New DIGISUPER 27 is the most sophisticated HD lens Canon has ever produced

When Canon introduced its new HD studio lenses at NAB this year-with their eye-opening sticker price starting at $90,000-many felt they would be a hard sell to broadcasters increasingly on fixed incomes. Four months later, it appears as though Canon was on to something, as major broadcasters like ABC, CBS News, Entertainment Tonight and ESPN have all ordered several for their state-of-the-art HD studios and are now using them on air.
The continuing improvement in cameras, with their ability to acquire in 1080p/60, with its extra vertical resolution, has necessitated a new studio lens with more spatial sharpness and a higher contrast ratio to match this increased performance. The blacks are blacker and the whites are higher in amplitude.

“There’s always been room for a ‘high-end’ lens that offers the most advanced features among our major network customers,” said Canon’s Larry Thorpe, noting that the company’s last high-end studio introduction (the XJ-25) was 10 years ago. “We’ve had 10 years of feedback and new R&D that has resulted in this next-generation Cadillac. There are more than 20 different glass elements in this new studio lens. That’s remarkable.”

Indeed, Thorpe said the DIGISUPER 27 is the most sophisticated lens Canon has ever produced, with a bigger zoom ratio, a focal length of 6.5mm to 180mm, and multi-layer optical coatings that dramatically reduce ghosting and flaring. In addition, one of the new models, the DIGISUPER 27AF HD, includes auto-focus technology (for a higher price) that is ideal for robotic pedestal applications where there is no camera operator yet precise focus is critical.

An optional 0.9x wide attachment is also available. This “zoom-through” feature enables users to begin with a wide shot and go telephoto without experiencing negative effects on light transmission. It alters the range of the zoom on wide settings by 10 percent toward the wide side, making a new zoom range of 5.85mm to 162mm.

Other advancements on the DIGISUPER 27 and DIGISUPER 27AF HD studio lenses include a fast servo-zoom speed of 0.5 seconds and a new optional remote-controllable macro-focus feature that allows the camera operator to perform macro focusing from the pan bar (for focusing on small objects).

Canon’s autofocus capabilities are based on a proprietary HD implementation of Through-the-Lens Secondary Image Registration Phase Detection Method technology. The DIGISUPER 27AF HD studio lens provides a window in the HD camera’s viewfinder that targets the object operators want to focus most sharply on in the scene. Operators can change the window’s position and size by means of a miniature joystick on the camera handle’s focus servo control.

“If you aspire to make great HD pictures, the smartest investment is to purchase a better lens,” Thorpe said. “It can improve the performance of an existing camera dramatically, but a new camera won’t make the lens better.”

For more information, visit www.usa.canon.com.