I have recently acquired a canon hd 6x zoom xl 3.4-20.4 L lens for my xl h1 camcorder. I can't get the macro side of it working. It won't focus close up to a subject. What am I doing wrong. Any ideas?

There is a switch on the lens barrel that when set won't permit focus at closer than 1m in auto focus mode. This is to prevent it locking onto dust specks on the front element, water droplets on a UV filter etc. So make sure that switch is set to full focus range or be sure the lens is in manual focus mode. That's about all I can think of.

A.J.

Have you used one of these lenses for macro work and if so what are the results like?

That switch you mention is the one that allows you to select from macro right through to infinity? I've set it at macro and put the camcorder into manual mode but it didn't focus up close.

Is there another switch I've missed? I am at work right now so I don't have the lense to hand at the minute.

Thanks for the help.
Stan

Stan,

I'm also at work so can't go check anything but yes, that's the switch and yes, I did take one macro shot but have not done anything extensive in this mode. I'll play around with it some more this evening and see what I can find out.

A.J.

OK. Here's the most important part. The minumum focus distance depends on the focal length setting. At widest focal length I can apparently focus down to a few centimeters. The EVF display minimum indication is 0.1 m (10 cm) and I am able to focus that close. At longer focal lengths the minumum indicated setting goes up to about .3 m. According to the sheet that came with the lens the minimum focal distance at the wide setting is 2 cm (.02 m) and I can do that (though the display says 0.1m. At the maximum focal length the sheet says 50 cm and that appears to be about the best I can do.

A.J.

Thanks. I'll have another go at it.

Stan

The focus limiter will also allow faster AF as the lens has a shorter "distance" to travel to acquire focus. And yes, the shorter focal lengths will allow a closer focusing distance.

Cheers

WeeHan