Canon FJs Prime HD-EC Len

Canon Updated: 2007-06-18
Canon FJs Prime HD-EC Len

The FJs Series is a family of six new 2/3-inch Prime Lenses to support high definition digital motion picture production. They span a focal length range from 5mm to 55mm.

These lenses replace the previous generation of five cine prime lenses introduced by Canon in 2001 and their many optical and mechanical refinements are reflective of the valuable experiences and helpful critiques gained from those earlier lenses. The new primes are especially distinguished by the fact that they involved a close collaboration with some renowned directors of photography during their design phase.

These lenses are intended for directors and cinematographers using high definition digital motion picture systems for production of prime time drama and episodic television, television commercials, and feature movies.

ABOUT THIS LENS

The FJs series had a particular design goal. Canon recognized the importance of cine prime lenses for high-end digital 24P shooting and that performance expectations were high while budgetary considerations remained of paramount importance to many producers. Accordingly, a central design quest was to achieve the highest overall imaging performance, the lowest weight (and a compact size), closest performance match between all lenses in this family - and, most important, the lowest cost in the industry. The final design successfully met all of these goals.

With the advice of the consulting directors of photography, Canon sought an optimization of numerous performance parameters that would elevate 2/3-inch HD-EC imagery to a level commensurate with the highest creative aspirations of the film community. The lens designs achieved an extraordinarily high MTF that is optimally distributed across the image plane with excellent sharpness retained at the image corners. Combined with the superb contrast performance and a remarkably well-controlled relative light distribution characteristic, the resultant overall picture sharpness will impress the most exacting cinematographer. The contribution of the consulting directors of photography helped identify a lens sharpness characteristic over the critical 35 - 70 Lp/mm spatial frequency region that - when combined with the digital HD 24P cameras - produced a desired subjective picture sharpness when imaging human facial close-ups with the lens aperture close to wide open. Canon employed unique optical innovations to achieve that special “look”.

Chromatic aberrations are extremely tightly controlled in all six lenses. Contrast was extended by superb control of black reproduction - with optical and mechanical design innovations that substantially reduced flare, veiling glare, and any internal reflections. Similar attention to minimization of ghost images and other highlight-related chromatic distortions caused by strong light sources on-axis and off-axis further extend the operational contrast range of the lens.

Color reproduction constituted a special design consideration for the FJs series of primes. They precisely match each other in this respect and they all closely match the new HJ8x5.5B KLL-SC cine zoom lens (introduced by Canon in concert with these primes). No activation of camera white balance is required when exchanging between this zoom lens and any of the six Canon prime lenses

The lenses have exemplary behavior in terms of the ever-challenging specification on geometric distortion (this performance is particularly exceptional for the very wide angle 5mm, 9mm and 14mm lenses).

Focus breathing in these new lenses achieved even further improvement over their predecessors with the incorporation of new optical refinements - to where the undesirable alteration of field of view with actuation of the focus control is now virtually eliminated.