I have the four stage swing away and the follow focus.

I'm working on an XL H1 Lens Options article and hope to have it ready pretty soon.

;-)Thanks Chris. Looking forward in reading it!

Thanks Barry good to know.

Where do this XL-H1 body only rumors come from? I am in the process of buying a new HD camera... and the XL-H1 is definately an option. However, I do not really like the 20x HD lens that comes with it. So I am looking at the wide-angle lens. But that will bring the total to like $12,000. If I can buy the XL-H1 body only for $1000 cheaper, it will save me $1,000.

So it would be nice if someone can confirm this rumors. Chris might be the best person to tell if this is very likely to happen or only a rumor.

EDIT: Changed math

Post deleted, math corrected.

Will the new HD 6x have the same angle of view as the 3x?

Both starts at 3.4 mm focal length - should be the same angle/view. If you are planning to use two glass filters you should need one 4x4' tray and the second filter tray 4x5,65. If you just need one filter, 4x4' will work.

Just for the fun of it (and your drowling) a 6x attached to XL H1 enclosed.

ggghhhhhrrrllllmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..............

I am in the process of buying a new HD camera... and the XL-H1 is definately an option.I don't get it... just yesterday you said you were planning to buy an GY-HD200 or 250. Did you change your mind again? Re: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=77970

I am planning to buy a GY-HD200 or HD-250.

That's right Chris. At this moment, I am not too sure. All I know is that I am buying a Canon, Sony or JVC. I am in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at this moment where I had a hands-on with the Canon XL-H1 and I liked it quite a bit.

I am just getting as much information as possible before I am going into a store and buy one. And also, some of the camera's are not available yet. So it's hard to try them out. And like I said, I am planning to buy a camera, and my planning changes rapidly at this moment. Anyway, what you are saying is completly true. I just want to keep all options open.

Dear Floris,

For what it's worth: The Canon XL H1 has far exceeded my expectations.

For me, with much less than 20-20 vision in my right eye, and the general requirement of being in focus when using HD, I find the auto focus in the XL H1 to be fantastic.

Yes, there will be times that it may focus on the wrong object but overall I am very pleased. When this occurs, it is usually easy to get the camera to get it to focus on the correct object.

The low light performance also exceed my expectations.

Having the full set of timecode in/out, genlock, and HD-SDI makes for a wonderful camera.

I also realize that other HD cameras also produce a great picture, but I expected the XL H1 to let me down in some area, but it hasn't so far.

I expected problems with HDV, such as artifacts, but in normal viewing, I have not noticed any so far.

For me, the stabilizer (OIS) is very important whenever I am using the camera without a tripod. Personally, I would seriously miss this feature if it were absent.

I don't get it... just yesterday you said you were planning to buy an GY-HD200 or 250. Did you change your mind again? Re: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=77970
I don't get it either !

Floris - on October 21st you said you had placed your order for an XH-A1 :
Same here. Pre-ordered it yesterday. Hope it will arrive late October.

Honestly, it seems at the moment that you're changing your mind every 2 or 3 days on what machine you are buying! As lots of people have advised, i would wait until all these machines are in the stores (will be approx. one month until they are - V1 is now scheduled in Europe for 3rd or 4th week of November, and XH-A1 etc will be out there too by then) and then go try them out.

You say that there is no store near you with these machines. Even if the capital city of Holland doesn't have them (it should..) then buy a cheap plane ticket to London and go to a store there. Plenty of specialist photo retailers there. Plenty of cheap flights in Europe. I went London to Prague for GBP35 return a coupla years ago. Easyjet, Go + other airlines. Or go on Eurostar train direct to London Waterloo International. A day trip or a w/e in London is a very cheap price to pay for 'making the right choice for you' for your new machine, especially if your spending Eur5000++ for the cam and accessories.

Many people on this great board, including Tony, Chuck, Jay, Heath and Eric, have advised to go to a dealer to try them out before making a final decision.

Here are some of their comments on making a decision on a new cam :

Find yourself a good dealer and go check out the cameras. A good dealer should help you come to the right decision.

Find a television broadcast equipment dealer -- they won't be a retail store -- and ask about used eng gear.

get your hands on all the cameras your thinking about and check them out that way. Its the only way to really get what you want

Test the camera when it comes out at a dealer (a reputable one) and see how it feels, etc.

heath

I agree totally with Heath. I would add that it's not just about which camera is better but which one is better for your and your clients' situations and needs.

Excellent advice, Stu... a roundtrip ticket from Schiphol to Gatwick and back on EasyJet is less than 100 Euros, no overnight stay required, just a day trip to do some hands-on research. Floris, it's the best money you can spend and the best way to approach an expensive camera purchase. The "right" camera for you is the one which *feels best* in your hands. If you're serious about buying, take then please take Stu's advice. It's a little confusing trying to keep up with your rapidly changing decisions around here...

To yank this thread back to the subject.... B&H had the 6x listed for pre-order with a price of $2,699.95 Yikes, that's seems almost too cheap for an HD lens.

