Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU), which is located near Nashville, has recently acquired a Fujinon XA 50X9.5BESM HD telephone lens and plans to use it in the shooting of a NASA documentary.
The lens was purchased as part of an upgrade for the school’s Mobile Production Lab and will be used by MTSU mass communication classes, in cooperation with WNPT television, the Nashville PBS member station, to prepare a documentary about the transition and reinvention of the government’s space agency. The telephoto lens was used in conjunction with a Sony HDC-1400 camera to capture space shuttle launches at the Cape Kennedy Space Center and for shooting the test flight of NASA’s new Ares 1-X rocket.
“For long distances, we get a tighter, clearer picture that requires less light,” said Toffer King, MTSU’s assistant director of technical systems. “The 50x lens on the truck adds to the existing inventory of three Fujinon HD lenses in our new HD studio on Sony HDC-1400 cameras. The XA50X9.5 is our first HD long lens. It has integrated very well and provides a fantastic picture.”
The school’s Mobile Production Lab is also used on a regular basis to capture school sports activities, including football, baseball and softball.
