Utilizing what it called the latest optical technologies to deliver high performance at an attractive price point, Canon introduced its cost-effective HDgc series of portable HD zoom lenses at NAB.
The new KJ20x8.2B portable HD lens is specifically designed to support low-cost image acquisition systems for a wide range of applications and users, from broadcast ENG to professional freelance HD shooters. Leading the list of advanced features of the new lens is its built-in 2x extender, an important imaging feature previously seen on higher-end HD lenses.
As a result, the KJ20x8.2B offers camera operators improved subject-framing flexibility. The new KJ20x8.2B is also Canon’s widest (8.2mm) lens in the affordable 20x zoom category, and it covers a generous range of focal lengths, particularly when combined with its built-in 2x extender expanding its 8.2mm-164mm focal length to 16.4mm-328mm.
Canon said the introduction of the KJ20x8.2B marks a price-performance breakthrough for the many production applications seeking cost-effective HD acquisition systems based upon a new generation of low-cost 2/3in camcorders. The lens has minimized axial and lateral chromatic aberrations, chroma aberrations, and geometric distortion.
The new optical materials and multilayer optical coatings used for the KJ20x8.2B effectively attenuate optical artifacts such as ghosting, flare and veiling glare that might be stimulated by strong light sources (for example, sun in daytime and car headlights at nighttime).
The KJ20x8.2B exhibits a high MTF (modulation transfer function) at picture center that is also well controlled out to picture extremities. This high MTF is well sustained even with operational adjustments of focal length and object distance. The KJ20x8.2B’s optical performance is well-balanced for both near and distant subjects, and its rendering of distant subjects at wide angles — frequently required for landscape and cityscape shots — surpasses previously available lenses in this price range.
The new lens also features Canon’s latest improvements in Advanced Drive Unit technology. This technology is famous for the convenience and control it affords to camera operators using Canon portable HD lenses. On the new KJ20x8.2B, Advanced Drive Unit technology includes Shuttle Shot, a Canon-exclusive technology that enhances production capabilities.