To yank this thread back to the subject.... B&H had the 6x listed for pre-order with a price of $2,699.95 Yikes, that's seems almost too cheap for an HD lens.
link? i cant find it.

Here is your link for the Canon XL H1 6x wide angle zoom.

It is my understanding that this could also be used on other Canon XL series cameras.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=464577&is=REG&addedTroughType=search

The pricing is excellent. Particularly when you take into consideration the difficulties of building a quality wide-angle zoom rated for HD resolution.

But that still won't prevent people from griping about the lens.

Do I read that right 3.4mm - 20mm. So effectively x7.2 = 20mm - 140mm.
Right now the 20x is 5.4 - 108mm or (x7.2) = 35 - 750mm (approximately)
So the 6x is covering just the 20-35mm range? Or am I missing something?

I know there are advantages re: lesser weight smaller size.

3.4*7.2 = 24.5 and 20*7.2 = 144 so the effective range of the 6x in 35 mm terms is 24.5 to 144 mm. The stock lens at 5.4 to 108 scales to 39 - 778 mm so what the 6x gives you that the 20x doesn't is the 24.5 to 39 mm range. Doesn't seem like much on paper but it implies a field of view 1.6 times larger than the 20x at it's mimimum setting and that can make a big difference when shooting, for example, in a tight space.

not to mention that zoom lenses like the 20x have a good bit of distortion at the wide end so you would likely achieve much less barrel distortion with the 6x in the 39mm-80mm range that you would on the 20x.

awesome. that price looks so cheap and makes me worry about the quality of the lens. but I'll have to try it out before i pass judgment. woohoo i was expecting it to be around $4000

The 6X was reported as arriving first week of Nov....

Anyone got their mits on this lense yet?

Hope Chris gets one for testing and reporting back.

Chris (hopefully :), we are eagerly awaiting for the first report on this lens as soon as its out or you can get your hands on a demo sample. I am very tempted to finally buy the HL-H1 (body + the 6X Wide Angle Lens as a pack). Also (and I may be pushing the envelope here) will there be any fish-eye or wider-angle adapter that could be used with this lens (as its so wide to start-with unless a very high-quality larger diameter wide attachment is used I'd count on severe vignetting, barrel distortion and chroma aberration issues).

Anyway, I cannot wait to see some footage and a user review. This is one sweet looking piece of optics. Go Canon! :)

Everybody is talking about a kit with the 6x wide. But as far as I know, Canon has not confirmed that there will be one. Some may think it is likely, but the Canon XL-H1 is modular and like the JVC GY-HD110, it's up to you to buy another lens for it. There are no different kits to say so.

Anyway, I am also interested in how this lens will perform. If it is good, this will be a no-brainer. Perfect wide-angle and an iris ring on the lens.

0Everybody is talking about a kit with the 6x wide. But as far as I know, Canon has not confirmed that there will be one. Some may think it is likely, but the Canon XL-H1 is modular and like the JVC GY-HD110, it's up to you to buy another lens for it. There are no different kits to say so.

Anyway, I am also interested in how this lens will perform. If it is good, this will be a no-brainer. Perfect wide-angle and an iris ring on the lens.If Canon does not sell the XL-H1 as body only option to match the new 6X Wide Angle Lens, they will lossse a lot of potential new sales. It is unrealistic in having to buy the 20x Zoom forcefully just for the body. That would put the whole kit (XL-H1 + 20x lens + 6X Wide Angle Lens) close to the $15K rpice range and that would make positively no sense as far as economics. For one thing for example, it would be out of my shopping lists instantly.

$8999 + $2999 = $11,998 which really isn't very close to $15K

B&H lists the 6x at $2699 so it's a bit cheaper than that

I got a quick look at the lens at HD EXPO in Universal City last week and it's gorgeous. It was extremely sharp edge to edge with zero vignetting at full wide. The lens looks almost identicle to the 20x so it makes a great companion lens.

I can't wait to get my hands on one.

Thank you very much for the report on the edge to edge sharpness - just what I wanted to hear!!!

How did the hand-held balance change? A little more balanced without hanging accessories on the rear bracket and increasing overall weight?

Unfortunately I didn't pick the camera up as it was mounted to a tri-pod on the display floor. The lens looks a little shorter than the 20x. It probably ways a little less too. So I'm sure that'll help balance.

I also noticed that the DOF was substantially shallower. It could've been the low-light/available-light nature of the show floor. And I didn't notice any CA.

Again, I only spent a short while with the lens while also talking with the great Canon reps.

$8999 + $2999 = $11,998 which really isn't very close to $15K...Very true, thank you for the update. Nonetheless, still a lot of money if any part of it is an investment of a component you will not make justifiable use of.I got a quick look at the lens at HD EXPO in Universal City last week and it's gorgeous. It was extremely sharp edge to edge with zero vignetting at full wide. The lens looks almost identical to the 20x so it makes a great companion lens...Thanks for the first-hand feedback Robert. That is great news indeed!

Unfortunately I didn't pick the camera up as it was mounted to a tri-pod on the display floor. The lens looks a little shorter than the 20x. It probably ways a little less too. So I'm sure that'll help balance.

