VALHALLA, N.Y.—Fujifilm North America Corporation has announced the availability of one new broadcast zoom lens, which will start shipping in April, and its development plans for three others, which will hit the market in the fall of 2026 and the spring of 2027.

Fujifilm said the new Fujinon UA22x4.8BERD (“UA22x4.8”), a broadcast zoom lens designed for lightweight versatility ideal for a wide variety of production situations, will begin shipping to customers by the end of April 2026.

UA22x4.8 is a portable zoom lens for 2/3-inch sensor broadcast cameras, covering the wide to telephoto focal range from 4.8mm to 106mm with a compact (9.9 inches/251mm) and lightweight (4.8 lbs./2.17kg) design. This lens is a versatile solution that works well in many situations that require maximum mobility including news reporting, studio production, and live sports broadcasts that require operators to capture the excitement and immersion of events from their assigned positions.

“There is strong demand for versatile zoom lenses that can cover everything from wide angles to telephoto in professional filming environments such as news reporting, studio production, and sports broadcasting,” said Stosh Durbacz, vice president, Sales, Fujifilm North America Corporation, Optical Devices Division. “In order to meet this demand, we released Fujinon UA18x5.5BERD (“UA18x5.5”) broadcast zoom lens in 2017, which has remained well received for its compact size, light weight, and versatile focal length coverage; UA22x4.8 continues this legacy."

UA22x4.8” inherits the desired features of UA18x5.5, including its compact, lightweight design, while expanding the focal range on both the wide and telephoto side, further enhancing functionality and expressive capability. Through improvements in lens processing technology and a design that balances durability and lightweight construction, Fujifilm has decreased weight and size compared to UA18x5.5, achieving a compact and lightweight body, reducing the burden of prolonged filming in the shoulder-mounted operation. Additionally, while UA18x5.5 offers a focal length range of 5.5mm to 100mm, the expanded wide-angle range of UA22x4.8 enables filming in narrow indoor spaces and capturing dynamic sports scenes with enhanced immersive quality.

Fujifilm also announced its development plans for three additional new 4K broadcast zoom lenses: Fujinon UA16x4BERD (“UA16x4”), Fujinon UA30x7.3BERD (“UA30x7.3”), and UA94x8.7BESM

Each of these newly developed lenses covers a wide range of focal lengths in a single unit, providing strong support for immersive storytelling in a variety of broadcast production environments such as sports broadcasts, concerts, live events, and studio production.

The newly developed UA16x4 and UA30x7.3 portable broadcast zoom lenses achieve both an extended wide-angle range and high zoom ratio, fitting a focal length range that surpasses previous models into a compact and lightweight body.

In sports broadcasts, UA16x4 and UA30x7.3 support a wide range of framing options, from wide views capturing the entire stadium, to powerful zoom-ins and close-ups for post-game interviews, enabling flexible image creation. Additionally, the flexibility of these lenses enables creative freedom for camera operators in various filming environments.

“In professional production environments such as sports broadcasts, concerts, live broadcasts, and studio production, it is essential to reliably capture moments that are key to the competition or performance,” said Stosh Durbacz, vice president, Sales, Optical Devices Division, Fujifilm North America Corporation. “We’ve designed these lenses specifically to meet the needs of these high-

stake situations, combining zoom performance that covers a wide range of focal lengths from wide-angle to telephoto in a single lens with compact and lightweight designs that allow for agile operation.”

UA94x8.7 is a versatile box zoom lens for 2/3-inch sensor broadcast cameras, covering the wide-angle to super-telephoto focal range from 8.7mm to 818mm, providing operational flexibility. It is ideal for a wide variety of applications including sports broadcasts, concerts, and other large-scale live events. UA94x8.7 enables diverse visual creativity, from immersive wide-angle shots that capture the atmosphere to close-up footage that brings subjects vividly into focus.

“As professional video production styles diversify, broadcast equipment is increasingly being utilized across a wider range of settings, resulting in more demand for box lenses that offer high production quality and versatility, yet are still cost effective,” said Durbacz. “UA94×8.7 sits in a sweet spot between our UA70x and UA107x box zooms. It delivers a proprietary image stabilization system offering superior operability during zooming and focusing, reducing the burden on camera operators, and contributing to smooth operation in live production – at a price point we think will better align with their needs.”

UA94x8.7 is due to be released in fall of 2026, and both UA30x7.3 and UA16x4 are due to be released in spring of 2027. Fujifilm will showcase all three lenses at the 2026 NAB Show, the world’s largest international broadcast equipment trade shows, to be held in Las Vegas from April 19 to 22, 2026.

For more information about Fujinon broadcast and cinema lenses, visit https://www.fujifilm.com/us/en/business/cine-and-broadcast.

VALHALLA, N.Y.—Fujifilm is developing Fujifilm GFX Eterna, its first digital filmmaking camera, with a planned release next year.

The camera will use the large-format GFX 102MP CMOS II HS sensor. It is about 1.7 times larger than a 35-millimeter full-frame sensor in combination with the X-Processor 5 high-speed image processing engine. It features a native G mount with a removable PL adapter, Fujifilm said.

The sensor-processing engine paring will enable filmmakers to recreate rich, true-to-life visuals with enhanced postproduction flexibility, it said.

The company will showcase the GFX Eterna at a media event during Inter BEE 2024 at the Makuhari Messe Convention Center in Chiba City, Japan.

Fujifilm introduced the GFX System of mirrorless digital cameras in 2017 and has added a series of improvements, including video capabilities. With GFX Eterrna, the company is combining its filmmaking experience and experience as a premiere source of lenses under the Fujinon brand with the advanced technology of its GFX System cameras, it said.

Fujifilm is also developing a GF power zoom lens with a planned focal length of 32-90 millimeters, it said.

In preparation for the launch of the GFX Eterna, Fujifilm said it will conduct rigorous field tests.

More information is available on the company’s website.

VALHALLA, N.Y.—FUJIFILM North America Corporation’s Optical Devices Division announces the availability of its new FUJINON Duvo HZK24-300mm Portable PL Mount Zoom Lens (”Duvo 24-300mm“). 

This native PL-mount, dual format lens supports two types of largeimage sensors, and specializes in shallow depth of field that produces a beautiful cinematic bokeh while maintaining ease of broadcast lens operation, the company said. Fujifilm expects to begin shipping initial orders of Duvo 24-300mm to customers at the end of March, 2024.

The portable lens can be used with a tripod, shoulder-mounted with a Steadicam2, or for high-angle shooting, using a crane. The shallow depth of field allows for cinematic image expression with beautiful bokeh effect, making it ideal for bringing the desired cine look to sporting events, live concerts, house of worship, reality shows, and other live broadcasts, the company said.

(Read: Cinematic: Blurring the Lines Between Live Sports and Hollywood)

Complementing the previously released FUJINON Duvo HZK25-1000mm F2.8-F5.0 PL Mount Cinema Box Lens (“Duvo 25-1000mm”)—Fujifilm’s first Duvo Series lens—Duvo 24-300mm delivers 12.5x zoom, covering the frequently used 24-300mm focal range. Use of Duvo 24 300mm's built-in expander3 shifts the focal length by 1.5 times, to 36-450mm, allowing users to capture far-away subjects in desirable fields of view. Duvo 24-300mm is just 10.65 inches (270.5mm) in length and 6.5 lbs (2.95kg) in weight, making it a compact, lightweight lens with high mobility.

