The more pro features a lens has, the larger the lens often becomes. On Wednesday, September 6, however, Fujifilm Japan announced the smallest 4K capable broadcast lens yet, the UA24x7.8. The new Fujifilm broadcast lens boasts a 24x zoom, covering focal lengths between 7.8mm and 187mm.
Designed for shots like live sports and broadcast journalism, Fujifilm says the lens is the smallest in the category designed for 4K, weighing in at about 4.3 pounds and about 8.7 inches. The company says the lens’ smaller profile and versatile zoom range, when used with a 4K camera body, makes the shoulder-carry shooting style easier for videographers.
Fujifilm says the lens is designed to reduce chromatic aberration, or a type of lens distortion that creates colored fringing in an image. Because of that design, the company says the lens is also compatible with high dynamic range shooting, which produces better quality in high contrast scenes. The lens, Fujifilm says, is designed to reproduce scenes realistically.
Along with the lens coatings for better color and minimal chromatic aberration, the lens is designed with nine aperture blades for smooth bokeh. The minimum aperture ranges from a 1.8 to a 2.85 at full zoom.
“Fujinon lenses by Fujifilm are known for high-quality, eloquent images, and have been used in various production sites including movies, TV commercials, and live sports broadcasts around the world,” Fujifilm’s official announcement reads. “Fujifilm will continue to tap into its optical, high precision forming and assembling technologies that have been nurtured over many years in the field of video expression, to further expand and enhance its 4K lens lineup, thereby addressing the diversifying needs of production sites.”
The lens is expected to launch in January 2018, but pricing has not yet been announced.
The 24x lightweight zoom lens brings Fujifilm’s 4K lens lineup to eight models, a line that launched with the company’s first 4K broadcast lens in 2015. The company has focused on 4K quality lenses for broadcast as well as for cinema, as the high-resolution format continues to grow in North America, Europe, and Japan, particularly for live sports and press coverage. With 4K now also accessible on PCs and tablets, Fujifilm says it expects the demand for the high-resolution gear to continue.
