NATIONAL MOBILE TELEVISION TAKES
YOU OUT TO THE BALLGAME WITH CANON HD LENSES
Mobile Production Company Hits Homerun
With Selection of Canon HD Lenses for Their Newest Truck
LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., May 10, 2005—Motorists cruising
the highways in the San Francisco Bay Area these days
are likely to see the newest member of National Mobile
Television’s fleet of production trucks. From the
outside, HD10 may seem like your average 48-foot truck,
but inside is a high-tech HDTV production studio and storage
space for Grass Valley LDK-6000 cameras outfitted with
a variety of Canon HD lenses, including one DIGI SUPER100xs
(XJ100x9.3B IE-D), three DIGI SUPER 86 (XJ86x13.5B IE-D
TELE), four DIGI SUPER 75xs (XJ75x9.3B IE-D), and four
portable HJ22ex7.6B lenses.
Jerry Gepner, president of NMT says their long history
with Canon products helped them to decide which lenses
would be carried by the HD10. “We’ve used
Canon products extensively and we have had great success
with them,” he said. “In the past they have
held up well and the lenses have provided a very high-quality
product for us. The relationship between Canon and NMT
has been strong for a number of years. I suspect that
will continue in the future.”
HD10, which will be used primarily by FOX Sports Bay Area
for Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants baseball
games, was built by Venue Services Group, a subsidiary
of NMT, based in Moonachie, N.J.
Canon’s DIGI SUPER 100xs (the world’s first
triple-digit zoom lens), DIGI SUPER 86, and DIGI SUPER
75 all feature Canon’s second-generation built-in
optical Image Stabilizer (Shift-IS), engineered to overcome
the challenge of image-shaking at telephoto focal lengths;
the lenses are used extensively for coverage of major
sporting and entertainment events.
As pioneers of HDTV production, Gepner emphasizes the
importance of purchasing high-quality lenses. “Optically,
HD is much more demanding,” he says. “The
optics have to be more precise, the focus tracking in
the lens is more critical because of the increased definition.
The demand placed on the lens is significant in comparison
to SD lenses.”
To deliver world-class optics from any perspective, Canon’s
DIGI SUPER lenses feature the company’s unique XS
technology (exclusive X-element and Power Optical System)
for better specs and lighter weight. These technologies
encompass advanced computer-aided design techniques, special
optical materials, and specialized multilayer coatings
on each optical element. All Canon DIGI SUPER lenses incorporate
the company’s second-generation Digital Servo System,
which delivers improved ease of operation through many
features, including CAFS (Constant Angle Focusing System,
which employs built-in microcomputer control to eliminate
angle of view changes when operating the lens focus control).
The HJ22ex7.6B is a portable e-HDxs EFP lens featuring
Canon's Enhanced Digital “e-Drive” technology,
which allows users to customize the built-in miniature
digital servo system controls to facilitate high precision
and innovative creative adjustments to the lens operational
controls. These servo systems embody Canon’s new
16-bit optical rotary encoders for zoom, focus, and iris
using miniature components specifically developed by Canon.
This feature increases functionality and makes zoom and
focus controls highly precise and repeatable. These encoders
are anticipated to also play a major role in supplying
precision digital lens data as metadata systems evolve
for production.
NMT’s purchase continues the trend of production
companies transitioning to HD. “NMT has been producing
HDTV since 1998, longer than anybody in the business,”
said Gepner.
Gepner believes the service Canon provides separates them
from competitors. “Canon’s commitment has
been to provide a high level of service and support, and
that goes a very long way,” Gepner explained. “The
products that we buy, especially HD, are expensive. HD
television trucks cost between $7 million and $10 million
a piece. The support that you get from the manufacturers
whose technology you buy is absolutely critical.”
“Physically, the demands are still the same [as
SDTV],” explained Gepner.” We work in rain,
snow, sleet, and hundred-degree sun, but when dealing
with HD, the equipment needs to be much more precise with
regard to the image. When you couple that with the environmental
demands, you raise the degree of difficulty with respect
to the design of this equipment. Canon lenses have held
up extremely well.”
About Canon U.S.A., Inc. Canon U.S.A., Inc. delivers consumer,
business-to-business, and industrial imaging solutions.
The Company is listed as one of Fortune's Most Admired
Companies in America, and is ranked #35 on the BusinessWeek
list of "Top 100 Brands." Its parent company
Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ) is a top patent-holder of technology,
ranking third overall in the U.S. in 2004, with global
revenues of $33.3 billion. For more information, visit
www.usa.canon.com.