“Cameras equipped with a large-image sensor are frequently used by broadcast professionals amidst the growing needs for immersive cinematic expressions featuring the use of shallow depth of field, cinematic bokeh and high dynamic range,” said Stosh Durbacz, national sales manager, Optical Devices Division, FUJIFILM North America Corporation. “The cinema lenses commonly used for these applications are optimized for shooting scripted production, and therefore have a smaller zoom magnification ratio than that of broadcast lenses. They also often require a specialist in focus operation, which is uncommon in the broadcast industry. It is in response to this that Fujifilm has created the Duvo Series of lenses that simultaneously achieves the signature Fujinon filmic look and the ease of broadcast lens operation.”

The newly released Duvo 24-300mm will be showcased by Fujifilm at the 2024 NAB Show at Booth #C5325. Fujifilm’s third Duvo Series lens, a portable, wide angle zoom lens covering a focal length of 14-100mm, will also be on display.

Full product features and specifications can be found in the September 2023 development announcement.

Duvo 24-300mm is available at a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $31,999 USD. Duvo 24-300mm is available for order now and will be shipping soon. For more information about the Duvo Series of lenses, please visit https://www.fujinon.com/duvo.

VALHALLA, N.Y.—FUJIFILM has announced its new Fujinon Duvo HZK25-1000mm F2.8-F5.0 PL Mount cinema box lens with a zoom ratio of 40x and a telephoto focal length of 1000mm is expected to begin shipping by the end of this week. 

The company also plans to show the new Duvo 25-1000 at the 2023 NAB Show, April 15-19, in Las Vegas.

The Duvo 25-1000, the first in Fujifilm’s new Duvo series of cinema lenses, can provide telephoto filming with high magnification, making it suitable for sports broadcast, live concerts, movies, commercials and other productions, the company said.

“In actively observing and gathering feedback from professionals about the emerging world of cinema-sized imagers in live production, our customers helped us identify a very clear need for a long and fast cinema lens that can produce cinematic results in a live production environment,” said Stosh Durbacz, national sales manager of the Optical Devices Division at FUJIFILM.

Duvo 25-1000 deploys a dual-format system that supports two single sensor sizes: a large format sensor size equivalent to Super 35mm and a traditional Super 35mm sensor. Duvo 25-1000's use of Fujifilm’s newly developed 1.5x expander shifts the focal length of the telephoto side, enabling super telephoto image capture of 1500mm (1000x1.5), it said.

The lens enables filming with the same field of view in both formats. It produces rich image expression by taking advantage of the camera’s cinematic look, the company said.

Duvo 25-1000 can be operated in a setup specialized for live broadcasting because existing FUJINON box lens accessories can be used in support of multi-camera operation. For film and commercial production, the lens’ focus / iris / zoom features can also be remotely controlled by connecting to compatible wireless lens controllers. Duvo 25-1000 also features Breathing Compensation Technology, ensuring the subject framing does not change during focusing, helping to produce natural-looking images, it said.

To maximize portability, the upper grip of Duvo 25-1000 is designed to be slightly longer than conventional box-type broadcast lenses. As a result, it can be lifted stably near the center of gravity. A new lower grip also has been integrated to improve portability.

See FUJIFILM at NAB booth C5725.

More information is available on the company’s website.

LOS ANGELES—Adobe has announced a significant expansion of the collaboration tools in the Adobe Creative Cloud and Document Cloud during its Adobe MAX conference.

“Creativity today is a team sport,” said Scott Belsky, chief product officer and executive vice president, Creative Cloud at Adobe. “The innovations we’re announcing today enable seamless collaboration throughout the creative process.”

During the event, Adobe previewed a new Camera to Cloud integrations built into RED Digital Cinema’s V-RAPTOR and V-RAPTOR XL camera systems and Fujifilm’s X-H25 mirrorless digital cameras to enable collaborative production workflows.

Adobe Camera to Cloud is used by more than 5,000 productions. Powered by Framie.io, it has fueled a transition from external drives to cloud-based camera workflows.

With Adobe Camera to Cloud, media is automatically transferred from the production set to the cloud so post-production teams can start work immediately on footage. 

The newly announced integrations streamline the process further by transferring media directly from cameras to organized Frame.io folder structures without the need for intermediate devices.

“The RED team is proud to build on our history of working with Frame.io, becoming the first cinema camera company to bring this groundbreaking advancement to the filmmaking community,” said Jarred Land, president and co-owner of RED Digital Cinema. “As we introduce this technology to deliver direct RAW and proxy files directly to edit via cloud, we are excited for users to start unlocking the benefits that cloud collaboration can bring to productions at all levels.”

The native integration with Fujifilm’s X-H25 mirrorless cameras “removes a huge time barrier” between production and post for videographers and photographers, said Masato Yamamoto, general manager of the Imaging Solutions Division at FUJIFILM.

“It’s not just groundbreaking; it’s game-changing. We’re honored to bring this technology to mirrorless digital camera users around the world, and we’re excited to see what comes next,” he said.

Other Adobe collaboration enhancements announced at the conference include new share and review collaborative capabilities for Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator (available in beta) and additional PDF collaboration and productivity enhancements.

More information is available on the company’s website.

SYDNEY—FUJIFILM has announced the FUJINON HZK25-1000mm broadcast zoom lens, which offers 40x zoom capability and a focal length of 1000mm.

The HZK25-1000mm is a box-type broadcast dual-format zoom lens offering support for two types of large image sensors. It can be mounted on cameras equipped with the Super 35mm sensor or the larger sensor equivalent to 35mm full frame, the company said. 

The lens achieves optical performance that exceeds 4K. It also facilitates the use of cinema cameras, which is becoming more common in the broadcast industry. It enables cinematic visual expression, such as shallow depth-of-field for beautiful bokeh in live coverage of sporting events and music concerts, the company said.

Cinema camera lenses are optimized for shooting movies and TV commercial. Therefore, they have a smaller zoom magnification ratio than that of broadcast lenses. They also require a specialist for focus operations, which is uncommon in the broadcast industry. For these reasons, there has been demand for a high-magnification zoom that supports a large sensor and can be operated in the same way as box-type broadcast lenses, the company said.

The new broadcast zoom lens normally works with the Super 35mm sensor but also supports a sensor equivalent to 35mm full frame when a built-in image expander is activated, which increases the image circle by 1.5 times. It offers the added benefit of maintaining the same angle of view with both sensors, it said.

Regarding wide-angle capability, the lens provides F2.8 aperture, enabling cinematographic visual expressions with shallow depth-of-field and resulting beautiful bokeh. The use of a large-diameter aspherical lens and fluorite lens thoroughly controls various forms of aberration to achieve optical performance exceeding 4K, FUJIFIM said.

Even when mounted on a cinema camera, the lens maintains its broadcast-style controls over zoom and focus. It also can be used with a variety of existing accessories. The lens features an image-stabilization mechanism based on FUJIFILM’s “ceramic ball roller” system to compensate accurately for on-set vibrations and wind-induced movements for operational stability, it said.

FUJIFILM will show the HZK25-1000mm at InterBEE 2022 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, Nov. 16-18. 

FUJIFILM expects to release the HZK25-1000mm in the spring of 2023.

More information is available on the company’s website. 

SEATTLE—There’s a rule of thumb in video image capture that the finished picture will only be as good as the weakest part of the signal path. HDR (High Dynamic Range) is no exception.

