canon lens for xl2

[Andrew M Astbury]

Originally Posted by Ashok Mansur

Hallo friends,
I am new to this forum, have xl2 keen on bird video. My question, is canon bringing out 200~400 f4, a constant aperture lens, like Nikon.
In my country ie India, we don't get Canon accessories. can U people advice me how to get EF adopter.
one more thing which is better XL 1.6 TC to EF
Thank you
Ashok

Hello Ashok

I too use my xl2 for a lot of avian video.
As a 30 year stills photographer I must admit to having the opinion that zoom lenses are never as good as the primes they are covering - I much prefer to use a couple of prime lenses.

The two primes I use mostly are both Sigma EX APO DG - namely the 300mm f2.8 a la Per Johan and the big 500mm f4.5
Because I still do stills and I'm a Nikon fan then both these lenses are Nikon fit and mount to my XL2 via an Optex mount converter.

Yes both setups have to be focussed manually but there again I would always do this anyway as the DOF when shooting small birds is so limited.
Having the EVF balanced to the output as best you can (factory settings are way off beam) enables confident manual exposure control.

Here's a quick web clip of a pied wagtail:

http://wildlifeinpixels.com/clips/pi...bps_Stream.mov

This was shot from just under 130 feet with the 500mm prime.

I know zoom lenses are useful if only to help frame the subject, and the Nikon 200-400 VR is on my shopping list - but only for stills - I have tried one very quickly on my XL2 and from 320 to 400 I could see a bit of 'chroma' creeping into the high contrast areas, only a very small amount but considerably more than a 500mm prime. On a Nikon D2Xs with a 1.5 form factor it's not visible at all but the 8x factor of the XL2 does make it detectable.

TC's - well they will always reduce your image quality no matter how expensive they are - sometimes you'll get away with it if your subject has a fairly high contrast range and is very well lit giving a decent aperture - but there's a trade off here too as the XL2 is somewhat 'defraction limited' to f8 - f11 (or at least my PAL one is!).

Hope this is useful to you Ashok

Regards

Andy

[Tony Davies-Patrick]

Originally Posted by Ashok Mansur

Tony, U did't specified which adapter I should use for Nikor lens.

http://www.lesbosher.co.uk/

Cick on Mount Adapters, and then on Canon XL1 (note that I found that the old adapter for the original XL1 fits the XL1 but does not click in to place correctly on the XL1s or XL2, so if you use the XL2 or XL-H1 inform Les Bosher when you order that you want the later XL2 Nikkor adapter).

[Ashok Mansur]

Thanks Andrew , Tony.
Atlast I had a contact in Newark, & able to place order with B&H, I hope it will reach me within a week. Will write about the experience of EF as well as Extension Tubes with 70~200 L IS 2.8. On Bonnelis Eagle.
Regards,
Ashok Mansur

[Chris Hurd]

We're looking forward to your report, Ashok... thanks in advance,

[Ashok Mansur]

It's wonderfull to use 70~200 f2.8 IS, but the view finder is not clear (poor lit ) even in broad day light. In the EF manual they clearly mentioned XL lenses are better to EF lens. Do we have 40X or 80X lens in Canon video lens which can be suited to XL2 by some means.
When I was going through RonsRail.com, Noticed Canon 14.5-480 S16 Cinema Lens (Optex Mod). Can anyone elaborate more on this lens or similar lenses.
Ashok Mansur

[Chris Hurd]

Originally Posted by Ashok Mansur

Do we have 40X or 80X lens in Canon video lens which can be suited to XL2 by some means.

No. However it is easily possible to more than double the focal length of the standard 20x XL lens. Add the Canon 1.6x extender between the XL lens and the camera body, and the Century / Schneider 1.6x teleconverter to the front of the lens. The result is 2.2 times the reach of the stock 20x lens at full telephoto. Hope this helps,