feature live news & sport Feature sponsored by


The logistics of organising a user report in a real live scenario can be problematic for both user and manufacturer. The user, in this case the cameraman, needs to be focusing on the job in hand and doesn’t always have the opportunity to experiment with techniques or utilise all the equipment functions available. He or she sometimes can’t even manage to document all of the findings within the time frame owing to the general pressure of work. Clearly, a real live test is always going to have more value to all parties concerned. So how do you get round this problem and how can you get the best of both worlds when testing, for example, a lens? Martin Jenner, on behalf of Canon Broadcast Product division - EMEA, reports.


Testing times


Canon autofocus: recognising the benefits of testing equipment in a near live sports scenario


lenses and make a judgement, without the pressure of a live shoot, but still with some semblance of reality. We came up with the idea of an


event involving karting and a skidpan. This provided many elements that were both real and live and yet gave cameramen plenty of time to trial the lens without the normal shoot pressures. And, of course, they could film their contemporaries racing or skidding round the track. The idea evolved from discussions


A


utofocus lenses are commonly used on location in the professional DSLR market, in particular for news and sports, and they are accepted as an


essential tool. The take-up within the broadcast sector is somewhat different for a number of reasons, not least being the lack of opportunity to actually test one. We wanted cameramen and decision makers to be able to test these


52 l ibe l november/december 2011 l www.ibeweb.com


Cameraman John Fry tries out


Canon’s autofocus lens.


Photograph with kind permission of Roger Richards.


with James French of The Guild of Television Cameramen (GTC). It was decided to stage it as a sponsored event in conjunction with the GTC’s AGM, held on 10 May 2011. In terms of participants alone this proved to be very successful and the GTC had its largest ever AGM attendance. James French, incidentally, is a freelance TV cameraman who had also never had the opportunity to test AF in the outside broadcast environment. Two lenses were chosen for the


event - the Canon DigiSuper 100 AF and the Canon DigiSuper 27 AF. These long lenses were shipped in from Spain and the cameras and other equipment were kindly supplied by Presteigne Charter. For the record, the logistics


involved in organising such an event should never be underestimated! There were over 50 attendees who


trialled the lenses, many of them OB cameramen and DoPs, as well as a number of cameramen involved in drama. A selection of these attendees were interviewed on video and their comments - many of them extremely positive - can be seen and heard on the following video link: www.canon- europe.com/TV-Products/News/ Canon_Auto_Focus_User_Report.aspx. There are some general issues with


any autofocus system, whether it is digital still or HD video. Contrast and poor light conditions can cause problems. The technology also dictates that none of today's autofocus broadcast lenses provide end stops - a useful way of manually determining the focus position. Interestingly, on the day, this did not seem to be a big issue and only one of the cameramen interviewed mentioned it. It is also important to ensure that the camera being used has the correct software to enable the correct communication and functionality of the combination to realise the optimum performance of the complete system. Autofocus field lenses are more expensive and,


Continued on Page 55.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60