CamCompany find two for the price of one with Canon 33X lenses

CamCompany is a specialist ENG broadcast services company which relies heavily on Canon lenses.

CamCompany is a specialist ENG broadcast services company which relies heavily on Canon lenses. These include 9x and 15x lens in all ENG sets; a wide range of 20x and 21x lenses; and, for special applications, a number of 33x zoom lenses. The CamCompany camera team is enthusiastic about the quality of Canon lenses, finding them reliable and excellent for high-quality ENG productions.
Unlike the majority of ENG companies, CamCompany’s lenses are not part of the camera body. Instead they come in so-called personal accessory sets. This means that all payroll camera operators are responsible for their own set of lenses - the object being to make them more careful with the equipment and to report any defects or damages sooner.
With some of the CamCompany camera staff specialising in recording sporting events it’s not surprising that NOS Studio Sport and RTL Grand Prix (Formula 1) are two of its major customers. They find that the Canon33x lens, in particular, is an interesting way of showing sporting events using one camera. Cameraman Bertus Duiven explains: “Football matches, for instance, can be shot by our specialists in such a way that, after editing the highlights, it  seems to be the work of two cameras. The 33x  enables us to follow the match closely and, after an important piece of action or a goal, we can do a lightning close-up of the players involved from the same position.” Canon 33x lenses are also frequently used for recording theatre performances, concerts and such TV shows as VARA’s Jules Unlimited, or NPS’s HetKlokhuis .  “Obviously, these lenses are expensive for ENG,”says Bertus, “but customers like the fact that they can save on a second camera crew - which is absolutely no problem with the Canon 33x.”
Recently, a CamCompany camera crew, together with Mobile Broadcast Systems, tested a Canon 13x lens with image stabilizer, mounted on a motorbike, to cover various cycle races. The first reactions are positive although the lens can’t perform miracles. As Bertus Duiven says: “These stabilised lenses can’t compensate for big pot-holes in the road. But on good asphalt you can zoom in further without any annoying vibrations. And on the motorbike we can stay way in front of the cyclists which makes filming a race safer.”