Trio Video taps Fujinon for new truck

In the 25 years he’s been in business, Trio Video’s Owner/Manager Jack Walsh estimates that he has bought over 100 Fujinon broadcast lenses for use on his mobile truck company’s fleet of mobile units. Trio Video, which has significantly expanded its fleet of HD trucks in the last five years, caters to a diverse clientele, including high-end sports networks, entertainment shows, and corporate productions.

Trio Video’s truck fleet currently includes two 53-foot expando HD trailers, “Phoenix” and “Tango,” both of which are capable of native 1080i, 720p, and 1080/24p live production, along with two SD analog trucks, the “X1” and “T48.”

Now, with its third HD truck “Rhythm” under construction, Walsh has again chosen Fujinon lenses to complement the truck’s Grass Valley LDK-6000 WorldCam HDTV cameras, including the Fujinon XA101x8.9ESM HD zoom; the XA87x13.2ESM HD zoom; the HA22x7.8ERM/ERD HD zoom; and the HA13x4.5ERM/ERD wide-angle HD zoom.

“Over the years, we’ve been loyal to Fujinon lenses because they’ve performed reliably. The lenses produce a very crisp picture and perform well in low-light situations,” said Walsh. “Also, the customer service has always been very good, with very quick-turnaround on all our service requests.”

Another reason Walsh cites for purchasing Fujinon lenses is client preference: “While our clients’ applications vary widely, it’s advantageous to have one lens brand that satisfies all of their unique needs.”

For example, he says, Trio Video’s high-end sports network clients especially like the 2X extender and “Zoom Assist” on the telephoto zoom lenses, which produce exceptional zoom capability to reach across any sports field.

While Trio Video’s entertainment clients don’t generally require the high-powered zoom capability that is used extensively in sports, Walsh said, “They are very particular about the picture quality lenses produce so that’s why they often ask us if we have Fujinon lenses on the trucks.” Walsh added that entertainment clients tend to use cameras for handheld shooting, as well as on Steadicams and jibs.

“The HDTV sports and entertainment sectors are growing rapidly,” said Walsh. “So to better serve them, we’ve responded by expanding our HD truck fleet, and installing state-of-the-art equipment, which includes Fujinon HDTV broadcast lenses.”

In terms of upcoming sports coverage, Trio Video’s HD fleet is booked for a package of NFL football games being carried in HDTV by FOX Sports this season. Trio Video also has an on-going relationship with WGN-TV in Chicago and Comcast SportsNet Chicago, which broadcast Chicago sports in HDTV, including the White Sox and Cubs baseball games. Also, Trio Video’s HD trucks were hired by Major League Baseball International, a division of Major League Baseball, to produce the American League Championship Series and The World Series this year in a variety of formats for distribution to the world’s broadcast community.

Among the high-profile entertainment events produced by Trio Video’s HD trucks were: the U2 Vertigo performance at United Center in Chicago for release on DVD; as well as the Bonnaroo Music Festival in June 2006 in Manchester, TN, which was produced by Third Wave Productions as a live worldwide Internet Web cast for Axis Events LLC and Superfly Productions, both from New York, NY.