“The great news is that the camera manufacturers have come a long ways in terms of how many stops of lights they can record,” said Stosh Durbacz, national sales manager at FUJIFILM Optical Device Division. “So we, the lens folks, have had to keep pace with that.”

Although HDR is a function of the processor inside the camera, the lens definitely plays a part, according to John Stoner, senior product specialist for Canon. “The light that passes through to the processer first passes through the lens, so if that light’s not clean, you’re never going to get a good HDR image,” he said.

Art Adams, cinema lens specialist at ARRI, said that HDR makes everything in a lens more pronounced. “That includes chromatic aberration, flare, softness at the edges, a lot of things that can be really distracting and can also impact the HDR image significantly.”

Secret Sauce
One critical component of a lens is the glass  optics within it. As light passes through each glass element, it creates reflections, which appear more pronounced in HDR. One way lensmakers deal with these reflections is with antireflective coatings.

“One of the biggest deciding factors is the antireflective coating that’s on the lenses,” said Snehal Patel, Head of Cinema Sales, Americas, Carl Zeiss SBE. “The higher quality antireflective coating, the higher performing antireflective coating you have on your lenses, the more exposure range you’re going to see in the lens, even when it’s wide open.”

FUJIFILM’s Durbacz noted: “Coatings are huge—they’re the secret sauce of any lens. They minimize the reflection of light. Every time light passes through a piece of glass, it comes in and then goes out, and there’s light that if reflected. So what we want to do is minimize that. These modern lenses can be 15-25-30 individual pieces of glass, all moving in unison.”

He also pointed out that in addition to reflections from the glass elements in a lens, there are other components that can create reflections. “The way the internal barrels are constructed, there’s baffling built in. It’s very small machining of those internal surfaces that will deaden any stray light that hits them.”

Another thing that’s improved is the black matte paint that’s used inside of the lens, according to ZEISS’ Patel. “Wherever you have glass elements inside the lens, you usually coat the edges with a matte black finish,” he said. “And any metal inside the lens that might be visible in the interior optics, you also coat that with matte black finish.“

“We have a design we call ‘flocking,’” said Canon’s Stoner, “which are mechanical ridges inside the barrel to eliminate that reflection of light before it gets to the camera sensor.”

Another lens error that becomes more pronounced when shooting in HDR is center to edge roll-off. FUJIFILM’s Durbacz pointed out: “Using the coatings and the grinding and polishing of the glass, we want to make sure that from the center of the lens—from the sweet spot out to the corners—that we’re providing flat illumination; we don’t have perceptible roll-off to the camera, from the center to the corner.”

ARRI makes both cameras and lenses for HDR. “Because we now have a camera that captures more dynamic range than anything else out there, the Alexa 35, we needed a set of lenses that would work with it,” said ARRI’s Adams. “We went back and redesigned our PL mount for this new camera. We realized that the previous design still had enough stray light issues that in HDR, with the new camera, you could start compromising your blacks, you could see them turn gray.”

To address HDR in broadcast production, Canon and Sony collaborated on ALAC (Automatic Chromatic Aberration Correction), a function that allows  automatic feedback between the lens and the camera, according to Stoner. “The lens tells the camera ‘I’m at this focal length and this iris position,’ and then the camera compensates for chromatic aberration, and removes them from the image before they get to the physical side.”

Difficult Compromise
Lensmakers pointed out that the degree of difficulty goes up when it comes to perfecting a zoom lens for HDR production.

“A zoom lens has a lot more glass in it,” said FUJIFILM’s Durbacz. “We’ve got moving groups, and we’ve got to maintain focus at all these different focal lengths. If you’re focused out to 25 feet, and you zoom the lens, there’s a lot going on. And there are additional groups of glass within the lens that the light has to transmit through.” 

ARRI’s Adams pointed to compromises that need to be taken. “Our zooms are more corrected for chromatic aberration, and we allow a little bit of distortion,” he said. “It’s a balancing act, they interact with each other. In a prime lens you can correct for both chromatic aberration and distortion because you’re only concentrating on one focal length. In a zoom, where you have a large range of focal lengths, you really have to go after one or the other or the lens gets very big and very, very expensive.

“So we opt to go toward correcting for chromatic aberration, because we think a little bit of distortion isn’t going to be as noticeable in HDR as chromatic aberration is. So our zoom lenses are very corrected for chromatic aberration, but there will be a little bit of distortion.”

While lensmakers go to great effort and expense to remove lens errors that have become noticeable in HDR, they’re aware that many cinematographers want the lenses to provide some character in addition to scientific perfection.

“What we’ve tried to do is to come up with a family of lenses, our Signature lenses, that work with HDR,” said Adams. “We try to maintain the most dynamic range possible, while eliminating the disturbing things that HDR doesn’t like, like chromatic aberration, and still make lenses that have character.”

ZEISS offers two different HDR- ready lens families: Supreme Prime and Supreme Prime Radiant. “The Supreme Primes are a cleaner set of lenses,” said Patel. “They have a wonderful cinematic look to them, they’re basically the successor to our Master Primes. They have both the 35 and full-frame coverage. And there’s a range of 14 focal lengths, from 15mm to 200mm. And then the Supreme Prime Radiant is a modified version of the Supreme Primes that add blue flare characteristics by manipulating anti-flare reflective coatings.”

“Now if we’re looking at real old lenses,” said Durbacz, “they still mount on these modern cameras, which is fantastic. But sometimes you start to see corner shading, or illumination roll-off to the corner. Those lenses were designed at a time when cameras didn’t see that kind of latitude, so you didn’t have to worry about a roll-off from the center out to the corner.”

Patel pointed out that “some of the things that they loved about the lenses, like maybe the flare, or the look of it, there are some qualities that maybe they didn’t notice before in some lenses that they notice now in HDR. That would be the only danger, that there might be something that they didn’t expect. They’re using a lens where they got a certain look before, but looking at it in HDR, they go ‘wow, the flares in there are very prominent, you can really see that.’

“Of course you can go back to color correction and maybe level out the blue tones and what not, to reduce the contrast level,” he added. “But it might just be baked into the image, and you won’t be able to change it as much as you want. That’s why I always say to test. You might like what you get; you might not. You certainly can get a more scientifically accurate image now, but it may not be the correct image for the production.”

Lensmakers also recommend monitoring in HDR during production itself, even if the first release will not be in HDR.

Adams warned: “Movies and TV shows especially, are going to have a long lifespan now, with streaming libraries, and I don’t think people are aware of what’s going to happen when those products are remastered for different levels of HDR, or just when they’re graded in HDR while the DP has been watching Rec 709 on the set. I think [HDR monitoring] is going to become desirable as people see the artifacts that creep in that they aren’t able to see. 

“It’s not exactly like shooting film, where you didn’t see what it was going to look like until the dailies were out, but there are probably 30-40% of the image that you’re not seeing when you shoot in Rec 709, and then graded in HDR.”  l

CEDAR GROVE, NJ—Miller Camera Support Equipment has hired Bob Van Bodegon as its new President, the Americas. For over 20 years Bob was the Territory Sales Manager for Fujifilm Corporation, managing 14 eastern states. His decision to join Miller is most welcome, the company said. 

