CANON’S ENHANCED DIGITAL “eDRIVE”
LENS FEATURES ADD VERSATILITY TO HIGH DEFINITION CAMERA-RENTAL
PACKAGE
eDrive’s Precise Servo Control of Iris, Zoom, and
Focus Can be Automated According to Each Camera User’s
Particular Needs
LAKE SUCCESS, New York, November 7, 2005—Ease
of operation is a principal philosophy behind Canon’s
long history of continual advancements in lens technologies
for a wide variety of High Definition (HD) and Standard Definition
(SD) broadcast television cameras. A global leader in optical
innovation, Canon's many recent developments include its unique
Enhanced Digital Technology, which enables users of its portable
HD and SD lenses to automate select functions depending on
their personal preferences. Also known as “eDrive,”
this technology is increasingly popular among a wide range
of Canon portable lens users.
One such Canon eDrive user is James Mathers,
an accomplished Los Angeles-based director of photography
experienced in shooting both film and video for theatrical
features, documentaries, and TV music programs. President
of the Migrant FilmWorkers Company, Mathers recently purchased
a Canon HJ11ex4.7B IASE wide-angle HD zoom lens with eDrive
to complement his new Panasonic VariCam HD camera.
“Buying an HD camera is a big investment,
and I also shoot film and SD video,” Mathers explains.
“I can’t just put my HD camera in a closet while
I’m off working with other formats, so in order to amortize
my investment I rent my HD camera when I’m not using
it. And that’s why I selected Canon’s HJ11ex4.7B
wide-angle HD zoom lens with eDrive. I can’t afford
every little bell and whistle offered by every different kind
of lens that a rental client might need for their particular
project. But with eDrive you get lots of versatility in your
HD lens, which makes your HD camera-rental package able to
satisfy the needs of a broad range of users.”
Canon’s HJ11ex4.7B wide-angle portable
HD zoom lens features the optical excellence of e-HDxs technology,
which uses Canon’s X-Element and Power Optical System
for highest-quality optics in a robust, compact, and lightweight
housing that weighs just 4.10 lbs. The optional flexibility
of Canon’s 16:9/4:3 Crossover Technology makes it a
stand-out performer in either aspect ratio. And the HJ11ex4.7B’s
Enhanced Digital Technology eDrive features further enhances
its versatility.
“Canon is a very trusted name,”
Mathers continues. “I’ve been using Canon lenses
for super 16mm shooting, and I’m very comfortable with
their reputation for quality. I tested the HJ11ex4.7B wide-angle
HD zoom lens and found it had very little problems with breathing,
which is important because I do a lot of dramatic work. You
don’t want to pull focus in a dramatic scene and have
your frame size change on you. And in addition to the lens’
HD performance, eDrive is a great bonus.”
Canon’s unique eDrive feature is built
into the company’s full line of e-HDxs High Definition
and e-IFxs Standard Definition portable zoom lenses. Utilizing
three Canon ultra-high-precision, microprocessor-driven digital
servos with 16-bit optical encoders, Canon’s eDrive
technology represents an entirely new way to control portable
lenses. With eDrive, users can easily program such functions
as zoom and focus settings into a lens for precise, automated
repeatability via an easy-to-use LCD menu, assignable “soft”
function buttons, and the rocker switch built into the lens
grip. Users can program multiple settings or none at all,
depending on their personal needs and preferences.
Canon’s eDrive provides: nine user-definable
function profiles; a choice of manual, digitally assisted,
or fully programmed control; and instant “Shuttle Shot”
to zoom to the longest focal length for quick check of focus
and back focus. Digitally assisted shooting techniques offered
by Canon’s eDrive include graceful “padded”
zoom start/stops so that zooms begin and end softly and without
jerkiness. Canon’s eDrive provides for memorized focus
and zoom positions, repeatable focus with no mechanical play
or gear backlash, steady and slow zoom creeps, and one-button
on/off.
“Everyone I’ve rented my HD package
to has been really happy with it primarily because eDrive
enables them to customize the HJ11ex4.7B lens to their needs,
especially in terms of focal length,” Mathers continues.
“The HJ11ex4.7B wide-angle HD zoom lens has a great
focal range that goes from 4.7mm on the wide end all the way
to 104mm with its built-in 2x extender. It’s got zoom
controls built-in so you can use it in a hand-held configuration,
or if you’re using it on a tripod you can connect an
external zoom control to it. I rented my HD camera package
to particular client who felt that the lens’ wide-angle
zoom was too wide, but with eDrive they were able to lock
the wide end of the lens at just where they wanted it, which
was the perfect solution. After that they were very happy
with the lens for their particular project.”
Canon eDrive’s motion-control repeatability
offers many advantages and striking new possibilities for
a variety of users, including hand-held news, field, and studio
shooters. With eDrive, lens functions can be customized according
to a videographer's own particular needs. News shooters can,
for example, program an ultra-slow zoom that can be turned
on and off with a single button, or they can program a focus
pull should they need to scan a document from top to bottom.
Field camera operators can quickly and easily check focus
with the Shuttle Shot function.
“Using eDrive, you can set a lens stop
on the wide end to keep you from zooming out too far and ‘seeing
off your set’ or catching a flag or eyebrow that were
set to control stray light,” Mathers explains. “You
could also, for example, use eDrive’s lens-stop feature
on a zoom-in to set a very precise end frame that you need
to get to. It’s hard to do this manually, especially
on a fast or ‘snap’ zoom. But with eDrive it’s
easy.”
In addition to its eDrive advantages, Mathers
also had special praise for the HJ11ex4.7B’s HD performance.
“Versatility is important to me. When I did independent
features in 35mm I would have to frame for widescreen and
TV at the same time. Now, however, if I’m framing just
for HDTV it’s even easier. It’s nice that you
can have one lens that you can shoot 4:3 with on one day and
then 16:9 the next. Canon’s HJ11ex4.7B wide-angle HD
zoom lens covers both, so that’s another advantage in
versatility. And as far as shooting in HD goes, I think the
more quality you can achieve today when you’re shooting,
the more you’re protecting your content for the future.
Even though today’s television broadcasts may not be
able to convey all the HD picture quality that you’ve
recorded, tomorrow’s HD broadcasting and DVD’s
will. So if you want your productions to have lasting value
tomorrow they need to be shot with an HD lens and HD camera
today.”
“I believe in choosing the right tool
for the job, but there are so many different kinds of productions
being done today that you need to choose tools with versatility,”
Mathers concludes. “I chose Canon for its reputation
for quality, the fact that I tested the lens, its breathing
characteristics, and colorimetry. I can only afford to have
one lens to go with one camera in my HD package, so it has
to be an everyman’s lens, and the versatility of Canon’s
HJ11ex4.7B wide-angle HD zoom lens with eDrive works out really
well that way.”
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.
