letterbox with Canon XL1s

I cannot figure out how to shoot widescreen with my XL1s.

I know i can set it to 16:9 in the cameras menu, but then it gets all distorted in the viewfinder, and i certainly do not want to shoot with that.

I found how to get the 16:9 guidelines as well, but it doesn't affect the overall image in any way.

I am using Adobe Premiere, and i just want to shoot video that comes out looking like widescreen. But i see no letterbox function in the XL1s or in Adobe.

PLEASE HELP!

-Nick Norton

Shoot in the 16:9 mode and capture as anamorphic into your NLE
.

http://www.ikancorp.com/images/applications/v7000_apps.jpg

You'll want an external 16x9 monitor for framing. IKAN makes a pretty nice 7" one for about $349. http://www.ikancorp.com/

So you can view the footage normally while shooting, I'd recommend an LCD hood (hoodman.com) as well.

There a few other 5" models over at markertek too.