F&F Productions equips latest production vehicle with FUJINON HD lenses

By published

Mobile production facility provider F&F Productions has equipped its newest HD truck, the GTX-16, with an array of FUJINON 2/3in HDTV field lenses, the XA88x8.8BESM telephoto lens and the XA101x8.9BESM.

The vehicle also carries four HA23x7.6 lenses for hand-held cameras as well as two HA14x4.5 superwide-angle lenses, which are well-suited for entertainment shows. Many of F&F's FUJINON lenses have image stabilization, which is critical for HDTV, as well as 2x extenders and digital servo focus and zoom. Across its entire fleet, F&F Productions uses a total of 90 FUJINON lenses.

"In our over 30 years of business, we've evaluated virtually every lens FUJINON has brought to market. We believe that FUJINON has grown and evolved right along with our business," said Bill McKechney, vice president of engineering, F&F Productions.

"As our trucks have crisscrossed the country traveling to different events, our FUJINON lenses have proven they can handle the challenges posed by different locations as well as the wear and tear of repeated setups and handling by different cameras operators," he added.

All the trucks in F&F's HD mobile fleet, including the GTX-16, GTX-15, GTX-14, GTX-12 and GTX-11, are outfitted with the same or comparable equipment to allow for maximum flexibility and compatibility. Besides key centerpieces like the Grass Valley Kalypso HD 4-M/E production switchers, Calrec digital audio consoles and Chyron HyperX3 graphics, the trucks carry 12 Ikegami 79EC HD native multiformat CMOS cameras with a variety of Vinten pan heads, tripods and dolly wheels.

GTX-16 and GTX-15 were used to produce the 2011 NCAA Final Four March Madness basketball games for CBS. Recently, GTX-16 was the main truck that CBS and ESPN used for the 2011 U.S. Open Tennis at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, NY.