WAYNE, New Jersey, April 9, 2008 - Belo Corp's NBC affiliate, KGW in Portland, Oregon, began broadcasting its daily news programming in HDTV earlier this year. For the HD transition, KGW selected six Fujinon XA22X7.5BES compact HD studio lenses. Three of those lenses are mounted on Grass Valley LDK-4000 studio cameras and are currently in use at KGW NewsChannel 8's main studio in Portland to produce the studio portions of the station's news broadcasts in HD.
Three additional XA22X7.5BES lenses will be used at KGW's planned remote studio located within Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square. Currently under construction, the remote studio will broadcast live morning and noon newscasts from that location. The remote studio is to begin operation in June.
KGW now uses six Fujinon XA22X7.5BES compact HD studio lenses
According to KGW Director of Technology, Eric Dausman, Fujinon presented a perfect solution for the station's conversion to HDTV. "In the past, larger studio HDTV lenses have been extremely expensive. With the introduction of this new, more compact studio lens, we were able to achieve the high optical quality we needed at a reasonable price point."
"Throughout the lens selection process, image quality was a top priority," he added. "We've come to expect Fujinon lenses as the best glass in the industry."
Fujinon's XA22X7.5BES lens was designed with an eye toward stations using ENG-type cameras for studio applications as well as those employing smaller field production units.
The XA22x7BES is a lightweight box lens that features higher optical quality than standard ENG-type lenses, combined with the zoom and focus performance of a larger studio lens. With a focal length starting at 7mm and ranging up to 154mm and superb F- stop ramping characteristics; it's well suited for shooting in tight locations and smaller studios.
The wide angle of 7mm (68 degrees 49 minutes) is the widest in its class, and the XA22X7BES will focus at a close 0.8m.
Contact:
Ruth Ehrig
Tel: 02154 924 175
Fax: 02154 924 185
Email: ista@fujinon.de