On Thu, 01 Oct 1998 23:17:55 +0100, will.barker@NOSPAMsierra.com (Will) wrote:
>Bryan wrote:

>> I've gotten one quote from Southern Advantage for $1500
>> There has to be a cheaper price that this somewhere....
>> Any help out there?

>This is for Canon's own 3x Wide Angle Lens for the XL-1,
>I have seen estimates between $1,200 - $1,500.
>Other options are the Wide Angle Lens by Century Precision Optics.
>.8X Prices I have seen are $750 - $850
>http://www.centuryoptics.com/
>or one by Optex at
>http://www.zgc.com/html/wide_angle.html
>
>I don'r fully understand the differences between these Lens.
>Can anyone of knowledge shed some light on the subject of Wide Angle Lens
>for the Canon XL-1 ?

The Canon lens is a rear-bayonette interchangeable lens (you remove
the zoom that comes with the camcorder, and replace it with a whole
other shorter-FL zoom). The WA's above are front attachments that
are added to the existing lens. These have the advantage of being
relatively compact (short, but big around...), and they *can* be
sharp (with optimum combinations, and sometimes front spacing),
but sometimes aren't very good, expensive as they are). They use
the macro ability for focus, so their zoom range can be rather
limited (they are not "zoom through"...). There are also physically
deeper WA front converters (with more elements, and usually cheaper)
that are zoom through (and which can be very good optically), but
these are generally limited to lens front threads of about 52-55mm
maximum (I use .6X, .5X, and .42X converters of both types on my
VX-1000's with good results [the .42X and .6X are not zoom through
types]).