“Equipped with technical background, years of experience in sales and sales management, and his strong industry relationships I am confident Bob will serve our customers extremely well,” said Charles Montesin, Global Sales and Marketing Director.  “Bob will be managing the Miller U.S. subsidiary in New Jersey and will have full support of head office and factory in Sydney Australia together will his team in New Jersey. 

Prior to his role as Territory Manager, Bob worked for Fuji as Field Technician on high precision optical devices for 33 years. “I worked closely and interacted with many of the Miller Camera Support employees and the families of Miller for more than half of my life, and I was delighted when this opportunity became available…it felt right,”  he  said. “Miller – The Right Feel.”

Bob has a diploma in Computer Technologies and attended several business training courses. On personal level Bob is very much a family man and loves fishing, cooking and his pets, according to the company. Bob will be touring the regions and attending industry shows to meet up with colleagues to further grow the brand and continue to build better customer support.

LAS VEGAS—At its NAB Show booth, April 23-27 in Las Vegas, Fujifilm will showcase its latest lens technology facilitating virtual production and augmented reality technologies and capabilities in partnership with Mo-Sys and APG Media, as well as introduce attendees to several Fujinon cinema and broadcast lens products and accessories.

“We look forward to not only connecting with our industry colleagues in person at NAB 2022, but also exhibiting our world-class lens range with this critical group of industry experts,” said Stosh Durbacz, national sales manager, Fijifilm North America Corporation, Optical Devices Division. “We are also excited to bring attendees into the world of virtual production and augmented reality on site by displaying and demonstrating products designed to improve production workflows.”

Fujifilm’s role in the growing world of virtual production and augmented reality will be on display in partnership with Mo-Sys—renowned creator and manufacturer of advanced and innovative camera robotics and virtual production technologies—and APG Media, industry experts on LED videowall technology. 

Using Fujinon broadcast and cinema lenses with Mo-Sys StarTracker camera tracking technology and a state-of-the-art 1.5mm pixel pitch LED wall from APG Media, Fujifilm will showcase an end-to-end LED production workflow, highlighting the benefits of designing a solution specifically for cinematic and broadcast virtual production.

“More than ever, and within the last two years especially, virtual production and augmented reality have proven to be a growing, important part of our industry,” said Durbacz. “We are proud to partner with Mo-Sys and APG to educate the NAB Show community about the technology and capabilities available and required to accommodate the needs of this emerging market segment.”

Fujinon product debuts at NAB 2022 include:

• UA107x8.4AF (Auto Focus) lens for fast and accurate subject-tracking performance, placed on a Mo-Sys U50 Remote Head.
• Large Format Premista Series cinema lenses with new Chrosziel Drive Unit and ZEISS eXtended Data, a unique technology that creates opportunities to streamline and increase the accuracy of the lens data.
• Portable broadcast zooms equipped with S10 digital drive units to support modern remote and robotic shooting needs.
• UA125x8 4K-compatible broadcast lens with the world's highest zoom ratio of 125X
• UA46x9.5 portable 4K broadcast lens with Super 35 Musashi expander, delivering an incredible range of 24-1100mm at a relatively light weight (about 12 pounds), ideal for wildlife, sports and any environment where reach and portability is needed.
• Updated zoom and focus controllers for FUJINON box and portable lenses.

Fujinon will be in Booth 6127. To register for the NAB Show, visit nabshow.com/2022

FUJIFILM has launched the Fujinon UA107x8.4BESM-T45 (UA107x8.4), a 4K broadcast zoom lens with a new image-stabilization mechanism and customization capabilities, as well as the Fujinon ERD-50A-D01 (ERD-50A ) zoom rate demand unit, which features a large LCD panel.

The UA107x8.4 is a 107x zoom with a redesigned image stabilization mechanism, making it easier to shoot 4K video when combined with the ERD-50A, the company said.

The lens is a 4K-compatible broadcast lens offering an ultra-high 107x magnification zoom, covering the focal length range from 8.4 to 900 mm. Equipped with newly redesigned image stabilization mechanism, the lens can accurately correct image blurs caused by wind or shaking without any time lag. The built-in LCD panel allows users to adjust shooting settings in detail, it said.

Key UA107x8.4BESM-T45 features include:

• Newly designed image stabilization.
• 107x magnification covering focal lengths from 8.4mm to 900mm.
• Built-in LCD panel to allow detailed adjustment to shooting settings.
• Advanced resolving power, rich tonality.
• Aspherical element and fluorite elements to control various types of aberration.
• Can be combined with ERD-50A zoom rate demand unit and EPD-51A focus positon demand unit.

The ERD-50A zoom rate demand unit features an LCD panel and a four-way operation button for intuitive and uncomplicated operation. Used with the UA107x8.4, it enables choice of the optimum zoom curve to match a particular scene from 200 options, the company said.

The unit’s Aux button includes a display for checking shooting settings, including functions assigned to the Aux button and the on/off status of image stabilization while shooting video, it said.

Key ERD-50A-D01 features include:

• LCD panel and a four-way button that can accommodate lever operations.
• Assignment of favorite functions to the AUX button.
• Choice of zoom curves/zoom patterns optimized for shooting scenes.
• 200 zoom curves and three zoom patterns available.
• Optimized layout of switches.
• Up to nine sets of personal settings.

More information is available on the FUJIFILM website. 

SYDNEY—FUJIFILM has announced a joint marketing alliance with Tiger Technology to provide business customers with a long-term, secure, and scalable storage management solution for the movement of data from a primary storage tier to tape storage.

Integrating FUJIFILM’s Object Archive software with Tiger Technology’s Tiger Bridge software will offer clients active archiving to tape while preserving the entire chain of custody, the companies said, resulting in a complete archiving solution to simplify the management and archive of unstructured data. 

As part of the integration, the Tiger Bridge solution monitors and manages selected areas of the local file system, then identifies data based on metadata attributes to move it to the FUJIFILM Object Archive platform. 

Aging content can be actively archived - meaning that aged files no longer reside on local disk space, yet remain fully visible and accessible to users and applications. Once this content is archived, FUJIFILM Object Archive software provides a secure, long-term archival copy on tape, with a physical air-gap, while permitting continued access to the data. This provides immutable data copies that can help prevent a ransomware or cryptolock attack on a network. 

“Successful long-term archiving is achieved when you have confidence in immediately accessing your data, even when today’s technology fails you,” says Lance Kelson, executive vice president at Tiger Technology. “Using an open tape format is the essential first step, but one must still be wary of archiving software that encapsulates your content in a proprietary wrapper. The Tiger Bridge solution stores files in their native format when moving data to FUJIFILM Object Archive software, thereby preserving the chain of custody and avoiding vendor lock.”

MELBOURNE, Australia—Atomos says that its Ninja V 5-inch HDR monitor monitor-recorder can now be combined with Fujifilm’s GFX100S camera to record in Apple ProRes RAW over HDMI. 

The GFX100S is a medium format camera based on Fujifilm’s GFX100 camera. It features a 102MP resolution 43.8x32.9mm BSI CMOS sensor.

When combined with the Ninja V 5-inch 1,000nit HDR brightness display, the GFX100S can record up to 4K30p 12-bit ProRes RAW video. Users can view the GFX100S RAW signal in HDR on the Ninja V, with the ability to access tools that include waveform, magnify or engage peaking. 

It also provides access to the wider Atomos eco-system for on-set HDR and SDR monitoring. A video signal can be output from the Ninja V to the Atomos Sumo19, or Atomos’ line of Neon production monitors, for HDR viewing.

