NBC to Use Canon Lenses to Cover Winter Olympics

02.05.2010

Canon U.S.A. Inc. has been selected to provide advanced HDTV lenses, remote-control robotic HD cameras, and a Canobeam Free Space Optics HD video transceiver system to NBC during the network’s coverage of the Vancouver Winter Games from February 12-28.

NBC will use an extensive quantity of Canon HDTV lenses, including HJ14ex4.3B wide-angle portable HDTV lenses, XJ27x6.5B HDTV studio lenses, and XJ100x9.3B and XJ86x9.3B long-zoom HD field lenses with Canon’s Optical Shift-IS image-stabilizer technology.

Additional Canon HDTV production technologies to be used by NBC include BU-45H remote-control robotic pan-tilt-zoom HD POV (point-of-view) camera systems, and the Canobeam DT-150 HD Free Space Optical wireless video transceiver system.

“Canon is honored to once again be NBC’s choice for lens manufacturer,” stated Ken Ito, senior director and general manager, Broadcast and Communications division of Canon U.S.A., Inc., “Canon has supplied NBC with lenses for its Olympic coverage since 1992 and we look forward to working with them in the future as well.

“We have just 17 days in which we need to capture every nuance of what goes on here in Vancouver,” noted NBC’s David Mazza. “There are no second chances when you are shooting the Olympics, especially in HDTV. For that reason, all of our gear has to be up to the mission-critical nature of the Games, and our vendors need to be there and ready to support us. We get both from Canon, and that’s why we have trusted them to be NBC’s exclusive lens provider for Vancouver and the past seven Olympics as well. Canon’s newest lenses continue to give our directors more creative choices.