Xl2 on the way

[Michele Coser]

I have ordered an XL2 and i'm waiting for. I have a question: i have this Yashica non-digital reflex; i can attach the yashica lens to the xl2 body? Is this something dangerous or i can do without problems; and, do i need an adapter?

http://img433.imageshack.us/my.php?i...scf1282wi4.jpg

[Tony Davies-Patrick]

Originally Posted by Michele Coser

I have ordered an XL2 and i'm waiting for. I have a question: i have this Yashica non-digital reflex; i can attach the yashica lens to the xl2 body? Is this something dangerous or i can do without problems; and, do i need an adapter?

http://img433.imageshack.us/my.php?i...scf1282wi4.jpg

Only Canon XL DV lenses can be bayoneted directly on to the XL2, all other lenses need an adapter. The Canon EOS adapter will allow Canon EF lenses to work on the XL2. There are adapters also for the Canon manual FD SLR lenses and the Nikon Nikkor lenses. Several other adapters for lenses from other DV and film cameras are available.
I do not know of any Yashica/Contax bayonet adapters for the XL1/XL2/Xl-H1 bodies, but one could be made if you required one.

[Allen McLaughlin]

Originally Posted by Tony Davies-Patrick

Only Canon XL DV lenses can be bayoneted directly on to the XL2, all other lenses need an adapter. The Canon EOS adapter will allow Canon EF lenses to work on the XL2. There are adapters also for the Canon manual FD SLR lenses and the Nikon Nikkor lenses. Several other adapters for lenses from other DV and film cameras are available.
I do not know of any Yashica/Contax bayonet adapters for the XL1/XL2/Xl-H1 bodies, but one could be made if you required one.

What he said, and don't forget the huge difference between 35mm film format and the image sensor chips in the XL-2. Your lens will look many times 'zoomed in' compared to how it looks on your SLR, even if you can get hold of a lens adaptor for the XL-2.

This extract taken from the lens article on the XL-2 Watchdog...

By using the optional EF adapter, you can match your XL2 to any one of the huge assortment of Canon EOS photography lenses. Since these lenses are designed for 35mm still photo cameras, and because the XL2's image plane is a bit smaller than one-third inch in size, there is a magnification factor of at least 7.8 applied to the focal length of the EOS lens, depending on which aspect ratio you're using. For instance, if you mounted a 200mm EOS lens on your XL2, the effective focal length works out to 1560mm, which is a much longer telephoto shot than the standard 20x video lens is capable of. When you use Canon's really big EOS lenses, such as the 400mm, 500mm and 600mm lenses, the resulting magnification is like turning the XL2 into a telescope... perfect for some limited applications such as surveillance or wildlife videography. It's also possible to mount a wide-angle prime lens, combined with a wide-angle adapter, to achieve a medium focal length video lens with the quality of Canon EOS glass.

http://www.dvinfo.net/canonxl2/articles/article04.php

[Michele Coser]

Thanx to you all for the info. That yashica lenses were good, varing from a good wide angle to a good tele. Knowing that the XL2 has already a more tele lens, one of the first accessiories i will be buy is a wide angle lens.

[Tony Davies-Patrick]

Try to remember that 35mm SLR wide angle lenses - even 18mm, 15mm, or 12mm super wides, will not provide a wide angle view on the XL2 - unless you go for the P+S Technik Mini35 and PRO35 Digital Image Converters - that are quite cumbersome and expensive.

The best options for obtaining wide angle footage are the Canon AF 3X SD lens and the much more expensive Canon AF 6X HDV lens.

If you want to keep the IS of the main Canon AF 20X lens (not always needed for wide angle, but helps in some circumstances) then wide angle adapters are the best option. There are some cheap 72mm thread wide-angle converters selling online, but most do not provide decent image quality.
The best three companies that make top-quality wide-angle converters are the Century, Red Eye, and Optex.

The .7X in 72mm thread are the best ones to go for.

Century sell models that offer zoom-through and also non-zoom-through where the master lens (20X or 16X) must remain at the widest setting.