An update to Fujifilm firmware is expected to add support for white balance and ISO. That update is expected in summer 2021.

For more information, visit www.atomos.com.  

TOKYO—Fujifilm has announced that it will release two new broadcast zoom lenses, the Fujinon HP66x15.2-ESM (HP66x15.2) and the Fujinon HP12x7.6ERD-S9 (HP12x7.6), which each feature optical technology to produce 8K UHD video.

The HP66x15.2 is a box type zoom lens that can reach a focal length of 1,000mm and a zoom magnification of 66x. The HP12x7.6, meanwhile, is a portable type zoom lens covering the focal length range from 7.6mm to 91mm in telephoto.

Both lenses, per Fujifilm, feature vivid color reproduction and strong contrast through Fujifilm’s HT-EBC (High Transmittance Electron Beam Coating) mutlilayered coating technology to help produce HDR images. 

They also feature the new Remote Back Focus function, which enables adjusting the back focus remotely from a broadcast van. The lenses can be combined with the focus position demand unit Fujinon EPD-51A-D02/F03, which facilitates focus adjustment.

Additional features include a nine-blade iris that helps achieve a natural bokeh and a 16-bit encoder as standard, enabling high-resolution output of lens data and connection with systems like virtual studios for combining computer graphics with live video footage.

Both the HP66x15.2 and HP12x7.6 lens will be available starting in February.

For more information, visit www.fujifilm.com.  

SYDNEY—Fujifilm has unveiled its new Fujinon Premista 19-45mm T2.9-inch lens, a wide-angle zoom lens that supports large-format sensors and can deliver high resolution, bokeh and tonal images with HDR.

The Premista 19-45mm lens was developed with Fujifilm’s optical technology. It offers a constant T-stop of 2.9 across its focal lengths; features large-diameter aspherical lens elements; a 13-blade iris design; a unique zooming system for edge-to-edge sharpness; and the ability to reduce distortion across the entire zoom range.

Fujifilm has also enabled the new Premista lens to support ZEISS eXtended Data, which can record metadata when shooting, which reduces video-editing workload in post-production, the company says.

Additional features include the same front diameter and gear position for the focus, zoom and iris as the Premista series’ standard and telephoto lenses; and a Flange Focal Distance adjustment mechanism, which users can adjust by rotating a ring on the lens barrel.

Designed to be compact—it measures in at 228mm and weighs 3.3 kg—the Premista 19-45mm lens can be used on Steadicams or high-angle shooting cranes.

Fujifilm will officially release the Premista 19-45mm lens on Jan. 28.

For more information, visit www.fujifilm.com.  

SEATTLE—Two of the largest providers of professional camera lenses to the broadcast industry recently introduced new glass designed to improve the production of an increasing supply of 4K (and higher) resolution content.

FUJINON

One of the new lenses grew out of a Fujifilm box lens developed for NHK’s postponed 8K coverage of the Olympics for the Japan television market, according to Gordon Tubbs, vice president for broadcast and cinema products for Fujinon. These 8K cameras designed for the project use Super 35 single sensors and PL mount lenses.

“Our people thought about developing as long a box lens as was possible,” Tubbs said. “Most PL-mount motion picture lenses, including the ones we developed for NHK, were like a 5x1, 7x1 zoom. I mean, your iPhone can zoom twice as far as these extremely expensive lenses we were developing for NHK.

In response, the company developed a 20x 35mm box lens, Tubb said.

“Twenty doesn’t seem like much, because we make ENG lenses in 4K that are 24x, that are normal size hand-holdable lenses,” Tubbs said. “This lens will go from 35mm to 700mm, and then with an extender go out to 1,000. That’s unheard of in PL mounts.”

The result is a difference in size and weight than with most professional lenses, according to Tubbs.

“In order to do that, the lens is heavier and bigger than our 125 box lens for 2/3-inch chip cameras,” Tubbs. “It’s a 70 pound lens. You couldn’t fit it on your coffee table, it’s too big. All of that to get a 20:1 lens. So NHK bought a few of them.”

(Note: Several camera makers have introduced 8K, 2/3-inch, three-chip cameras that allow use of smaller 8K lenses.)

Tubbs added that the new lens had potential beyond NHK’s immediate needs.

“We looked at the lens and said ‘You know something? That’s got a PL mount on it; it’s got a cine mount on it. What’s to stop us from marketing that to people who are doing concerts?’ HBO wants that cine look for its concerts. If they’re going to use cine cameras, this could be their lens. It’s the only PL mount 20x 8K zoom lens in the world.”

He thinks there’s also a market for the 20x zoom in sports production, where many super slow-motion cameras are single sensor, PL mount. “The lens is so expensive the only thing they’ll do is rent it as they need it, which is why we’re concentrating on the rental companies,” Tubbs added.

REVISITING AUTOFOCUS 

More than a dozen years ago, broadcast lens makers introduced an autofocus feature on their HD lenses. But it never sold all that well.

Fast-forward to today, Tubbs said Fujifilm is revisiting autofocus.

“Focus is much more important in 4K because depth of field in 4K is actually shorter than HD, so there’s less in focus,” he said. “That will be true again when you shoot in 8K. And we know that the viewfinders on the cameras really aren’t that advanced to be able to really, precisely show if you’re in and out of focus.”

The technology for Fujifilm’s new autofocus system is called “phased detection” and is entirely new, according to Tubbs.

“It is much more accurate than the prior system, faster and it doesn’t overshoot,” he said. “The [old system] could sometimes go past focus and then come back real quick. It won’t do that. The other thing it can do is reach focus from a much further out of focus position. With [the old system], if you were considerably out of focus, if it was just a blur, you were looking at a fog bank, it wouldn’t find focus. Now this system can find focus even from that far out of focus.”

The autofocus feature is available on Fujifilm’s 4K 107x box zoom for about an additional $20,000.

Fujifilm also introduced a UA125X8 zoom ratio box lens last spring, the longest in the industry, according to Tubbs.

“This lens is not only the longest telephoto zoom lens, it’s got the longest zoom ratio at 125x, of any broadcast lens ever made,” he said. “It’s got the widest angle of any field lens, sports lens that was ever produced. It starts at 8mm and goes to 1,000mm, so with a 2x extender it goes out to 2,000mm.”

CANON

Canon has two tiers of 4K lenses, the difference being a function of the spec, according to Larry Thorpe, Canon USA’s national marketing executive.

“We tightened the specs on the upper level, and that costs more, of course,” Thorpe said. “The specs we talk about are sharpness across the image plane, tightening up on the lateral and longitudinal chromatic aberration. And then last but not least, doing justice to the new world of HDR, getting deep, rich blacks and good treatment of speculars in the lens.”

Thorpe said Canon discovered a gap between the two wide angle zooms in Canon’s upper level of 4K lenses. To develop the new lens to fit that gap, “we mobilized some of the latest of our technologies in lens design that we’ve been able to improve, along with more powerful simulation capabilities and manufacturing capabilities. We saw that we could slot in there a lens where we push both the wide angle and the telephoto end.”

The result is the CJ20ex5B 4K UHDxs, a 20x zoom that goes from 5mm to 100mm, (200mm with a 2X extender.)

