Fujifilm To Roll Out 17 New Broadcast Zoom Lenses Equipped with S10 Digital Drive Unit

Fujifilm North America Corporation, Optical Devices Division, will gradually launch a series of 17 Fi broadcast portable zoom lenses featuring the newly developed S10 digital drive unit (“S10”) beginning at the end of June. As robotic systems are increasingly used to meet the needs of streamlining television production, the broadcast industry is calling for more precise and responsive lenses that also provide valuable positional zoom, focus, and iris data. Fujifilm’s new S10 not only meets those demands but provides a host of other advanced features.

The S10 drive will bring improvements to a line of 17 Fujinon lenses.

The new lenses are equipped with the newly developed S10 digital drive unit, which has updated devices and optimized layout for faster signal processing and response performance. The S10 can activate zooming and focusing mechanisms 30% faster than its predecessor, ‘S6,’ making it possible to coordinate zooming and focusing movements without delay even during pan and tilt operations.

“The S10 is the most advanced servo drive ever built for handheld lenses,” says Thomas Fletcher, director of marketing, Optical Devices Division, Fujifilm North America Corporation. “Early feedback from robotic manufacturers after testing confirms that has confirmed that this new drive’s performance is comparable to, and in many cases exceeds, the performance of similar products from current market competitors.”

Fujifilm says the 17 Fujinon broadcast zoom lenses equipped with the S10 were developed with cutting-edge mechatronics engineering technology. These lenses have improved drive unit response to zoom and focus without delay even during pan and tilt operations. They use accurate and swift zooming and focusing, allowing camera operators to precisely capture fast-moving subjects during live sports broadcasts, while enabling ultra-slow and smooth zooming and focusing during live music coverage to deliver expressive video.

S10-equipped lenses can also output positional information on zoom, focus, and even iris, enabling high-precision position detection. This allows live video footage to be combined with virtual video, further catering to the growing demands of virtual video production. In addition, enhanced zoom and focus response helps camera operators shoot video exactly as intended, even when using the zoom demand/focus demand units or shooting with a shoulder-mounted camera.

The compact, palm-sized S10 drive unit also promotes exceptional stability when shooting with a shoulder-mounted camera. The drive unit is treated with tactile coating to prevent the surface temperature from dropping, thereby making outdoor shooting comfortable, even in winter.

The lenses support accurate and swift zooming and focusing to precisely capture a fast-moving subject during live sport broadcasts, while enabling ultra-slow and smooth zooming and focusing during live music coverage to deliver expressive video. Remote shooting based on the robotic system achieves high-quality video production equivalent to video recording captured with a videographer’s advanced skills.

The lenses also can output positional information, providing not only zoom and focus positions but also iris positions. The 16-bit output of lens data allows operators to identify lens positions with high accuracy. This means live video footage can be combined with virtual video in optimum settings, thereby catering to the growing demand for virtual video production.

Also look for the “Breathing Compensation Technology” feature which automatically compensates focus breathing. This provides added operability, as there is no need to adjust the angle of view after focusing.

The lenses offer precise zooming and focusing even when used in a conventional style by a camera operator. They can be combined with the digital zoom demand unit ‘ERD-40A-D01’ and digital focus demand unit ‘EPD-41A-D01/D02’ for excellent operability, assisting camera operators in capturing footage exactly as intended.

The new S10-equipped lenses are expected to begin shipping June 25, 2021 and will roll out gradually. Manufacturer’s suggested retail prices will range from $13,590 USD to $47,220 USD.