Canon wins technology & engineering Emmy® Award for its lineup of 4K zoom lenses

London, UK – Canon Europe today announced that its parent company Canon Inc. will be recognised at the 69th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy® Awards for its complete lineup of 4K field production zoom lenses for large-format, single-sensor cameras. Presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Technology & Engineering Emmy® Awards honour development and innovation in broadcast technology and recognise companies, organisations and individuals for breakthroughs in technology that have a significant effect on television engineering.

"The images we admire on screen all start with the lens,” says Kieran Magee, European Director Professional Imaging. “As audiences evolve and increasingly expect 4K resolution and beyond, it’s important for lens technology to keep pace. We are thrilled to receive this coveted award as recognition of the craft behind the lenses that professional storytellers trust.”

Among those lenses recognised with this prestigious award is Canon’s far-reaching CINE-SERVO 50-1000mm T5.0-8.9, the world’s longest 4K zoom lens for large-format single-sensor cameras. Since its launch in 2014, the lens has been a part of many live broadcast, and innovative television productions, including National Geographic’s groundbreaking live television event, “Earth Live” – a two-hour live broadcast of the world’s greatest wildlife.

“The CINE-SERVO 50-1000mm lens was the ideal piece of glass for what we were trying to capture while shooting Earth Live,” said Al Berman, Executive Producer, Earth Live. “Often when shooting wildlife in their natural habitat, videographers don’t have the opportunity to be up close and personal with their subjects, but Canon’s CINE-SERVO 50-1000mm made it as if we were right there with them. It’s probably the best wildlife lens on the market.”

Canon’s remarkable CINE-SERVO 50-1000mm T5.0-8.9 was built in response to an international plea for a long zoom, Super 35mm lens to extend creative flexibilities in 4K / UHD natural history and documentary productions. The design challenge that Canon faced was significantly elevated by the urge from potential users that the lens be easily portable in demanding in-the-field situations faced by those originating wildlife productions in remote locations. The necessary focal range was predicated on the expressed desire to fully frame a subject having a height of four to five feet from a distance of 350 feet. This requirement dictated a focal range of 1000 mm. An additional recommendation from the production community was for the lens to be no more than 15 pounds in weight and 16 inches in length. Canon mobilised the most advanced computer simulation tools to seek the necessary optimisation in both the optical system and the optomechanical systems to achieve success.

The design of these lenses leveraged Canon’s decades of expertise in such system designs as well as the deployment of the latest in glass materials to achieve a balance of telephoto 4K optical performance and acceptable image brightness within the physical constraints. The 4K optical performance of the lenses are carefully managed across the entire image plane to ensure superb subjective sharpness especially on the wider angle settings.

The Technology & Engineering Emmy® Awards will be presented on October 25th, 2017, during the SMPTE 2017 Annual Conference in Hollywood, CA.

Canon’s full line-up of 4K zoom lenses for large-format single-sensor cameras, includes:

• Cine-Servo lens series
  • CN20x50 T5.0-8.9 (50-1000mm)
  • CN7x17 T2.95-3.9 (17-120mm)
• Compact Cine-Servo lens series
  • CN-E18-80mm T4.4
  • CN-E70-200mm T4.4
• Top-end zoom lens series
  • CN-E14.5-60mm T2.6
  • CN-E30-300mm T2.95-3.7
• Compact zoom lens series
  • CN-E15.5-47mm T2.8
  • CN-E30-105mm T2.8

For more information about Canon’s line up of 4K zoom lenses, please visit: https://www.canon-europe.com/pro/cinema-lenses/