
NAB 2018: Canon Intros Four New Lenses for UHD Production Needs By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Monday, April 2, 2018 - 10:32 am
Print This Story
Canon took the wraps off its new lens introductions for NAB, including a new UHD-DIGISUPER 66x box lens and a second tier of UHD portable zoom lenses, the UHDgc line, that are designed to be a solid fit for 2/3-inch UHD lower-cost cameras that increasingly deliver UHD images. With 4K cameras at a remarkably low cost we wanted a second tier in 2/3-inch UHD portable lenses and that is similar to what we did when we launched the HDgc line of HD lenses [during that transition], says Larry Thorpe, Canon U.S.A, Senior Fellow, ITCG Professional Engineering and Solutions Business Planning Division.
Three new portable lenses from Canon give a new more affordable price point for those looking to enter the UHD production market.
The three new portable zoom 4K UHD broadcast lenses are the CJ24ex7.5B, CJ18ex7.6B and CJ14ex4.3B and they provide 4K UHD imaging quality at a price point that Canon says is more accessible to the majority of the broadcast market. They also maintain a compact and lightweight design to meet a wide range of needs for video productions that include documentaries, sports, events and news coverage.
There is still a lot of discussion within the broadcast industry and a lot of head scratching about the march to UHD and when UHD will start, adds Thorpe. And recognizing the uncertainty of the transition the concern is costs.
The CJ24ex7.5B, CJ18ex7.6B and CJ14ex4.3B utilize Canon's proprietary optical design technology featuring materials such as fluorite and ultra-low dispersion (UD) glass to achieve high 4K UHD performance across the entire zoom range. The lenses also support the wide color gamut approved by the ITU-R BT.2020 UHD broadcasting standard, an essential feature for capturing images in HDR. The lens ergonomics and digital servo operational controls are similar to previously announced Canon portable zoom lenses, providing users with maximum mobility in a variety of shooting situations. The CJ24ex7.5B and CJ14ex4.3B 4K lenses are scheduled to be available in summer 2018, while the CJ18ex7.6B lens is scheduled to be available in the fall.
As 4K UHD origination becomes more popular in television news, the need for affordable lenses that can deliver the necessary imaging performance has grown, adds Yuichi Ishizuka, president and COO, Canon U.S.A., Inc. The new UHDgc series of lenses provides the optical brilliance that makes Canon a leader in broadcast lenses, while at a budgetary level that will make them attainable to a large swath of the industry.
A new 66x UHD box lens from Canon will be introduced at NAB.
NAB attendees will also want to check out the new UHD-DIGISUPER 66 (UJ66x9B), a mid-range telephoto zoom lens for 4K UHD broadcast cameras. Providing 4K optical performance for cameras that feature 2/3-inch sensors, the UHD-DIGISUPER 66 features a 66x zoom ratio, making it ideal for sports and live event productions. Leveraging Canon's Optical Shift Image Stabilizer (Shift-IS), this new lens provides both handling and operational controls similar to existing field zoom lenses for HDTV broadcast cameras, offering stable imaging and comfortable maneuverability during indoor and outdoor sports broadcasting, medium-size broadcasting vans and more.
As Canon continues to put the time and thought into the R&D of Field Lenses, we are very pleased with how the new UHD-DIGISUPER 66 advances the DIGISUPER product line, says Ishizuka. The new lens delivers improved optical performance and operational enhancements that together meet the needs of 4K UHD production industry demands.
The UHD-DIGISUPER 66 provides outstanding optical performance, resulting in beautiful images with no loss of sharpness or color from the center to the peripheral areas of image field. This lens possesses a focal length range of 9mm to 600mm and features a built-in two-times extender that allows users to double the zoom range capabilities of the lens (up to 1200mm on the telephoto end). Additionally, Canon's proprietary Shift-IS technology delivers smooth imaging with minimal blur during 4K shooting: a scenario in which even the most minor vibrations can severely impact the image. The lens is also compatible with standard broadcast zoom and focus demands, allowing for easy integration into a production setup.
It has built-in corrections for focus breathing that are electronically controlled, making it really top of the line, adds Thrope. It also very respectable ramping characteristics.
The UHD-DIGISUPER66 will be available in the fall.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
29/04/2026
nxtedition is bringing its range of consolidated production tools to MPTS 2026, with new developments spanning transcription, editing, graphics and AI-assisted ...
29/04/2026
Quortex Switch to boost the streaming experience for Telxius customers, reaching millions of viewers worldwide
Synamedia and Telxius, the leading global connec...
29/04/2026
freispace, the leading ERP-as-a-Service platform for media and entertainment production, and Projective, a leading provider of post-production collaboration tec...