I also noticed that the DOF was substantially shallower. It could've been the low-light/available-light nature of the show floor. And I didn't notice any CA.

Again, I only spent a short while with the lens while also talking with the great Canon reps.

If that's the case, I am sold. It would make the perfect companion to the H1 and the standard 20x stock lens. It would give 24mm - 800mm in 35mm terms, which covers practically everything you ever want to shoot. Furthermore, you can make better use of the sweetspots of each lens. As the 6X wide goes to 149mm, you can start using the 20x stock at like 100mm. The wide-angle and telephoto ends of lenses are always weaker (distortion, purple fringing etc.)

Looks like a real winner. And for $2300, a bargain if you ask me.

Hi,
According to a Canon web site the 6x wide angle zoom for the XL H1 is delayed by FCC in USA.

Was easier before when lenses didn't need electronics ... /Johan

Dear Johan,

Are you referring to this statement at the bottom of the 6x lens page:

"The Canon HD Video Lens 6x Zoom XL 3.4-20.4mm L has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until such authorization is obtained."

If so, then this is the standard statement that has been on this page since it was originally put on the website.

This only means that Canon has to obtain FCC approval before selling the lens, as is true of many electronic products. Canon should have approval by now.

The Wide Angle Lens is also officially listed on the Canon USA site:

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelFeaturesAct&fcategoryid=175&modelid=12152&pageno=0

If I'm reading this correctly that lens will fit all "L" series (L1 / L2) as well as "XL" Series (XL1 / XL1s / XL2) cameras...pretty nifty.

Wouldn't that make it the only cross series L and XL lens on the market???

If I'm reading this correctly that lens will fit all "L" series (L1 / L2) as well as "XL" Series...Sorry, but no you are not reading that correctly. As the text explains: Canon reserves the "L-Series" designation for its highest quality photographic lenses. The term "L series" is just a designator for the quality of the glass. This lens will not fit on a Canon L1 or L2 Hi-8 camcorder. The nomenclature for the lenses that mount on an L1 or L2 is the term "VL." VL mount lenses are not compatible with XL mount cameras and vice-versa, and due to the physical differences (diameter, etc.) between the XL and VL mounts, it is impossible to make a lens back that will fit both types. Hope this helps,

...This only means that Canon has to obtain FCC approval before selling the lens, as is true of many electronic products. Canon should have approval by now ....
Dear Dan,
Yes, I thought of this sentence. Didn't notice it until today. So you mean Canon has got the approval but their web page needs to be updated?
I thought they might be behind schedule due to this because I considered it as an explanation why maybe they were delayed. Otherwise I thought it was strange to list in their ads what kind of tests a thing needs to pass. This is just one of them. Why list only this among other qualifications? Strange to me or they would like to blame FCC perhaps for slow paperwork or something. /Johan

The webpages for the Canon XH-A1 and XH-G1 also say "coming soon" while hundreds or maybe thousands of people are already using them.

Canon needs to wake up if you ask me. I also would like to see a Canon representative on these boards now and then. Panasonic, JVC and many other companies like Cineform do a mucht better job in this regard.

Canon's Director of Product Development told me that they are prohibited from posting on forums.

He said it was especially frustrating at times, especially when a thread is essentially based on incorrect facts.

As painful as it is, they have to abide by Canon's company policy.

Dear Johan,

I don't think Canon is attempting to blame the FCC for any delay, if there is one.

They are required by law not to sell an electronic device that is capable of creating interference until it is tested and approved by the FCC.

So, this is just a normal disclaimer.

I do not know that Canon has approval, but I assume that they have. This is just a normal part of their development cycle.

Sorry, but no you are not reading that correctly. As the text explains: Canon reserves the "L-Series" designation for its highest quality photographic lenses. The term "L series" is just a designator for the quality of the glass. This lens will not fit on a Canon L1 or L2 Hi-8 camcorder. The nomenclature for the lenses that mount on an L1 or L2 is the term "VL." VL mount lenses are not compatible with XL mount cameras and vice-versa, and due to the physical differences (diameter, etc.) between the XL and VL mounts, it is impossible to make a lens back that will fit both types. Hope this helps,

Oh Ok, thanks Chris. My Mistake.

so i spoke to steven an production gear (uk sponsor) and he is sorting me out with one. will report as soon as its in my hands.

edit: just put down a deposit. should be with me early december. cant wait!

has any one got their hand on one yet?

I spoke to a Canon rep last Thursday and he estimated that the 6X wouldn't be available for about 2 - 3 weeks yet.

Ditto I spoke to my reseller about getting one for a shoot on the 21st (this was a week ago) he said that canon thought with expedited shipping it may make it on the 20th (this particular company seems to be about 3 days later then the estimate) was too much of a risk. (I don't want to plunk down the money if I don't at least have a couple of rentals or shoots with it lined up) Of course, now I KNOW I'll get one it's just a matter of when...

Anyone know if we will be able to mess with the new lens at this week's DV Expo?