Scripps Television Station Group is heading toward local HD news in its 10 television stations, and the company has purchased more than 100 Fujinon HTs18X4.2 BERM lenses with 2X extenders, designed for use with JVC GY-HD250 cameras.
“We approached several manufacturers around the time of NAB in 2006 asking them to consider creating a high-quality lens for the JVC camera,” said Michael Doback, Scripps vice president of engineering. “By the fall of ‘06 Fujinon provided us with a working prototype. We were so impressed by the speed with which they responded as well as with the quality of the lens, after testing we made the commitment to equip all our ENG cameras and some of the studio cameras with Fujinon glass.”
Scripps was also working to integrate its tapeless workflow. “The combination of Fujinon’s HTs18X4.2 and JVC’s GY-HD250U offered an ideal fit,” said Doback. “High quality glass is imperative for the smaller 1/3-inch imager to perform at its optimum and our pictures are superb.”
The digital workflow includes storage on Focus Enhancement FireStore disk drives and editing on Mac laptops running Apple Final Cut Pro.
Scripps’ 10 stations include six ABC affiliates, three NBC affiliates and one independent.