shortcoming #2: iris control

[Rand Michael]

in addition to the lack of balanced-line level audio I wanted to brign up another issue

First of all, my camera arrived today and I absolutely love it. The flexibility with pedestal, setup level, cine gamma curves etc (and of course 24p) make this camera worthy.

My issue is with the iris adjustment. Ideally, we would have a lens with built in iris control like typically found, but I would have been fine with the existing electronic iris wheel found on the xl1.

The xl2 has an iris "switch" of sorts....iris up or down is very slow. I timed it from 1.6 to close and it took 12+ seconds. With the xl1 you could "roll" the iris wheel and get a relatively smooth change in exposure. With the 2, not only is it slow but the increments or steps are obvious becuase of the fact that it is not "rolling fast"

Could someone please educate me on this and prove me wrong. I would like to be proved wrong and am shocked with this engineering flaw

Still love the camera regardless and would buy it again. This is not a deal breaker just a pain and will reflect poorly on the shooter.

By the way, I'm using the 16x manual. I did test this with the 20x lens also


Rand M

[Jacques Mersereau]

One of the things I really wanted Canon to upgrade was the iris.
The wheel I thought was great and well placed, but I wanted the
changes to be smooth and not stepped.

So each stop has a noticable "click" down and takes longer?
Is the wheel still in the same place?

[Christopher Reynolds]

From the look of the pictures, yes the wheel is still in the same place on that protruding nub/balancing leg. I was also concerned with the look of the new iris "wheel". It gives me a pain in my gut to hear how this new iris control works, but as you said, it would not prevent me from buying the XL2. I have an assumption about this wheel that maybe they designed it so it could not be as easily bumped during a shoot and alter the image someone was going for. Is it a tension switch/wheel so you actually have to put a small amount of force on the wheel to change the iris? Either way, I can sacrafice a certain shot's quality with my XL1s if I need to do a rapid change in iris aperture.

[Jacques Mersereau]

But you have to admit that when the sun pops out from behind
a cloud that a gradually closing iris will look better than
three obvious clicks.

[Christopher Go]

I plan on purchasing the 14X manual lens and a body kit in the future. The iris control on this manual lens should be able to compensate for this "shortcoming" correct?

[Jim Giberti]

I have to say the iris "wheel/switch" is probably my least favorite step backward, and I agree a lack of XLR attenuation is a real duh on Canon's part. It is easy enough to pad if you need regular line feeds for event work, so it's a sort of dumb but to egregious. But the iris control seems really bizzare for a system design that's pretty spanky otherwise, and like I said before, it's way too cheap feeling for a camera of this level.

It's like the audio and iris team were drinking too much or something.

In regard to the 14x manual, yes this will alleviate any iris issues. In fact I've never used the on camera iris wheel on the XL1 ir XL1s.With the XL2 my intention is to use the 14x for any controlled lighting situations that I'm not Mini 35ing and using the 20x for most field acquisition...I'm liking the 20X more each time I pick it up.

[Jacques Mersereau]

Hold on there Hoss!!! ;)

You mean there is no volume control when using the XLR jacks?
Or no built in pad when taking +4db line level?

"Taking a Deep Breath" Mersereau

[Greg Milneck]

<<<-- Originally posted by Jacques Mersereau : Hold on there Hoss!!! ;)

You mean there is no volume control when using the XLR jacks?
Or no built in pad when taking +4db line level?

"Taking a Deep Breath" Mersereau -->>>

Yes, of course ther is volume control....what is missing is a LINE in on the XLR inputs. The only line input is via the unbalanced RCA connectors.

See other thread for discussion on line in, or lack of.

[Aaron Koolen]

For those of you who are wondering about the "flick" switch iris on the XL2 go try out an GL2 as it's the same, to see if it will drive you insane. I have an XM2 (PAL GL2) and the iris control drives me nuts. It's fiddly, weak feeling and slow - it's just the most stupid way to change iris aperture. A $5000 camera with an iris control like this is laughable.

Sure you can get the 14x manual, but then your screw on orientation dependent filters won't be too useful...

Aaron

[Greg Boston]

The 'new' iris control also doubles as the menu navigation/selection combo. The XL-1 had dedicated buttons for those functions. I guess Canon decided it would be too difficult to navigate a menu with a wheel. Kind of funny cause that's exactly how you get around the menus on the 953...with the iris/shutter wheel, and it works just fine.

Oh well, grow and adapt I guess.

[Aaron Koolen]

Yes, you don't have much choice, grow and adapt as you say. But I would like to see how much peope enjoy that adaption process. I've had my XM2 for 2 years now, and that thing still annoys the crap out of me.

I wonder if they did any surveys to find out if people liked it or if they just did it cause they wanted to?

Aaron

[Christopher Go]

Sure you can get the 14x manual, but then your screw on orientation dependent filters won't be too useful...

Very true, that's a good point. Fortunately, I already purchased a Chrosziel mattebox with rods, and according to Charles Papert, this will allow me to use filters with no problem on the 14X manual lens.

But an expensive mattebox and a manual lens is a lot to compensate for what could have been a smoother implementation of controlling iris! I'm only getting the 14X manual because of Charles' recommendations and because I want to do narrative work with the camera.

Otherwise, I guess I could see this as one of the drawbacks of this camera. I'd be more concerned about how the audio holds up though.

[Aaron Koolen]

Yeah it will be good when Jay Rose gets hold of one of the cams to do some tests on its sound.

Aaron