Canon UHD DIGISUPER 86 Brochura
LENSES FOR 4K / UHD / 2K / HD
First Phase
– a Coordinated Super 35mm 4K Cine Lens Strategy
While all of these advances have been unfolding, Canon has been very actively working with the industry
to develop lenses to meet all of the manifestations of 4K origination. Our initial thrust was to produce a
solid core of both zoom and prime large image format lenses – all having 4K optical performance – to
support the Digital Cinema agendas.
S35mm Lenses for Digital Cinema
Four Super 35mm zoom lenses were developed. Two of them were designed to have the highest
possible overall optical performance – anticipating high-end theatrical motion picture production. They
are available in PL mount in recognition of this defacto standard in professional cinematography lenses;
however, they are also offered in the alternative Canon EF mount in support of a separate large global
constituency already using EF lenses and hybrid DSLR cameras for video production. Two smaller and
lighter zoom lenses (termed Compact Zooms) were developed to support portable and Steadicam
TM
shooting. A core family of six prime lenses was also developed – using the EF mount and having a full
frame (36 x 24mm) image circle.
S35mm Lenses for Television Production
With the more recent rising interest of broadcasters in large-format imaging Canon produced two
additional zoom lenses – termed CINE SERVO Super 35mm 4K lenses – that were specifically designed
for the needs of television production. They anticipate a future era of 4K UHD production among the
world’s television broadcasters. The second of these two lenses – the new CN20x50 – pushed the
envelope in Super 35mm zoom lens design (at the exhortation of some prominent broadcasters) with its
20x zoom range and a built-in 1.5x range extender [2]. Given that 2K / HD large-format cameras are still
widely used at this time these 4K lenses offer the advantage of enhancing the overall HD lens-camera
picture sharpness.
Figure 1 Summarizes Canon’s dual development strategy of 4K Super 35mm lenses intended to
support both digital cinema and television production (including both HD and UHD)
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