Experimental opera and theater director Robert Wilson recently used a Canon HJ11x4.7B KLL-SC High-Definition Electronic Cinematography (HD-EC) lens to create "Video Portraits," a new series for the VOOM HD Networks, a nationally distributed collection of 15 high-definition television channels.
The Canon HJ11x4.7B KLL-SC HD-EC zoom lens is designed to achieve a particularly high MTF that is optimally distributed across the image plane, holding up over its entire 4.7mm to 52mm focal range. Wilson, creator of operas "Einstein on the Beach" and "Death Destruction & Detroit," shot a variety of celebrities for the "Video Portraits" minimalist series. The Canon HJ11x4.7B KLL-SC provided a traditional film-style lens feel and operation, with dual large and luminous scales for focus (marked in feet) and iris facilitating precision control in low-light shooting environments.
DP James Callanan, who oversaw the 1080i shoots at a theater on New York's West 42nd Street, said "The barrel focus marks on the Canon 11x4.7mm lens are more accurate, more widely spaced, and more frequent than on an ENG zoom, so we can be sure of the critical focus. Since we were shooting in a theater, we lit to a middle stop (about T4.5), so the visual acuity, even with the lens wide open, was not an issue for us."
The HJ11x4.7B KLL-SC joins the Canon HJ21x7.5 KLL-SC and HJ8x5.5B KLL-SC as Canon's three HD-EC zoom lenses. Canon's HD-EC lens line also includes six 2/3-inch prime lenses: Canon FJs5mm, FJs9mm, FJs14mm, FJs24mm, FJs35mm, and FJs55mm. Canon's HD-EC lenses feature Power Optics, optimization of MTF at wide aperture settings and a very short MOD.
VOOM HD LAB, an outreach initiative that works with artists and filmmakers to explore the artistic and technological boundaries of high-definition video, produced the "Video Portraits" project. It will air on VOOM's visual arts channel, Gallery HD, in January.