“This baby comes in at just under 5 pounds, [4.9], is 9.9 inches long with a filter diameter of 127mm,” Thorpe said. “And it has the latest in our digital drive unit that gives you the capability of broadcast controllers controlling zoom and focus. It also has an output for virtual, giving you the 16 bit information on the virtual application. It has a range extender of two times. The horizontal width that you get, the angle of zoom horizontally that you get at 5mm is 87.7 degrees.”

Thorpe emphasized the importance of HDR to the development of Canon’s lenses.

“We pay high attention to dynamic range,” he said. “We have the latest in optical coatings to ensure we get a deep, rich black, which is essential to good HDR. And then the choice of glass materials allows us to properly handle speculars.

With its small size and weight, the new lens has applications with a portable camera. “But where it really shines for that focal range is in a lot of coverage of small venue sporting arenas, probably basketball being the best illustration,” Thorpe said. “And because of size, weight and focal range it has application for SkyCams.”

COMPACT AND LIGHTWEIGHT

Last spring Canon introduced the CJ18ex7.6B KASE S, a new addition to its UHDgc series of 4K UHD broadcast portable zoom lenses. The new lens is designed to be used with 4K UHD broadcast cameras with 2/3-inch sensors. It has the same optical specifications as the existing CJ18ex7.6B IRSE/IASE except it has no optical extender. The lens features a zoom range of 7.6-137mm and weighs just 3.7 pounds.

The 4K UHD imaging quality is delivered at a price point that matches well with the many lower-cost 4K cameras in the market. By eliminating the optical range extender, the lens maintains a compact and lightweight design to meet the versatile and ever-changing needs of a broad range of video productions, including documentaries, sports, events and news coverage. Additionally, the lens is compatible with the new Canon ZDJ-G01 Zoom Demand and FDJ-G01 Focus Demand accessories that provide operators with enhanced functionality and operational control of the lens.

The new portable zoom lens utilizes Canon’s proprietary optical design technology, incorporating materials such as fluorite and Ultra-Low Dispersion (UD) glass. In addition, the lens supports the wide color gamut approved by the ITU-R BT.2020 UHD broadcasting standard, essential to HDR imaging. The ergonomics and digital servo operational controls of the lens are similar to Canon’s current lineup of portable zoom lenses, providing users with maximum mobility in a variety of shooting situations.

VALHALLA, N.Y.—Fujinon has a bevy of new 4K and 8K lenses that it is adding to its range of offerings, as well as some new features specifically designed for this high-resolution equipment.

Part of Fujinon’s UA Series, the UA125X8BESM (UA125X8) is a 4K-compatible broadcast lens with a zoom ratio of 125x and improved optical image stabilization. The UA125X8 box lens covers a focal length of 8mm-1,000mm with an F1.7 aperture, making it the longest and widest 4K field lens for UHD applications in the Fujinon UA series, per the company. It is meant for use with 4K 2/3-inch cameras. The lens uses Fujinon’s optical technologies to produce HDR quality video. Additional features include nine-blade aperture; it is equipped with 16-bit encoders; High Transmittance Electron Beam Coating (HT-EBC); and an anti-fogging design.

Fujinon has also made an update to its UA107x8 AF (Advanced Focus) 4K broadcast lens. UA107x8 AF has a newly developed phase-detection auto-focus sensor, which allows for a response speed as fast as 0.45 seconds, according to Fujinon. The lens also features the company’s image stabilization mechanism and a 107x ultra-magnification zoom covering focal lengths from 8.4mm-900mm, as well as HDR, vivid color reproduction and HT-EBC.

A pair of 8K lenses were also unveiled with the HP66X15.2ESM (HP66X15.2) and the HP12X7.6ERD (HP12X7.6). The HP66X15.2 is a box lens that has an 8K focal length of up to 1,000mm and a zoom magnification of 66x. The HP12X7.6 is a portable lens that covers a range of 7.6mm-91mm and has an 8K angle of view at 93.3 degrees.

Both lenses feature bayonet mounts targeting three 1.25-inch sensors for ultra-high 8K resolution. Each lens also has HT-EBC, nine-blade aperture and are equipped with 16-bit encoders. The HP66X15.2 comes with an optical image stabilization mechanism.

The HP66x15.2 is expected to be released this summer, while the HP12X7.6 is expected in the fall.

In addition to the physical lenses, Fujinon debuted a pair of advanced features that can be used with many of its 4K and 8K broadcast lenses, ARIA (Automatic Restoration of Illumination Attenuation) and RBF (Remote Back Focus). ARIA is designed to automatically introduce the appropriate amount of gain to counter the darkening of an image when F-stops are changed, as well as provide relative illumination data throughout the full range of the lens, helping to correct any corner shading that may have taken place.

RBF, meanwhile, allows for the back focus process to be operated solely by a video operator in an OB van or control room via the camera RCP. The camera operator has control over the zoom, servo focus and back focus functions.

In addition to being compatible with a range of Fujinon 4K and 8K lenses, ARIA and RBF will also operate with several of Sony’s latest series of 4K UHD cameras, Fujinon said.

For more information, visit www.fujifilmholdings.com.  

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—Television and motion picture lens makers have found themselves challenged to develop and manufacture lenses that hold up to increasing resolutions of 4K and beyond. To achieve this, they’ve invented and applied new technologies that have been years in the making.

HIGH PRECISION OPTICS

Citing Thales Angenieux’s 70 years of building prime lenses, the company’s North American Sales Manager Nick Hayes said their new Optimo Primes “are the result of decades of proven experience and know-how in high precision optics and mechanics.”

The Optimo Prime series of 12 lenses provides full-frame 46.5mm image circle coverage with a consistent 1.8 T-stop except on the extremes. They are available as PL and LPL mount, and designed as smart lenses. The Optimo Prime series is very compact and lightweight, and they offer a common gear size and position for all lenses in the 12-lens set.

“Based on cinematographer feedback, Optimo Primes will provide both Cooke-I and LDS metadata,” said Hayes. Other user features include a replaceable iris blade unit, user-configurable for bokeh including anamorphic effect, a replaceable internal glass element to customize optical properties, a 320-degree focus rotation angle and the possibility to go beyond infinity and close focus.

He noted the full-frame Optimo Prime series is a perfect match with the Optimo Ultra 12X, Angenieux’s new long-range zoom.

BREAKING FREE

“ARRI’s new Signature Prime lenses take advantage of significant recent advancements in optical design, optical materials and coatings and optical machinery,” said Art Adams, ARRI cinema lens specialist. “But the real advancement has been a willingness to break free of our own legacy lens mount.”

The 30-year-old PL lens mount was developed by ARRI for 35mm film and had to make room between the lens and the camera for a spinning mirror, part of the viewfinder system. The new, larger LPL mount “should result in better, cheaper lens designs and greater lens portability between cameras.”

“The LPL lens mount is wider to allow for the free interchange of lenses between large format and S35 sensor cameras,” said Adams. “This additional width also allows for near-telecentric optical designs, where light strikes the sensor at an angle as close to perpendicular as possible. To do this, the lens mount must be as big as the sensor. Near-telecentricity eliminates a number of artifacts related to sensor design, such as increased chromatic and spherical aberration, edge shading and color-crossover effects. ARRI Signature Primes are the only near-telecentric multiformat lenses in the world, and as such we believe they will work optimally with any foreseeable future sensor designs.”

PUSHING THE ENVELOPE

Canon has just introduced a top-of-the-line portable 4K UHD lens, the very wide angle zoom UHD XF. “4K’s tough in 2/3 inch,” said Larry Thorpe, Canon USA’s national marketing executive. “You’re dealing with 200 line pairs per millimeter, it’s really pushing things.”

