Lyon Video Selects FUJINON Lenses for Flagship Mobile Unit

Sports broadcasters, like the athletes they cover, are constantly searching for the latest equipment that can give them that extra edge. Bob Lyon, President of Columbus, Ohio’s Lyon Video, knows that it takes bigger and better performance to keep his company and its clients competitive.

“Broadcasters always want to get as close up to the action as they possibly can to bring viewers right into the heart of the game,” said Lyon. “It’s especially important for covering football and baseball — a big part of our business. So, we always try to buy the longest lens available.”

That’s why Lyon Video recently selected 101x lenses from FUJINON as an integral component in their most sophisticated HD mobile unit yet.

Featuring the wide angle capabilities and unprecedented zoom range of FUJINON’s XA101x8.9BESM Super telephoto lens paired with Grass Valley LDK 8000 Elite cameras, the Lyon-12 is the flagship in its fleet of 16 mobile units.

The state-of-the art, 53′ expanding side, walk-through trailer can accommodate up to 16 cameras, is 3D-ready, and completely wired for 3G.

Already on the road coast-to-coast for NFL preseason games, it’s  scheduled for a wide variety of upcoming events, including college football, mixed martial arts, and Cincinnati Reds baseball games. The company also provides production services for non-sports programming, including Antiques Roadshow and Barrett-Jackson Auto Auction.

“There are good reasons why all of our high definition lenses are FUJINON,” said Lyon. “When we originally made the decision to switch from another manufacturer, we chose FUJINON for their superb image quality combined with durability. In our mobile trucks, lenses can take a lot of abuse from the travel and a different crew every night. But not only do FUJINON lenses hold up just as well as if they were in a studio, but the image quality is still fantastic.”

Now that FUJINON has opened its Chicago service center, Lyon finds that the sales support and technical service he receives are on the same par as the quality of the lenses. Shipping costs and turnaround time are dramatically reduced. And the closer relationship between Lyon and the local FUJINON support team has been a distinct advantage as well.

All Lyon Video mobile units carry a full complement of gear and cable with equipment and features similar to that of the new MU-12 truck. In addition to the two XA101x8.9BESM Super telephoto lenses, the company has also recently added three FUJINON XA88x8.8BESM Telephoto HD field lenses.

Rounding out Lyon’s FUJINON lineup are five XA72.9×9.3BESM Telephoto HD field lenses, two ZA22x7.6BERM Telephoto ENG/handheld HD lenses with 2x extenders, two ZA12x4.5BERM Super wide angle ENG/EFP HD lenses with 2x extenders, and two XA17x7.6BERM HD ENG lenses with 2x extenders, each paired with Grass Valley LDK 8000 Elite cameras.

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