Mega Church Makes HD Upgrade with FUJINON Lenses for I-MAG, Broadcast, and Streaming of Services
Wayne, N.J. – With over 30,000 attendees in its main and regional locations and 12,000 viewing on the Web, Calvary Chapel needed to significantly upgrade its aging broadcast video equipment. The church recently invested millions of dollars in broadcast video equipment - including FUJINON HDTV lenses from FUJIFILM North America Corporation's Optical Devices Division and Ikegami HDTV studio cameras—at its 82-acre main campus in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Later this month, Calvary Chapel will switch to its new (1080) HDTV control room with dual 2-M/E Ross Vision switchers and an Evertz/PESA routing solution.
"Since the picture quality we produce must hold up when displayed as image magnification (I-MAG) on large-screens or when streaming over the Internet, we've invested heavily in acquisition gear," said Jack Chew, Video Operations manager for Calvary Chapel. "After careful evaluation, we've chosen what we feel is the best of the best in HD cameras and lenses—a combination of Ikegami HDK-55 studio/field cameras and FUJINON HDTV lenses." The lens package includes two XA77x9.5 box lenses, two HA14x4.5 wide lenses, and one HA22x7.3 for shoulder-mounted ENG style shooting.
Chew said they decided to buy the new cameras and lenses after their SD cameras reached 15 years in service. Because they knew video production would soon transition to a tapeless HD infrastructure, they bought the HD cameras and lenses ahead of schedule.
There are five Ikegami HD cameras (three mounted on tripods, one handheld, and one on a Jib), situated around the sanctuary on the church's main campus, which seats close to 4,000 people. Video is projected onto a large screen center stage, along with two large screens on either side of the sanctuary.
Regional campuses request video on demand of the service from the church's central Omneon video server at the main, Fort Lauderdale campus. Video files move over dark fiber via the DiVA Hybrid multi track editor to the regional locations for display by Christie digital projectors onto large screens. Three Digital Rapids encoders and Panasas Active Store hard drives deliver a live media stream accessible via the church's website or for display at its regional campuses. Services are also carried on local NBC affiliate WSVN-TV, Fort Lauderdale. Such a multi-faceted video distribution strategy enables people to participate in services without having to drive to Fort Lauderdale.
"Before we make a huge capital investment in equipment like this, we consider every aspect including price-performance, reliability, and technical support," added Chew. "We want to invest in manufacturers we know will stand behind their products, so we can keep our cameras, lenses, and other equipment in service as long as possible. When we're spending our congregation's money, we take our purchasing decisions very seriously. I'm proud of the video decisions we've made, and FUJINON is one of those decisions."
About Fujifilm
FUJIFILM North America Corporation, a marketing subsidiary of FUJIFILM Holdings America Corporation consists of four operating divisions and one subsidiary company. The Imaging Division provides consumer and commercial photographic products and services, including: photographic paper; digital printing equipment, along with service and support; personalized photo products; film; and one-time-use cameras; and also markets motion picture archival film and on-set color management solutions to the motion picture, broadcast and production industries. The Electronic Imaging Division markets consumer digital cameras, and the Graphic Systems Division supplies products and services to the graphic printing industry. The Optical Devices Division provides optical lenses for the broadcast, cinematography, closed circuit television, videography and industrial markets, and also markets binoculars. FUJIFILM Canada Inc. sells and markets a range of Fujifilm products and services in Canada. For more information, please visit www.fujifilmusa.com/northamerica, go to www.twitter.com/fujifilmus to follow Fujifilm on Twitter, or go to www.facebook.com/FujifilmNorthAmerica to Like Fujifilm on Facebook. To receive news and information direct from Fujifilm via RSS, subscribe at www.fujifilmusa.com/rss.
FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, brings continuous innovation and leading-edge products to a broad spectrum of industries, including electronic imaging, digital printing equipment, medical systems, life sciences, graphic arts, flat panel display materials, and office products, based on a vast portfolio of digital, optical, fine chemical and thin film coating technologies. The company was among the top 10 companies around the world granted U.S. patents in 2012, and in the year ended March 31, 2013, had global revenues of $26.7 billion*. Fujifilm is committed to environmental stewardship and good corporate citizenship. For more information, please visit www.fujifilmholdings.com.
* At an exchange rate of 83 yen to the dollar.
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FUJIFILM Optical Devices Division
10 High Point Drive
Wayne, New Jersey 07470
Phone: 973-633-5600
Fax: 973-633-5216
Web site: www.FUJINON.com
