FUJINON Zoom Lenses are Part of SD-to-4K Upgrade for Largest Church in Pacific Northwest

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Christian Faith Center based in Federal Way, Washington, added two FUJINON XA55x9.5BESM and two XA20x8.5BERM zooms on four Blackmagic Design URSA Broadcast cameras in May. Within its new 25'x25' permanent control room, a Blackmagic switcher and multi-viewer, a Renewed Vision graphics system, and new furniture were installed.

FUJINON XA55x9.5BESM zoom on Blackmagic Design URSA Broadcast camera

As the largest church in the Pacific Northwest with its programming carried on national networks, the Christian Faith Center found itself in urgent need of an upgrade. With outdated, standard definition equipment, the networks were pushing the church to overhaul its video infrastructure. With the current technology available, their recent overhaul went beyond HD, and the Church is now fully 4K compatible.

Church Pastor Casey Treat's show Successful Living with Casey Treat, a combination of teachings from recent church services with sit-down interviews, airs weekly on TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network) and the Hillsong Channel. Earlier this year, engineering staff from both networks requested that the show be produced in HD to mirror the look of their other programming.

Chad Rose, president, of systems integration firm Rose Media, was called in to spearhead the entire facility's SD to HD transition, including completion of a separate control room. Given the scope of the upgrades, price was a consideration. The church was very interested in the Blackmagic camera because of its price point, says Rose. Churches are beginning to see cameras as a four- to six-year investment. They put more of their money into long-term investments like lenses.

The new control room, camera and lenses capture content from Pastor Treat's Sunday services and video interviews, which comprise the weekly show that airs on Hillsong and TBN. The camera/lens combination is also used for live feeds of the Pastor's services to other Christian Faith Center locations, to the Church's Federal Way website and other Church location websites, as well as for closed circuit coverage within the sanctuary.

While the goal was HD, the entire system is now 4K compatible, reports Rose. From the switcher to the cameras and lenses, to the multi-viewers, everything is 4K. They just turn it on in the switcher, and they've moved from SD to 4K in one fell swoop.

While the image quality has taken a serious upturn, the learning curve was far less steep for the all-volunteer camera crew. They went from a much older SD system, Rose adds, and without any training or rehearsal, they were running the new camera and lenses. It was truly a seamless transition.

The cameras are positioned over a hundred feet away from the stage, so lenses that could cover the distance were essential. The XA55x has a focal length from 9.5 to 525mm (19.0 to 1050mm with a 2x extender). It comes standard with optical image stabilization, making it ideal for any application where the camera operator must maintain a rock steady close-up shot for long periods, such as sporting events, houses of worship, corporate presentations, or concerts. The XA20x ENG lens features a standard focal range of 8.5-170mm and reach out to 340mm (with a 2x), while only weighing 3 pounds.

Matching the 4K image sensor of the URSA camera with the FUJINON lenses is just a great combination, Rose explains. The images are outstanding, and my client couldn't be happier with the results. With the film type sensor of the URSA, combined with a great lens like these that can maintain focus throughout the zoom range and handle any lighting situation, is a real winner for churches. Because the URSA broadcast camera comes standard with a B4 mount, no adaptors are needed.

The look produced is more cinematic. And if you ever need to add gain, any resulting noise created presents in a more film-like way than a typical broadcast camera/lens combination would produce. It's a very pleasing look.

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About Fujifilm

FUJIFILM North America Corporation, a marketing subsidiary of FUJIFILM Holdings America Corporation consists of five operating divisions and one subsidiary company. The Imaging Division provides consumer and commercial photographic products and services, including: instant cameras and film, photographic paper; digital printing equipment, along with service and support; personalized photo products; film; and one-time-use cameras; and also markets motion picture archival film and on-set color management solutions to the motion picture, broadcast and production industries. The Electronic Imaging Division markets consumer digital cameras, and the Graphic Systems Division supplies products and services to the graphic printing industry, including offset plates and supplies, digital printing equipment and large format printers and ink. The Optical Devices Division provides optical lenses for the broadcast, cinematography, closed circuit television, videography and industrial markets, and also markets binoculars. The Industrial Division and Corporate New Business Development Division deliver products derived from Fujifilm core technologies. FUJIFILM Canada Inc. sells and markets a range of Fujifilm products and services. For more information, please visit www.fujifilmusa.com/northamerica.

FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, brings innovative solutions to a broad range of global industries by leveraging its depth of knowledge and fundamental technologies derived from photographic film. Its proprietary core technologies contribute to the fields of healthcare, graphic systems, highly functional materials, optical devices, digital imaging and document products. These products and services are based on its extensive portfolio of chemical, mechanical, optical, electronic and imaging technologies. For the year ended March 31, 2018, the compan

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