Red Eye offer two different models - the 72mm .7X SD and the 72mm FX HDV (They also make an ultra-wide .5X FX model in HDV). I use the SD version a lot for my wide-angle filming and can recommended it. Filters, bellows, matt-box and even the regular Canon lens hood can all be used with the Red Eye lenses. I will also be using the newest version higher quality FX HDV model soon on my next major project during early 2007 (I'll let you know how I get on).

Optex have ceased trading, but I used their .7X wide angle lens converter for a lot of filming and was impressed with the results on both 16X and 20X lenses. One of the problems with the Optex model is that it is a huge chunk of glass, which not only attracts a great deal of airborne particles and dust, but also makes it difficult to use any filters, hoods, matte box or bellows – and that is why I eventually sold it in preference for the Red Eye.

[Allen McLaughlin]

Bloody hell Tony, what type of lens do you need to capture that huge mother of a fish on your homepage ???

[Tony Davies-Patrick]

Originally Posted by Allen McLaughlin

Bloody hell Tony, what type of lens do you need to capture that huge mother of a fish on your homepage ???

Ha ha! I used a rod, not a lens!

(The Great White Sturgeon was returned alive unharmed after capture).

[Michele Coser]

Thanx for all the info again. I've searched through many sites for acessiories, i will probably buy a Cavision 0.6 wide angle and a battery. Did you know if non-canon battery can cause problems?

[Allen McLaughlin]

Originally Posted by Michele Coser

Thanx for all the info again. I've searched through many sites for acessiories, i will probably buy a Cavision 0.6 wide angle and a battery. Did you know if non-canon battery can cause problems?

I've been using 'non-Canon' batteries with no problems Michele, I've got three of these http://www.cheap-camcorder-batteries...non-bp-945.htm

Canon of course will hint that non branded batteries will make your camcorder "explode" the minute you apply a cheaper battery, but then again Epson say the same 'things' about non Epson inks for my printer (lol)...

[Michele Coser]

Oh, and another question: did anyone experience problems with outside temperature? I got an answer from the shop and they said me that they're sending the camera the first days of the next week. Actually here we are around zero ° (sometimes more, sometimes less). On the Xl2 brochure said that the temperature is beetween 0 and 40 °.

[Grant Sherman]

Take a look at Per Johan's footage of Musk Ox. It's in the "Under Water, Over Land" section. He takes his camera into the mountains of Norway. Some of the snow looks to be below zero ;-)

[Dale Guthormsen]

Darn few shoot in any colder temps than we get here in Saskatchewan.

I use my gl2 and xl2 in temperatures down to -25 to -30 celsius (at -40 celsius and farenheit arre the same). I have got plenty of fine footage in these conditions.
I leave my camera in the bag behind my seat in the truck. I take it out and shoot in the cold. the camera is cold enough that you do not get condensation on the lens. the biggest problem is bringing them back into the warm. Leave the camera in the case in the truck. then bring it into the porch (closed in but not heated) and then after a bit bring it into the house. leave it in the bag to slowly warm up. you will have no problems with condensation this way. Never once on either camera has the condensation message come up for me.

If it is colder than -30 I shoot from the inside of my vehicle most the time.

If it is colder than that, and you make a bad mistake you can die out there.

Remember if you leave your vehicle running (a common practice as you do not want it to not start back up) while you leave it to get some footage do not leave the fan running on the heater!! if the motor stalls the fan runs and drains your battery in a short time. If you arre out in the boonies, then maybe use your video camera to make a last will and testment (see, you became an event videograher after all!).

[Michele Coser]

Well... i hope i don't reach those temperatures. I'm still wating, maybe tomorrow...

[Allen McLaughlin]

I think the most trouble I've had in low temperatures is when you take the camera from outdoors to indoors and it suffers from internal lens condensation. All you can do is let it warm up naturally in that case.

[Michele Coser]

Finally it's here... arrived today at 12 am... just testing it out.