Zoom and Optical Image Stabilization Features of Canon’s XJ100x9.3BIE-D HDTV/SDTV Field Lens Provide Championship Performance for Pay-Per-View Event

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., August 29, 2005—A major Las Vegas boxing event was no match for the Canon DIGI Super 100xs lens, which helped mobile television specialists New Century Productions (NCP) vividly capture the spectacle for the ESPN cable network. NCP routinely employs the extreme reach of the Canon DIGI SUPER 100xs (model XJ100x9.3BIE-D) for boxing, as well as a wide range of other standard- and high-definition sports productions.

“The Canon DIGI SUPER 100xs is indispensable for football, basketball, baseball—anywhere that you’ve got to be on top of your subject,” said Jack Pakkala, Engineer in Charge of the NCP 7 mobile production truck. “In baseball, we can have the
DIGI SUPER 100xs in center field, 420 feet from the batter, and you can zoom in on the sweat dripping off of his forehead. The operators love it, and it gives producers and directors access to a fabulous level of detail.”

Perfectly complementing the impressive 9.3~930 mm (1860 mm with Extender) focal length range of the DIGI SUPER 100xs is Canon’s superior built-in Optical Image Stabilization (Shift-IS) system, which provides viewers with shake-free images even at extreme telephoto distances.

“The Shift-IS system is a big asset in stabilization,” Pakkala said. “When you’re zooming in tight while on a vibrating platform, Canon’s Shift-IS smoothes the shot out very nicely. Optically, this lens allows the camera to put out its best possible image. Like all of our Canon lenses, the DIGI SUPER 100xs is fairly fast. For example, we have no problems with light gathering in a relatively dark stadium.”

The DIGI SUPER 100xs is the world’s first triple-digit zoom lens and is one of eight in Canon’s line of DIGI SUPER long field lenses intended for both HDTV and SDTV production. This product line also includes: the DIGI SUPER 86x (offered in the XJ86x9.3BIE-D standard version and the XJ86x13.5BIE-D telephoto version); the DIGI SUPER 75xs (XJ75x9.3BIE-D); the DIGI SUPER 72xs (XJ72x9.3BIE-D); the new DIGI SUPER 60xs (XJ60x9BIE-D); and the new standard definition DIGI SUPER 62 (offered in the standard PJ62x9BIE-D version and a companion long-telephoto PJ62x 13.5BIE-D version).

Canon’s unique second-generation built-in Image Stabilization (or Shift-IS) system enables directors to capture dramatic high-impact long shots, and deliver them shake-free to the viewing audience. The DIGI SUPER lens line also features Canon’s XS technology for improved optical performance and lighter weight, courtesy of Canon’s exclusive Power Optical System. And all Canon DIGI SUPER lenses incorporate the company’s second-generation Digital Servo System, which provides microcomputer compensation of lens focus breathing (the inadvertent alteration of field of view when operating the focus control) as well as a host of other improved digital operational features for focus and zooming control. Canon’s DIGI SUPER lenses deliver precision HDTV and SDTV production performance and heightened long-range zoom capabilities, features that have made Canon a symbol of excellence in sports, entertainment, and studio production.

The NCP 7 truck carries Canon lenses exclusively. In addition to the DIGI SUPER 100xs it also carries two DIGI SUPER 86xs lenses, four DIGI SUPER 75xs lenses, and three HJ21x7.5B and HJ11x4.7B HD/SD ENG/EFP zoom lenses. All have to continually meet Pakkala’s tough roadworthy criteria to remain on board. “The bottom line on all of our gear is it has to work,” he continued. “The extreme temperatures we operate in, plus the rigors of bouncing around in a truck and being handled by multiple cameramen subjects our lenses to a lot of adversity. The Canon lenses take that kind of punishment.”

“Based on their experience, plus input from their customers, major TV truck vendors know that Canon is the lens of choice,” said Gordon Tubbs, assistant director, Broadcast & Communications division at Canon U.S.A., Inc., a subsidiary of Canon Inc. (NYSE: CAJ). “The great majority of vendors have voiced that they prefer Canon lenses not only for their high quality optics but also for Canon service and support.”

“There are a few companies that are just exceptional at product support, and that’s why we chose Canon,” Pakkala noted. “If we need their assistance I just pick up the phone and they’re right on top of it. Sports production is all about moving in and out fast, so that’s essential.”

For NCP and experienced engineers such as Jack Pakkala, the Canon DIGI SUPER 100xs is part of a versatile and powerful mobile HD production process. “Now that HD is here to stay and there are true HD trucks on the road like NCP 7, it’s a lot easier for everybody,” he concluded. “With glass like the DIGI SUPER 100xs, you can put it on the camera and forget about it. Canon lenses are the no-worry factor.”

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 rated #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.