Canon 3x wide angle lens

Tony Davies-Patrick · February 11th, 2006, 06:53 AM

The lower edges are indeed terrible...but the image is also very soft throughout the frame, even at the centre. Was the camera hand-held or on a tripod?

A. J. deLange · February 11th, 2006, 10:04 AM

This has been discussed extensively here. The 3x will not focus at the shortest focal length setting. You can verify this easily by zooming out to 10 mm, focusing on something and then resetting the zoom the the shortest F.L. The image will be out of focus. As you rotate the focus ring to bring it in it won't go quite far enough. Many people have reported this problem. I can't recall anyone having reported it fixed. If it is fixable I'd love to have it done.

MTF edge testing confirms that this lens is as sharp as the lens than Canon ships with the XL-H1 at its long setting but is appreciably blurrier at its shortest focal length which is, of course, the focal length we all bought the thing for.

Matthew Nayman · February 11th, 2006, 10:10 AM

Desipite the lens problems... that is an awsome location!
Details?

Mo Zee · February 12th, 2006, 05:18 AM

thanks for your replies. if i remember correctly, i just couldn't get focus for this particular shot. maybe because this scene was artificially lit & my iris was wide open? it is on a tripod.

here is the reverse using the 20x lens:
http://www.geocities.com/moiseszee/MAM20x.bmp

another shot with the 3x that seems in focus but with the edge blurred specially the left side, fstop 1.8:
http://www.geocities.com/moiseszee/MAMedgeblur2.bmp

3x lens at least fstop 5.6. looks ok
http://www.geocities.com/moiseszee/MAMglidecam3x.bmp

matthew, it's a church in the province. i forget the name. it didn't look that good because they painted the walls green. the warm light offsets it

Duncan Ross · February 12th, 2006, 01:37 PM

Dave
I had the same problem with my 3X zoom last year. See my thread that I posted. A PCB had expired, which was changed by one of their service centres here in the UK. I was surprised at how quickly the lens was turned round. I think they must have had a supply of these boards. I did expect to have to wait a few weeks. It could be a weak point. I also find it odd that you must power down the camera before a lens change. I can change lenses on my EOS1D digital SLR powered up so why can't I do the same on the XL2? I think the auto-focus could be better, mines goes out of focus as soon as you hit the zoom switch, then comes back in.

Thomas Thoren · April 18th, 2006, 11:53 AM

hello,
just got back from a 3 week trip to nepal. all went fine and the camera (xl2) held up excellent, except the 3x lens...
the first 2 days in kathmandu all equipment worked fine. the third day in the morning i changed to the 3x lens (i used it the day before as well), it said "check lens" in the view finder. i did. and then it worked for a few minutes. after that it started having its own will! after 6-7 sec of turning on the camera, the lens either went out of focus, black or totally overexposed (bright as the sun). the zoom didn't work from either manual or camera controlled. about 25% of the times i turned it on it stayed good.
i'm kinda hoping that it could be something that i can fix myself but doubt that.
it's still under warranty (bougth at bh)
anyone have any ides? anyone had similiar probs with their 3x?
should i just send it back!?
all the equipment is transported very carefully in a semihard camera pack.
appreciate any help
thanks
t

Matthew Nayman · April 18th, 2006, 11:56 AM

Is it possible you took the lens off wihtout powering down? You can blow a fuse in the lens if you do this! check the lens on another body first. Maybe at the store.

Thomas Thoren · April 18th, 2006, 12:00 PM

hi Matthew,
nope, i never changed a lens without powering down. the lens still works about 25% of the time. any other ideas?

Greg Boston · April 18th, 2006, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thomas Thoren

hello,
just got back from a 3 week trip to nepal. all went fine and the camera (xl2) held up excellent, except the 3x lens...
the first 2 days in kathmandu all equipment worked fine. the third day in the morning i changed to the 3x lens (i used it the day before as well), it said "check lens" in the view finder. i did. and then it worked for a few minutes. after that it started having its own will! after 6-7 sec of turning on the camera, the lens either went out of focus, black or totally overexposed (bright as the sun). the zoom didn't work from either manual or camera controlled. about 25% of the times i turned it on it stayed good.
i'm kinda hoping that it could be something that i can fix myself but doubt that.
it's still under warranty (bougth at bh)
anyone have any ides? anyone had similiar probs with their 3x?
should i just send it back!?
all the equipment is transported very carefully in a semihard camera pack.
appreciate any help
thanks
t

This sounds like an intermittent contact either inside the lens or on the external contacts. Is the lens working better since you returned? These contact issues can somtimes be the result of the climate you are operating in.

