside, such as a PCX lens, will also cut down the light.

And lets not forget that the SLR lens itself cuts the light.

I'm talking about those adapters seen on websites such as XL1solutions.com. basically it's just an adapter that allows you to slap on a 16mm or 35mm lens directly to the xl mount. How is it that you loose light in that scenario. .......or do you?

i think the light loss might be very minimal. If there's any noticable at all its just from going through more glass

in their ebay adds they claim to maintain the same dof and focal length.. which obviously isnt possible.. i emailed them and asked them once about their claim.. and they never replied. look at these pics takes with a 8MM fisheye lens.. they look like thy were taken with something just a little bit wider than a 50mm

http://www.xl1solutions.com/Pelengn.htm

quote from the link posted above:

"Please note you do not get a fisheye image but when the lens is used with our Nikon mount you are able to get an extreme wide angle shot. If you were to purchase a lens in a 35MM format to achieve the same effect, you would have to spend in the range of $8000"


i can shoot the same picture with one of the many fd lenses i have bought off ebay for under $40 and with my letus which is extremely cheap get a better quality pic.... and those pics arent an "extreme wide shot" the 8mm by itself would have been though..

if you want one of these straight to your lens adapters i recommend www.adapterplace.com . the xl family adapters are good and cheap. or you can go with a letus with the ground glass