SKY New Zealand's Outside Broadcasting division is set to deploy Fujinon lenses in its new lightweight production vehicle.
The OSB division has been active worldwide for many years covering live events for both host broadcasters and those requiring unilateral feeds.
In New Zealand, the company owns and operates five major high definition outside broadcast vehicles and three standard definition vehicles capable of handling the most complex outside broadcasts.
Recently SKY had a requirement to equip its newest vehicle with the latest broadcast lens.
SKY New Zeland technical Manager, Nick Haines, said the company had a long history with Fujinon and it made sense for compatibility with the rest of fleet to carry on that history.
"In this instance we were looking for a cost effective solution for a new production vehicle and Fujinon were able to supply lenses which were of a slightly more cost effective pricing model but still retained compatibility with our fully featured top end product.”
The new Fujinon lenses will be used in SKY’s new lightweight production vehicle covering small events, which would otherwise not be cost effective to cover with larger vehicles.
Haines said the lenses formed a key part of the compact truck, which was designed to access venues that required a smaller vehicle.
After discussions with the Fujinon team SKY purchased ZA22x7.6BERD-S6 lenses for their new truck.
With servo for focus and zoom the ZA22x7.6BERD-S6 is a 7.6-167mm lens, designed to provide 2/3" cameras with a wide to telephoto angle-of-view.
The lens has a zoom ratio of 22x, and a 2x extender effectively doubles the focal range. The maximum aperture is a fast f/1.8 at 7.6-120mm and stops down to f/2.5 at 167mm.
The lens also includes a digital servo for focus and zoom, which enables full studio control via RS-232.
Innerfocus minimises the effects of lens breathing, which ensures a more consistent angle-of-view when making focus adjustments.
QuickZoom improves zoom speed to 0.7 seconds end to end.
With the push of a button, QuickZoom facilitates a rapid shift to the telephoto end to check focus.
Releasing the button automatically returns the lens to the previously selected focal length. The Focused Intelligent Network Diagnosis (FIND) system aids in preventive maintenance and troubleshooting by evaluating electronic and mechanical parameters.
Haines said the ZA22x7.6BERD-S6 lenses came in at a lower cost point while still enjoying compatibility with our Fujinon HA range and without losing image quality.
"This lens as part of our new truck now allows us to compete for work at another level of video production,” he said.