-gb-

Thomas Thoren · April 18th, 2006, 12:24 PM

its still the same.
sometimes the zoom work for about 3-4 sec. stops working and the screen goes out of focus. nothing works and then after tunring it off and then on again it sometimes work or it's still out of focus.

Webb Pickersgill · April 18th, 2006, 12:28 PM

Hi Thomas,
I know exactly what you're talking about. The same thing happend to me. I have never changed lenses without powering down, even still... my 3x lens died on me at the beginning of a shoot. I don't know what I could have done to prevent it... so it scares me to think it could happen again at any time.

Thomas Thoren · April 18th, 2006, 12:36 PM

hi Webb,
what did you do? did you send it back? did the warranty cover it?
yeah, i know. its scary. first i was really worried that it was the camera, then i would have been screwed... everything else works fine on the camera.

Bruce S. Yarock · April 18th, 2006, 03:25 PM

I just got MY 3x lens back from Canon New Jersey for the T H I R D T I M E!!!!
Each time it stopped zooming and focusing. I've only had the thing for a little over a year. I'd call it the "L" word, but am scared to jinx it, and hope that this fix works.( last time it took a shite on me in the middle of a fashion shoot).
Canon...can you say "Deseign flaw"? How about "quality control"?
Bruce Yarock

Webb Pickersgill · April 18th, 2006, 05:15 PM

Hi Thomas,
The lens was only a few months old, so I sent it to Canon repair in CA. Turn-around was about a week. I dont' know if it helped, but i mentioned in my notes that I use this lens to make my living so a quick turnaround would be appreciated.

To add to the @#$%-factor of the whole situation, when I got the lens back the back-focus was out, so I couldn't get anything to focus. Well, another $25 in shipping charges and another week or so later, I finally had my lens back and (crosses fingers) have not had problems with it since.

Bruce - I totally agree, I think Canon either has a design flaw and/or a QC problem. It's one thing for the lens to be bad, but for the service department to fix one problem and create another was unacceptable. Oh well.

Greg Boston · April 18th, 2006, 05:46 PM

I don't like to throw stones at anyone, including Canon. I can say from previous threads on this forum only and not from personal experience that the New Jersey repair center seems to have a better track record on fixing it right the first time. Luckily, I haven't needed their services yet.

regards,

-gb-

February 11th, 2006, 06:53 AM	#241
Tony Davies-Patrick Trustee Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Worldwide Posts: 1,589	The lower edges are indeed terrible...but the image is also very soft throughout the frame, even at the centre. Was the camera hand-held or on a tripod? __________________ www.WILDCARP.com www.NIKON.me.uk

February 12th, 2006, 01:37 PM	#245
Duncan Ross Tourist Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 4	3X zoom failure Dave I had the same problem with my 3X zoom last year. See my thread that I posted. A PCB had expired, which was changed by one of their service centres here in the UK. I was surprised at how quickly the lens was turned round. I think they must have had a supply of these boards. I did expect to have to wait a few weeks. It could be a weak point. I also find it odd that you must power down the camera before a lens change. I can change lenses on my EOS1D digital SLR powered up so why can't I do the same on the XL2? I think the auto-focus could be better, mines goes out of focus as soon as you hit the zoom switch, then comes back in.

April 18th, 2006, 11:53 AM	#246
Thomas Thoren New Boot Join Date: May 2005 Location: tyringe, sweden Posts: 17	3x lens malfunction hello, just got back from a 3 week trip to nepal. all went fine and the camera (xl2) held up excellent, except the 3x lens... the first 2 days in kathmandu all equipment worked fine. the third day in the morning i changed to the 3x lens (i used it the day before as well), it said "check lens" in the view finder. i did. and then it worked for a few minutes. after that it started having its own will! after 6-7 sec of turning on the camera, the lens either went out of focus, black or totally overexposed (bright as the sun). the zoom didn't work from either manual or camera controlled. about 25% of the times i turned it on it stayed good. i'm kinda hoping that it could be something that i can fix myself but doubt that. it's still under warranty (bougth at bh) anyone have any ides? anyone had similiar probs with their 3x? should i just send it back!? all the equipment is transported very carefully in a semihard camera pack. appreciate any help thanks t

April 18th, 2006, 12:28 PM	#251
Webb Pickersgill Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Louisville, CO Posts: 204	Hi Thomas, I know exactly what you're talking about. The same thing happend to me. I have never changed lenses without powering down, even still... my 3x lens died on me at the beginning of a shoot. I don't know what I could have done to prevent it... so it scares me to think it could happen again at any time. __________________ Webb Pickersgill Bassline Digital, LLC

