NAB 2019: Canon U.S.A. To Launch New UHDgc Lenses, 4K/30p Camcorders

Canon U.S.A. will launch two additions to its UHDgc series of portable-zoom 4K UHD broadcast lenses at the NAB Show in Las Vegas next week: the CJ18ex28B and CJ15ex8.5B.

The new lenses are compatible with 4K UHD broadcast cameras that have 2/3-in. sensors, and both provide 4K UHD imaging quality at a price point affordable to the majority of the broadcast market. Additionally, the new lenses provide impressive UHD optical performance, while maintaining a compact and lightweight design to meet versatile and ever-changing needs of a broad range of video productions, including documentaries, sports, events, and news coverage.

The new Canon CJ18ex28B and CJ15ex8.5B portable zoom lenses use Canon’s proprietary optical-design technology featuring such materials as fluorite and Ultra-Low Dispersion (UD) glass to achieve high 4K UHD performance across the entire zoom range. In addition, these lenses support the wide color gamut approved by the ITU-R BT.2020 UHD broadcasting standard. These features are essential to HDR imaging. The lenses’ ergonomics and digital servo operational controls are similar to those of Canon’s current lineup of portable zoom lenses, providing users with maximum mobility in a variety of shooting situations.

The CJ18ex28B lens features a zoom range of 28-500mm (56-1000mm with built-in 2X extender) but is compact enough to be operated in a shoulder-mount configuration. The CJ15ex8.5B features Canon’s exclusive Vari-Angle Prism (VAP) image-stabilization technology to help minimize vibrations on both the horizontal and vertical axes during mobile shooting, such as during sports events.

“The demand for affordable, high-quality 4K UHD lenses for television news has continued to grow year over year, and, as the needs of our customers mature, Canon continues to evolve to meet the needs of end users,” says Kazuto Ogawa, president/COO, Canon U.S.A. “These new UHDgc lenses provide the optical brilliance that makes Canon a leader in broadcast lenses, while maintaining a price point that fits the budgetary needs of a large segment of the industry.”

NAB 2019 attendees will also want to check out four additions to the XA Series of professional camcorders: XA55, XA50, XA45, and XA40. The first in the series to feature 4K/30p recording. they also include a detachable XLR handle, and the XA55 and XA45 feature an HD-SDI terminal. In addition, the company has announced the Canon VIXIA HF G60 a budget-friendly, compact, and lightweight 4K UHD camcorder.

“Often spending their days and nights working in fast-paced environments, videographers need a camcorder that is affordable, reliable, and delivers great images,” says Ogawa. “These new camcorders meet the needs of a variety of users, including those capturing news, shooting influential documentaries, educating young filmmakers, or developing content for their companies.”

All the camcorders feature Canon’s five-axis Intelligent Optical Image Stabilization system, providing powerful image stabilization via a Dynamic mode, which helps reduce image distortion, even when shooting while moving. The ergonomically designed and highly portable camcorders have a  3-in. LCD touch-panel screen and user-friendly, tilting, high-resolution Electronic View Finder (EVF).

The XA55 and XA45 are suited to news reporting and documentary shooting; the XA50 and XA40 are geared toward broadcasting schools, government agencies, and corporate-video production companies. The affordable VIXIA HF G60 caters to advanced amateur videographers who need a 4K UHD camcorder to shoot a wedding or a student film project.

Both the XA55 and XA50 camcorders feature a 1.0-in. sensor, nine-bladed circular aperture, and Dual-Pixel CMOS AF with a 15X (25.5-382.5mm) genuine wide-angle Canon optical zoom lens. For natural and realistic life-like imagery, the XA55 and XA50 camcorders feature a wide-dynamic-range (DR) gamma mode. This lowers the barrier for focusing, especially for shooting in 4K, which requires strict focus accuracy. By suppressing overexposure in high-brightness areas of the composition, this mode helps achieve a wide DR of 800% to help produce seamless tone gradations, resulting in smooth detail, accurate color, and virtually no blown-out highlights. The camera’s Dual Pixel Focus Guide takes advantage of Dual Pixel CMOS AF data to display focus-assist information on the screen. The camcorders also record 4K UHD/30p (4:2:0 8-bit) and 1080p Full HD (4:2:2 10-bit) via SDI/HDMI output in XF-AVC and  MP4 format to dual-card SD card slots with dual and relay recording.

The XA45 and XA40 camcorders feature a 1.0-in. sensor, eight-bladed circular aperture with the ability to record 4K UHD/30p (4:2:0 8-bit) and 1080p Full HD (4:2:2 10 bit) via SDI/HDMI output) in MP4 or XF-AVC format to dual-card SD card slots with dual and relay recording. To help provide enhanced image quality over its predecessor, over-sample HD processing can be used with information obtained from the 4K 1.0-in. sensor and the DIGIC DV 6 image processor. Both camcorders boast a 20X (29.3-601mm) genuine wide-angle Canon optical zoom lens.

The Canon VIXIA HF G60 4K UHD camcorder offers many of the same features found in the XA55 and XA50 — nine-bladed circular aperture, Dual Pixel Focus Guide, wide DR — but with the budget-conscious user in mind. The affordable camcorder is suitable for young videographers taking their first steps in the craft and will be sure to please with its compact-and-lightweight form factor in addition to ease of use.

Additionally, Canon today announced firmware updates for the XF705, XF405/XF400, and VIXIA GX10 camcorders. New features by model include:

• XF705: Firmware Version 1.0.1.1 offers improved zoom response when using the zoom ring or zoom rocker, improved focus following speed during zooming, and improved image quality of interlaced recording.
• XF405/XF400: Firmware Version 1.0.3.0 offers IP streaming, the ability to set custom white balance, support for the reset function that resets the clip number when the reel number is set, and improved image quality in interlaced recording.
• XF405 only: Firmware Version 1.0.3.0 offers 3G-SDI mapping at Level A and Level B.
• VIXIA GX10: Firmware Version 1.0.3.0 has the ability to set custom white balance.

The Canon XA55, XA50, and VIXIA HF G60 are scheduled to be available in June 2019 for estimated retail prices of $2,699, $2,199, and $1,699, respectively. The XA45 and XA40 4K UHD video camcorders are scheduled to be available this month for estimated retail prices of $2,199 and $1,699, respectively. More information is available at usa.canon.com.