Canon HJ21ex7.5B and HJ11ex4.7B Portable HD Zoom Lenses Bring Reliable Versatility to the Demanding Production Schedule of the Innovative Rescue Me Series
LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., March 23, 2009 – With gritty real-world locations and a fast-paced production schedule, Rescue Me, the award-winning episodic television series about New York City firefighters, demands the best of its crews and equipment. Shot film-style in digital HD, the series’ distinct cinema verité production style relies on portable HDTV lenses from Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging.
“Rescue Me is actually one of the toughest kinds of HD jobs to do because we spend so much time outside,” recalled Tom Houghton, Director of Photography for many of the series’ episodes. “In February and March we have some of the harshest winter conditions, but then we continue shooting on into August, when we get brutal summer heat and humidity. In five seasons of Rescue Me I’ve had virtually no problems with our Canon lenses. They’re very solid. After shooting for months at a time under unbelievable conditions, they’ve proven to be a good choice.”
“The Canon HD lenses we use are versatile, fast, and sharp,” Houghton continued, referring to the HJ21ex7.5B and HJ11ex4.7B portable EFP lenses used to shoot the series. “Having high-quality glass is a must because the look and feel of Rescue Me is quite spontaneous, which also means that the light we shoot in can be very changeable. We may be shooting in very harsh light, then flat light, and then it’s sunny, it’s cloudy, or it’s smoky. All these things lend themselves to capturing realism, and the Canon lenses always deliver a clean look that serves us very well.”
“Digital high definition cinematography continues to gain in popularity for television episodics, commercials, theatrical features, documentaries, and other traditionally film-originated forms of programming,” noted Larry Thorpe, national marketing executive, Broadcast and Communications division, Canon U.S.A. “Canon’s decades of expertise in optics includes designing and manufacturing 16mm cine lenses, image-stabilized long-zoom HD lenses for major television sports and entertainment coverage, HD studio lenses, portable HD ENG/EFP lenses, and prime and zoom lenses for digital cinematography. All provide the convenient features and exacting optical performance that producers demand, whatever the type of program may be.”
Both the HJ11ex4.7B and HJ21ex7.5B portable HD zoom lenses are members of Canon’s third-generation line of eHDxs high-performance portable HD zoom lenses, all of which are designed to provide producers with a broad range of creative options. Both are designed for minimum breathing during focus changes, a crucial factor in producing dramatic content such as the Rescue Me series.
The HJ11ex4.7B zoom lens is the widest angle-of-view portable HD production lens currently offered by Canon. It is engineered for wide-angle shooting with minimum chromatic aberrations and geometric distortion, while also providing lightweight operation and exceptional HD performance. Weighing only 4.10 lbs., the HJ11ex4.7B’s focal range goes from 4.7mm on the wide end all the way to 104mm with its built-in 2x extender.
Canon’s HJ21ex7.5B telephoto zoom lens has the widest field of view available among Canon’s standard telephoto series of HDTV lenses. Optimized for the highest EFP performance, its relatively large input section includes innovative optical compensation to reduce focus breathing to an extremely low level. The HJ21ex7.5B weighs just 5.81 lbs., has a focal range extending from 7.5mm to 158mm (or 15mm to 316mm with extender), and is a frequent choice for location shots involving distances.
Both the HJ11ex4.7B and HJ21ex7.5B portable HD zoom lenses feature Canon’s unique “eDrive” feature, which enables users to program such settings as focus, iris, zoom position and speed, and other functions for precise, automated repeatability via an easy-to-use LCD menu, assignable “soft” function buttons, and the rocker switch built into the lens grip. Users can program multiple settings or none at all, depending on their personal preferences.
“The camera operators on Rescue Me, by necessity, move very quickly from one scene set-up to the next,” notes Mark Belhumeur of VER (Video Equipment Rentals), the nationwide company that supplied the series with its Canon portable HD lenses. “These lenses lend themselves to that style of production. They are very crisp and compact, and the wide-angle HJ11ex4.7B lens is particularly convenient, allowing them to work in some extremely tight spaces.”
“Canon is always recognized among the top tier of optics,” Houghton states. “These lenses are a product of very high professional standards.”
About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. Its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), a top patent holder of technology, ranked third overall in the U.S. in 2008†, with global revenues of US $45 billion, is listed as number seven both in the computer industry and among Japanese companies on Fortune Magazine's World’s Most Admired Companies 2008 list, and is on the 2008 BusinessWeek list of "Top 100 Brands." At Canon, we care because caring is essential to living together in harmony. Founded upon a corporate philosophy of Kyosei - - “all people, regardless of race, religion or culture, harmoniously living and working together into the future” - - Canon U.S.A. supports a number of social, youth, educational and other programs, including environmental and recycling initiatives. Additional information about these programs can be found at www.usa.canon.com/kyosei. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/RSS.
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†Based on weekly patent counts issued by United States Patent and Trademark Office.