“We’ve been pretty good at wide angle for some years now. But with this one we wanted to extend the telephoto, and that was responding to pleas of various people. A lot of people in sports, when they’re shooting in smaller venues—like a basketball court, wrestling, boxing, even tennis—they love the wide angle. But they also want more telephoto. This lens gives them both.”

Not all customers are ready for 4K today, but can appreciate 1080 60p and HDR performance. “One of the problems with HDR and wide color gamut is that even a small amount of chromatic aberration becomes more visible. So when you make an HDR wide color gamut lens, you’ve just got to grind down those aberrations even more. And to do that, we use a multigroup for the zoom. Typically, portable lenses have two zoom groups to perform the zooming operation. In this lens we use three groups, and that way we get more degrees of freedom to control the aberrations and elevate the resolution.”

THE ‘COOKE LOOK’

Cooke Optics pioneered a number of lens developments over its more than a century of lens design and manufacturing. In its current lenses, it is replicating what it calls the Cooke Look, described as warm and natural images on the screen.

“We noticed when digital cinematography came in, not to talk bad about digital, but some people think of it as a boring format,” said Les Zellan, Cooke chairman. “Cinematographers were desperate to find a way to put character and life into the digital, and one of the ways they did that was by using the old lenses.”

One Cooke lens in particular, the Speed Panchro lenses, looked promising to fill that bill, even though Cooke hadn’t made one in 55 years. “We thought ‘why don’t we bring them up to the modern world mechanically?’ A lot of those old glasses weren’t available anymore, so we had to substitute, using that old look as a target. We’ve added things like the linear iris and the Cooke focusing scale. But the actual look that comes out of the back of the lens is a dead ringer for the Speed Panchro.”

BRAND NEW DESIGN

Over the past couple of years, Fujifilm has replicated 15 of its HD lenses to 4K Ultra High Definition with HDR capabilities. Two new focal length 46-times zooms are the wide angle UA46x9.5 and the more telephoto UA46x13.5.

“They’re all digital, all new stabilization system,” said Gordon Tubbs, vice president at Fujifilm North America Corporation, Optical Device Division. “We didn’t just build a new 4K lens and put an existing drive unit in it. Literally the whole lens is a brand new design in both cases.” There are two specialized versions of each of the zooms. One eliminates stabilization for applications such as aerial photography where stabilization is already provided. The other provides motorized remote control of the 2x extender, which is necessary for robotic operations.

Tubbs explained the 4K lenses in Fujifilm’s lineup are only marginally more expensive than the HD models they replace. “During the transition from SD to HD we learned a lot about manufacturing and tight tolerances as we went from one technology to the next. And of course there are advancements in glass and coatings.” The company has developed its HTEBC process, High Transmittance Electronic Beam Coatings.

“And now we’re making the same steps into 8K.”

CLOSER TO HUMAN EYESIGHT

A year ago, Zeiss introduced the first of its Supreme Prime line of lenses, and is continuing to add focal lengths a step wider and a step more telephoto to the first lenses released. The Supremes can handle both full frame and Super 35. “It’s being used in both sets of formats,” said Snehal Patel, Zeiss director of cinema sales for the Americas. “It works with the latest crop of digital cameras, like the Alexa LS, RED Monstro, Sony Venus and the C700 FF from Canon.”

He noted, “The Supremes are priced between the cost of a Zeiss Ultra Prime and a Master Prime. So economically it makes a lot of sense, especially in the rental environment, where the lenses will be used for a very long time.

“You’re going to see more and more demand coming because the cameras are available and the full frame format is so interesting with the wider angle of view, which is closer to human eyesight. And also the fact that you get this smaller grain structure from this sensor size, because you’re using pixels that are about the same size as the Super 35 sensors, except that when projected those pixels look smaller on screen.”

SYDNEY—Fujifilm’s new Fujinon LA16x8BRm 2/3-inch professional 4K lens fits like a glove with Blackmagic’s URSA Broadcast camera, as the company specifically designed the lightweight and compact lens for the Blackmagic camera to provide 4K and HD resolution.

With a rear focus mechanism design, the LA16x8BRM weighs in at 1.6kg. It features a single button electronic flange adjustment with a macro switch function, which allows for closer shooting than MOD up to 0.05 metres. The lens also has a focal length of 8-128mm and an F value of F1.9-2.8.

Specifically for the Blackmagic URSA camera, the LA16x8BRM lens boasts a 16x zoom ratio suitable for EFP, news and studio shooting.

LAS VEGAS—Fujifilm’s range of broadcast and cine lenses, as well as its optical technologies, will be the highlight of its NAB Show booth.

The display of its broadcast lenses will include both its 8K lens series and the UA series of broadcast lenses, which support 4K cameras equipped with a 2/3-inch sensor. Specifically, the company will feature the Fujinon UA46x9.5 portable 4K zoom lens, equipped with a 46x zoom, and the Fujinon UA107x8.4 zoom lens, which features a 107x zoom.

Making its premiere at the show will be the Fujinon UA125x8 4K-compatible box-type broadcast zoom lens, offering a zoom ratio of 125x2 and covers focal lengths from 8mm in wide angle to 1,000mm in telephoto. Other under developed products that will get a sneak peak are the Fujinon UA18x7.6 and the Fujinon UA23x7.6, 2/3-inch 4K portable lenses.

The newly announced Premista 28-100mm T2.9 zoom lens is another product coming to NAB. It covers focal lengths of 28-100mm, and combines the large-aperture aspherical lens and the newly developed focus/zoom system. Other cinema lenses expected to be on display include a mock-up of the Premista 80-250mm T2.9-3.5, and lenses from the HK, ZK, XK and MK series.

Additional Fujifilm products that will reside in the company’s booth include the Fujifilm X-T3 digital camera, which supports 4K/60P 4:2:2 10-bit HDMI output and 4K/60P 4:2:0 10-bit recording on an SD card and features ETERNA, Flog and Film Simulation modes; as well as the GFX100Megapixels digital camera, which is equipped with an image sensor with 102 million pixels and an image stabilizing mechanism. There will also be the Z5000 Fujifilm Projector that can project images in various directions by the rotation of the lens.

All of these products will be at booth C7225 during the NAB Show.

SYDNEY—After previewing the lens at the 2018 NAB Show, Fujifilm has announced that it will make its Fujinon UA46x9.5BERD” (UA46×9.5) lens available in January 2019. At 46x zoom, the company says the new lens features the world’s highest magnification in a broadcast portable lens for 4K video production.

The UA46x9.5 has a focal length that stretches from 9.5mm to 437mm, giving it the world’s widest angle among any broadcast portable zoom lens 40mm or greater, according to Fujifilm. It can be mounted onto HD broadcast cameras and sports an anti-vibration mechanism and drive unit for steady shooting. It captures in high dynamic range (HDR) to improve light transmittance and provide vivid color reproduction, along with higher contrast images, while also reducing color aberrations.

[Read: Is It Time To Think About 8K?]

“The response from the market since the launch of this new lens, which was first debuted at NAB 2018 earlier this year, has been excellent,” said Simon Becker, Fujifilm Australia national sales manager for optical devices.. As a result of its high specification and ability to support such a wide variety of video productions with HDR, we have already taken several pre-orders in Australia and have many more in the pipeline.”

