WEXLER PURCHASES CANON’S NEW HDgc PORTABLE ENG/EFP LENSES

Major Rental Company Chooses Canon’s Newest Class of Wide-Angle and Telephoto Zoom Lenses to Complement Recent Acquisition of the Sony XDCAM® HD Optical Disc Camcorders

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., July 19, 2006 -- Leading broadcast equipment rental houses rely on the very latest technologies to address their clients’ ever-changing video production needs. In the case of Wexler, this means purchasing Canon’s revolutionary new HDgc lenses to complement the rental giant’s recent acquisition of the Sony XDCAM HD optical disc camcorders. Canon’s new HDgc line of lenses is specially engineered to complement the new generation of economical, mid-range HD cameras that manufacturers are introducing to meet the rapidly expanding market for HDTV programming. Wexler’s HDgc lens purchase includes Canon’s KH21ex5.7 IRSE telephoto lenses and Canon’s KH10ex3.6 IRSE wide-angle models.

“Canon has established a leading reputation in portable HD lens technology with its HDxs line for broadcasters and content producers requiring exacting image quality and superior operational capabilities,” stated Gordon Tubbs, assistant director of the Broadcast and Communications division at Canon U.S.A., Inc., a subsidiary of Canon Inc. “Now, joining Canon’s well-established HDxs line are its new HDgc lenses. Like the HDxs lens line, the new HDgc lenses leverage Canon’s decades of leadership and optical expertise in both standard- and high-definition lens technology, as well as our latest innovations in optics and ergonomics. This enables us to engineer this new class of HDgc lenses with an eye on HD quality and affordability.”

The new HDgc lens line combines many of the best optical features of Canon’s higher-end HDxs lenses, yet is also designed in direct relation to the imagers and pricing of the new generation of tapeless HD camcorders. The KH21ex5.7 IRSE telephoto lenses and KH10ex3.6 IRSE wide-angle lenses purchased by Wexler are designed for the half-inch CCD imagers of Sony’s new XDCAM HD optical disc camcorders. The KH21ex5.7 IRSE lens features a 21X zoom ratio and a 2X extender, ideal for both ENG and EFP applications. The KH10ex3.6 IRSE lens offers a 3.6mm wide angle, a 10X zoom ratio, and a 2X extender.

“Canon has done an excellent job of coming out with a lens that retains all the features that are critical to the production,” said Joel Ordesky, Chief Technical Officer for Burbank-based Wexler. “The 2x extender on both the wide and the long lenses are critical to the clients that Wexler has. These are features that they’ve come to depend on and they can’t do their productions without. It’s great to see that Canon has come out with the product in the way that we need it so that we can get our clients seamlessly transitioned into this new camcorder format without having them have to make compromises just because it is a new format.”

In addition to the KH21ex5.7 IRSE and the KH10ex3.6 IRSE lenses, Canon’s new HDgc lens line will also include a 16X standard lens to be introduced later this year for half-inch CCD cameras. Also in the HDgc line are the more economical KH20x6.4 KRS lens (also for half-inch HD CCD cameras) and the KJ20x8.5B KRS lens (for 2/3-inch HD CCD cameras). As with Canon’s higher-end HDxs lenses, HDgc lenses feature many outstanding Canon optical features, including reduced chromatic aberration and a high and well-controlled MTF (Modulation Transfer Function) profile over their entire respective image planes. HDgc lenses also incorporate special elements without lead to minimize the impact on the environment, including “Flourite” with extraordinary dispersion characteristics and the newly developed Hi-UD (high index ultra low dispersion) glass.

The KH21ex5.7 IRSE, KH10ex3.6 IRSE lenses, and forthcoming 16X standard HDgc lenses also include Canon’s acclaimed “eDrive” feature, which utilizes three Canon ultra-high-precision, microprocessor-driven digital servos with miniature 16-bit optical encoders. Canon’s eDrive technology represents an entirely new way to control portable lenses. With eDrive, users can easily program such functions as zoom and focus settings into a lens for precise, automated repeatability via an easy-to-use LCD menu, assignable “soft” function buttons, and the rocker switch built into the lens grip. Users can program multiple settings or none at all, depending on their personal needs and preferences.

The KH20x6.4 KRS and KJ20x8.5B KRS lenses feature Canon’s exclusive Shuttle Shot function, an advanced servo system that facilitates zooming back and forth between any two focal length positions and brings an entirely new range of value-added creativity to hand-held acquisition systems. These two lenses also feature a new ergonomic drive unit that achieves an ideal balance in comfort and operation.

Wexler’s Joel Ordesky anticipates that clients for a wide variety of video production projects will rent their new Sony XDCAM HD optical disc camcorders and Canon HDgc lenses. “This is a technology we believe will work well for everyone in the industry,” he commented. “The tools are all there just as users would expect them to be on the two-thirds-inch format cameras. Canon has listened to what the need is, and come up with the product in the configuration that our clients need.”

About Wexler
From the production office to the edit bay, Wexler is the only rental house to offer collaborative workflow solutions for every phase of production. Wexler facilitates rentals and support for Broadcast IT, Video, Audio, and Post Production as well providing Technical Engineering & Design services. For more information please contact Wexler’s VP of Marketing & Business Development, Melody Goede at 818.846.9381 or visit Wexler on the web at www.wexler.tv

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc. delivers consumer, business-to-business, and industrial imaging solutions. The Company is listed as one of Fortune's Most Admired Companies in America and is rated #35 on the BusinessWeek list of "Top 100 Brands." Its parent company Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ) is a top patent holder of technology, ranking second overall in the U.S. in 2005, with global revenues of $31.8 billion. For more information, visit www.usa.canon.com.

# # #