April 18th, 2006, 05:15 PM	#254
Webb Pickersgill Major Player Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Louisville, CO Posts: 204	Hi Thomas, The lens was only a few months old, so I sent it to Canon repair in CA. Turn-around was about a week. I dont' know if it helped, but i mentioned in my notes that I use this lens to make my living so a quick turnaround would be appreciated. To add to the @#$%-factor of the whole situation, when I got the lens back the back-focus was out, so I couldn't get anything to focus. Well, another $25 in shipping charges and another week or so later, I finally had my lens back and (crosses fingers) have not had problems with it since. Bruce - I totally agree, I think Canon either has a design flaw and/or a QC problem. It's one thing for the lens to be bad, but for the service department to fix one problem and create another was unacceptable. Oh well. __________________ Webb Pickersgill Bassline Digital, LLC

February 11th, 2006, 10:04 AM	#242
A. J. deLange Major Player Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: McLean, VA United States Posts: 749	This has been discussed extensively here. The 3x will not focus at the shortest focal length setting. You can verify this easily by zooming out to 10 mm, focusing on something and then resetting the zoom the the shortest F.L. The image will be out of focus. As you rotate the focus ring to bring it in it won't go quite far enough. Many people have reported this problem. I can't recall anyone having reported it fixed. If it is fixable I'd love to have it done. MTF edge testing confirms that this lens is as sharp as the lens than Canon ships with the XL-H1 at its long setting but is appreciably blurrier at its shortest focal length which is, of course, the focal length we all bought the thing for.

February 11th, 2006, 10:10 AM	#243
Matthew Nayman Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Toronto Posts: 917	Desipite the lens problems... that is an awsome location! Details?

February 12th, 2006, 05:18 AM	#244
Mo Zee Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: manila, philippines Posts: 102	thanks for your replies. if i remember correctly, i just couldn't get focus for this particular shot. maybe because this scene was artificially lit & my iris was wide open? it is on a tripod. here is the reverse using the 20x lens: http://www.geocities.com/moiseszee/MAM20x.bmp another shot with the 3x that seems in focus but with the edge blurred specially the left side, fstop 1.8: http://www.geocities.com/moiseszee/MAMedgeblur2.bmp 3x lens at least fstop 5.6. looks ok http://www.geocities.com/moiseszee/MAMglidecam3x.bmp matthew, it's a church in the province. i forget the name. it didn't look that good because they painted the walls green. the warm light offsets it

April 18th, 2006, 11:56 AM	#247
Matthew Nayman Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Toronto Posts: 917	Is it possible you took the lens off wihtout powering down? You can blow a fuse in the lens if you do this! check the lens on another body first. Maybe at the store.

April 18th, 2006, 12:00 PM	#248
Thomas Thoren New Boot Join Date: May 2005 Location: tyringe, sweden Posts: 17	hi Matthew, nope, i never changed a lens without powering down. the lens still works about 25% of the time. any other ideas?

April 18th, 2006, 12:24 PM	#250
Thomas Thoren New Boot Join Date: May 2005 Location: tyringe, sweden Posts: 17	its still the same. sometimes the zoom work for about 3-4 sec. stops working and the screen goes out of focus. nothing works and then after tunring it off and then on again it sometimes work or it's still out of focus.

April 18th, 2006, 12:36 PM	#252
Thomas Thoren New Boot Join Date: May 2005 Location: tyringe, sweden Posts: 17	hi Webb, what did you do? did you send it back? did the warranty cover it? yeah, i know. its scary. first i was really worried that it was the camera, then i would have been screwed... everything else works fine on the camera.

April 18th, 2006, 03:25 PM	#253
Bruce S. Yarock Trustee Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pembroke Pines, Fl. Posts: 1,842	I just got MY 3x lens back from Canon New Jersey for the T H I R D T I M E!!!! Each time it stopped zooming and focusing. I've only had the thing for a little over a year. I'd call it the "L" word, but am scared to jinx it, and hope that this fix works.( last time it took a shite on me in the middle of a fashion shoot). Canon...can you say "Deseign flaw"? How about "quality control"? Bruce Yarock

April 18th, 2006, 05:46 PM	#255
Greg Boston Wrangler Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: DFW area, TX Posts: 6,117 Images: 1	I don't like to throw stones at anyone, including Canon. I can say from previous threads on this forum only and not from personal experience that the New Jersey repair center seems to have a better track record on fixing it right the first time. Luckily, I haven't needed their services yet. regards, -gb-