Canon 14 x lens

Guy Meachin · December 21, 2004

If the Canon 14 x lens is so well thought of for the prosumer range - I believe the lens is the same as the Canon lenses used on more expensive cameras but with a different mount - then why does this lens 'barrel' so much!? It's really quite poor for focus pulls!

Phil Rhodes · December 22, 2004

Hi,

If you're talking about the lens sold for use on the XL1, then it's really a pretty cheap and nasty lens. Sure, it's better in some ways than the glass that comes with the camera - you can actually control it, for a start - but in the world of professional video lenses it's not much.

Phil

Guy Meachin · December 22, 2004

That's why I said it was quite a well respected 'prosumer lens'!

Tim Carroll · December 22, 2004

I am not sure what you mean by "barreling", but I have no problem pulling focus with my 14x lens. I bought it new and take very good care of it. Maybe the one you are using is damaged.

As far as it being a "pro" or "prosumer" lens, it was originally in Canon's "Pro" line of lenses, and in a previous post I gave the model number of the original lens that Canon changed the mount on. You can find it if you search the archives, I do not remember the model number. I do not know where it was in the Pro line, I would not be too surprised if it was more toward the bottom of the range. But the one we have has worked great for us and was well worth the investment three years ago when we bought it.

I have not heard if folks have used it on the new XL2 camera. And I would be interested in seeing how it stacks up with the 20x lens that comes with the new camera. Supposedly the 20x is an L series lens, and from my days as a photojournalist, I remember the old Canon FD lenses that were in the L series were superb lenses.

-Tim

Guy Meachin · December 23, 2004

What I meant was that when you pull focus with the 14 x (at least with mine) the lens zooms in/out slightly - presumably because the elements are moving inside! This effectively creates a new shot! Apparently this is a good way to tell a good lens from a poor quality one and you don't find this with film lenses.

I've noticed it on the larger canon lenses aswell - such as the lenses used for DigiBeta not sure of the model - Canon J8? Or is that the wide angle - cant remember.

Bit of a pain really!

Tim Carroll · December 23, 2004

What you are describing is referred to as "breathing", when the lens seems to zoom when you focus. I do not believe it is a "Quality of the lens" issue, but more of an issue with the way the elements in particular lenses are designed. We have a Zeiss 10-100 T2 lens for our Arri SR1 camera which breathes like an asthmatic marathon runner (in the words of Mitch Gross) and that lens goes for $4500 used.

-Tim

Phil Rhodes · December 23, 2004

Hi,

Very long zooms seem to breathe more, for some reason I'm not entirely clear on. Presumably something to do with the ratio of distances between bits of glass, as if that doesn't cover the entire field of lens design. I own a 20x video zoom which breathes badly.

Phil

Guy Meachin · December 23, 2004

Sorry I heard someone refer to it a s 'barrelling' I expect there's lots of different terms for the same thing around! The strange thing is that with the standard 16 x lens the XL1s comes with you don't get the 'breathing'!

Elhanan Matos · December 23, 2004

"Barrelling" or "barrel distortion" is the term used when vertical or horizontal lines bend outward towards the edges of the screen.

Guy Meachin · December 23, 2004

Yeh 'barrell distortion' is that but I thought 'barrelling' was different, obviously not!

Josh Bass · December 23, 2004

Thou shalt not compare a fine lens such as the 14x to the ISII (the default XL1s lens), or thout shalt be beaten upon many times with wet socks. That lens is notoriously soft.

I have the 16x manual, most definitely NOT a broadcast lens adapted to a prosumer camera (but a good approximation of one, lacking only the iris ring), and it breathes a little too. If you zoom all the way out and then adjust the focus ring, you will notice it zooming in a little bit. I never thought much about, just said "hummph". Now I say "Ah, I have been enlightened, and now knoweth that mine camera doth draw breath with every turn of the focus ring."

Tim Carroll · December 23, 2004

The 16x lens that the XL1S comes with is a whole different animal than the 14x lens, or the Zeiss I was refering to in the post above. It is a servo lens. There is no mechanical connection between the focus ring on that lens and the focus mechanism, which is why you cannot make a follow focus unit work with the lens. I am not sure how all of it works, but basically you have a sensor attached to the focus ring and it tells the electronics that you are moving the ring in one direction or the other. The electronics then tell the servo motor (that is adjusting the focus), to move a certain amount. The whole thing is very imprecise.

-Tim