29/04/2026
DHD reports strong interest in its broadcast audio product range, exhibited at the April 19th-22nd NAB Show in Las Vegas. The event attracted a claimed 58,000 a...
29/04/2026
Student Spotlight: Alan Catz The Argentine film and game composer talks about working on League of Legends, receiving Berklee's BMI Award, and the lifelon...
29/04/2026
Jay Jennings Builds the Worlds You Hear on Screen The supervising sound designer behind A Minecraft Movie, The Meg, Letters from Iwo Jima, and dozens of other...
29/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/04/2026
Jin-Quan Yu elected to the National Academy of Sciences Yu is recognized for his pioneering work in synthetic organic chemistry.
April 28, 2026
LA JOLLA, CA S...
28/04/2026
The audio team for the entertainment event must blend speech intelligibility with full-range music reproduction while considering the broadcast
Last week's...
28/04/2026
The Pac-12 Conference has released an updated primary mark and logo as the starting point of the new league's brand identity. The mark was soft-launched acr...
28/04/2026
The DP World Tour and Amazon Leo have signed an agreement making Amazon's lo...
28/04/2026
Pixellot and HELIOS have announced an integration that automatically converts full-game hockey video into individualized shift videos for each athlete, without ...
28/04/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the Asheville Tourists to manufacture and install a new LED video display. The installation was completed in late 2025 and is now ...
28/04/2026
Eutelsat has announced the renewal of its partnership with PCTV, a content aggregation and distribution company in Mexico and part of Megacable Holdings, for co...
28/04/2026
Daktronics has partnered with the Gary SouthShore RailCats to install a new LED video display at U.S. Steel Yard, replacing the previous Daktronics display inst...
28/04/2026
Telos Alliance and the College Radio Foundation have announced that WWSU-FM of W...
28/04/2026
Golf viewership is growing. The 2025 Ryder Cup drew five million viewers in the UK, a 45% increase over the 2023 event. The US Open was the most streamed golf e...
28/04/2026
The CW Network and WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO), have announced t...
28/04/2026
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) has announced that the Internet Protocol Media Experience (IPMX) suite of standards and specifications has been named...
28/04/2026
The 2026 NAB Show is in the books and the show once again served up a cavalcade ...
28/04/2026
Gray Media and RAJ Sports have announced Rose City SportsNet (RCSN), a new netwo...
28/04/2026
Today, we announced our First Quarter 2026 earnings, starting the Year of Raising Ambition with strong momentum across the business and continued innovation acr...
28/04/2026
I dag presenterade vi v rt resultat f r det f rsta kvartalet 2026. Vi inleder ret med starkt momentum i hela verksamheten och fortsatt innovation p plattforme...
28/04/2026
New handheld promises studio performance for the stage
Mojave have just introduced a new live-focused handheld vocal mic created by award-winning designer D...
28/04/2026
Max for Live device offers AI-powered stem separation
Dynamic Split Module (DSM) is a new Max for Live device created by Ostin Solo, a developer and musican...
28/04/2026
First interface equipped with ISA preamps
Focusrite have just announced the launch of a new high-end audio interface that features a pair of their legendary...
28/04/2026
Triton Digital's Podcast Metrics Demos+ Data Integration Enables Comprehensi...
28/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/04/2026
TAG Video Systems, the leading IP-native Realtime Media Platform, today announced that Lens, its visual service health interface for broadcast operations, recei...
28/04/2026
Open AV-over-IP Standard Recognized in IT Networking/Infrastructure and Security Category
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) today announced that the ...
28/04/2026
VFX History: Slit Scan
Graham Quince April 28, 2026
0 Comments
How did 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, Doctor Who and Star Trek: The Next Generation...
28/04/2026
These DaVinci Resolve Effects Will Make You a More Creative Colorist
Kasia Jarco April 28, 2026
0 Comments
Creativity in color grading is not about ha...
28/04/2026
A Simple Introduction to Cavalry: Indexed Circle
Simon Ubsdell April 28, 2026
0 Comments
In this new introductory tutorial for Cavalry we're going...
28/04/2026
Rise, the award-winning advocacy group for gender diversity in the broadcast and media technology sector, is pleased to announce a new global training programme...
28/04/2026
Clear-Com has appointed Brian Grahn as Market Outreach Manager of the Americas and Ben Turnwell as Business Development Manager for EMEA live, expanding their ...
28/04/2026
LiveU is inviting MPTS visitors to step into the companys new Q Era on Stand D32, at The Grand Hall, Olympia, London (May 13-14). The company will showcase its ...
28/04/2026
IBC today announces the launch of the IBC2026 Innovation Awards, with nominations now open for projects, programmes and initiatives that exemplify breakthrough ...
28/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...