Fujifilm plans to expand its line of broadcast portable lenses for 4K video production with the Fujinon UA46x13.5BERD, also in early 2019. It will feature the same specifications as the UA46x9.5, but with a focal length from 13.5mm to 621mm.

With 4k video content expanding around the globe, Fujifilm said it released the new lens to meet the need for high-quality 4k-compatible equipment in sports broadcasts such as soccer and baseball.

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WAYNE, N.J.—The BBC reopened BBC Studioworks’ three studios and post production facility at the U.K.’s Television Centre in September 2017 with a batch of new equipment and technology , including 4K HDR TV lenses from Fujinon.

In total, Fujinon reports that it supplied BBC Studioworks with 22 of its UA-Series 4K HDR TV lenses, in addition to new 4K camera, screens and switchers that will help enable productions to be shot in 4K and HDR.

Productions that have been shot at the new facilities include “The Jonathan Ross Show” and “It Take Two.”

WAYNE, N.J.—Next time you want to tweet at the Optical Devices Division of Fujifilm be sure to use their new Twitter handle @FUJINONlenses. The social media rebrand has been made to Fujifilm’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram as well.

The company says that the change will make it easier for Fujinon customers to find and engage with the company, as it encourages Fujinon lens users to share shots of their gear in action with the new handle and by using the hashtag #FUJINON.

Fujifilm also invites customers to ask question and provide feedback through the social media channels.

WAYNE, N.J.—The Optical Devices Division of Fujifilm is ready to roll out the latest in the MK series of cinema lenses, the Fujinon MK50-135mm T2.9 zoom lens. A companion lens to the MK18-55mm T2.9 zoom lens, the MK50-135mm has the same size and weight as the MK18-55mm, but features a focal length of 50-135mm.

The MK50-135mm weighs in at 2.16 pounds with front diameters of 85mm and lengths of 206mm. It offers a minimum object distance of 3.93 feet. All MK lenses are designed for E-mount cameras and require only one matte box and one filter size between lenses. Additional features include a macro function for a broader range of close-up shooting and gears for the three rings are positioned in the exact same place, eliminating the need to reposition accessories.

X mount versions of the MK lenses used in the Fujifilm X series digital cameras are being developed for launch by the end of the year.

Fujifilm is now offering the MK50-135mm lens for $3,999, with delivery slated to begin in mid-July.

LAS VEGAS—The Optical Devices Division of Fujifilm will unveil its new MK Series of ultra-compact, lightweight cinema lenses designed with the emerging cinematographer in mind at this year’s NAB Show. The series includes the Fujinon MK18-55mm T2.9 standard zoom lens, with an 18-55mm focal length, and the Fujinon MK50-135mm T2.9 zoom, which will be available this summer.

Fujinon MK 50-135mm

Together, the lenses have a combined focal length range of 18-135mm, in the Super 35mm format, covering the most frequently used range utilized by emerging cinematographers, who typically shoot projects, such as documentaries, online programming, independent films and corporate videos.

These Fujinon cine lenses offer edge-to-edge optical performance, low distortion, a Flange Focal Distance adjustment function, and three rings for manual and independent adjustment of focus, zoom and iris (aperture). They’re compatible with E-mount cameras with Super 35mm/APS-C sensors, although X mount versions are in development. The lenses require only one matte box and filter size between them.

The MK18-55mm and MK50-135mm lenses have a seamless manual iris, zero breathing, no ramping or zoom shift, and a 200-degree focus rotation, while maintaining focus throughout the zoom range. They only weigh 2.16 pounds, with front diameters of 85mm and lengths of 206mm. The MK18-55mm’s minimum object distance (MOD) is .85 meters/2.78 feet, while the MK 50-135mm’s MOD is 1.2m/3.93 feet.

The 2017 NAB Show takes place in Las Vegas, April 24-27. Fujifilm’s Optical Devices Division will be in boothC7225. For more information, visit www.nabshow.com.

UA107x8.4 UHD lens

WAYNE, N.J.—With the Olympic games just a little more than a week away, Fujifilm has made sure it will be represented in Rio de Janeiro, announcing it is offering full on-site technical support for Fujinon lenses from Aug. 3-22.

Engineers from Fujifilm’s American, European and Japanese branches will be in Rio, located at service agent Camera 2’s facility. Fujifilm technical support will provider service directly on-site or at Camera 2 for all Fujinon lens customers.

The 2016 Summer Olympics will take place in Rio from Aug. 5-21.

Read more about how broadcasters are covering the Rio Games at our Live@TheRioOlympics social media hub.

LAS VEGAS—The Optical Devices Division of Fujifilm North America will showcase Fujinon 4K Ultra HD Series lenses at the 2016 NAB Show. With higher resolution, contrast and dynamic range, this series includes the UA80x9 field lens and UA22x8 portable zoom, which are compatible with 4K 2/3-inch broadcast cameras.

Designed for broadcast applications, the UA80x9 has an 80x zoom, image stabilization, advanced optical performance, and focal lengths from 9mm in wide angle to 720mm in telephoto. The UA22x8 has a 22x zoom ratio and focal length from 8mm in wide angle to 176mm in telephoto, making it suitable for live sports, program production and news reporting.

XA55x9

Premier PL 4K+ Cine lenses—ranging from 14.5 to 400mm—will be on display, including the 14.5-45mm T2.0, 18-85mm T2.0, 24-180mm T2.6, and 75-400mm T2.8-T3.8. They feature the fastest T speeds available, with unprecedented color matched 4K—and beyond—optical performance. Also at the booth will be XA55x9.5BESM 2/3-inch zoom and XA99x8.4 ultra-wide field production lenses.

Fujinon Premiere Cabrio zoom lenses will be featured, including the Fujinon PL 14-35mm, PL 19-90, PL 25-300mm, and PL 85-300, which feature exclusive, detachable servo drive units for electric zooming, focusing and iris. Mounting the unit enables remote control of zoom, focus, and iris adjustment. The optional PL 25-300 servo makes them suitable for use as standard PL or ENG-style lenses controllable using cinema industry standard wireless controllers and Fujinon wired units.

The 2016 NAB Show takes place in Las Vegas, April 18-21. The Optical Devices Division of Fujifilm North America will be in booth C7125. For more information, visit www.nabshow.com.

WAYNE, N.J.—Fujifilm has announced that the Website for its Optical Devices Division can now be viewed in either English or Spanish. Fujifilm reports that the reasoning behind the update to the site is because of the popularity of its product range in Latin America.

Viewers can transition to the Spanish version of the site by clicking “Espanol” on the upper right side of the Fujifilm U.S. site; the link will take viewers directly to the Spanish version of the Optical Devices Division site.

Fujifilm Cypress, Calif., office (photo courtesy of Fujifilm)

WAYNE, N.J.—Fujifilm’s Optical Devices Division is picking up its roots and moving its Los Angeles-area office to the Fujifilm west coast headquarters in Cypress, Calif. The office was previous located in Redondo Beach, Calif.

Here is the new address for the Optical Devices Division:

Fujinon Lenses Sales and Service
Fujifilm North America Corporation
Optical Devices Division
6200 Phyllis Drive, Cypress, CA 90630

The division’s phone and fax numbers will remain the same.

The reason for the move, according to Thom Calabro, director of marketing and product development at Fujifilm North America’s Optical Devices Division, is the L.A.-area office required a larger facility.