Soft focus 16x9 mode XL1s
 

Foa a long time I have avoided using the 16x9 mode on the XL1s. When I have used the mode recently have noticed 16X9 mode softens the clarity of the recorded images. Enough so I am hesitant to use the feature again. It appears the electronic stretching of the image to 16X9 degrades image quality. For those who have used the 16x9 feature, is this normal?

I haven't used this mode much but it does reduce resolution. These cameras we not designed with 16x9 CCDs as they were extremely expensive then.

I shoot 3x4 and letterbox in post. I'm happy with my results.

Yes, it's normal. You should expect a significant loss of resolution when using this mode.

Technically, vertical resolution is lower in 16x9. Practically, does it matter? These are handheld shots in frame mode using 16x9 aspect ratio on the XL1s. I think they are pretty good for SD.

I must wonder why it is being said resolution loss is signifcant in 16 x 9 mode.
If you shoot in normal 4 x 3 and turn on the 16 x 9 guides then crop in post you will lose resolution.However shooting in 16:9 effect mode will still use all the pixels both vertical and horizontal and then restretch in post.
On some other cameras the image is simply cropped in camera and all pixels are not used.
A slight lose may occur in the xl1S during the compression and bearing in mind it is still 720 x 480 I find the image very close in resolution to the 4 x 3 image at the same picture width.