The University of Oklahoma's Sports Programs gained a new athletic edge with the acquisition of six Canon Long-Zoom HD Field Lenses and Portable HD Zoom Lenses

Be it on the gridiron, baseball diamond or basketball court, the University of Oklahoma takes its athletics programs seriously. With legions of devoted fans tuning in for every game, OU was hungry for a way to bring its sports broadcasts to life, and make its in-stadium displays pop. Canon's HD lenses were a crucial investment for the Sooners, whose goal is to entertain and inspire its fans while living up to the highest standards of in-house video coverage. As part of its upgrade to full HD location and studio productions, OU chose Canon Long-Zoom Field Lenses and Portable HD Zoom Lenses, and the investment has been paying off. OU's new Canon lenses are now utilized in SoonerVision studios inside the football stadium, producing nearly 100 broadcasts a year, along with in-stadium entertainment and TV broadcasts.

"We want to entertain our fans—watching on the big stadium screen and on TV at home—with HD video that educates them about our great traditions, and inspires them to cheer on their team," says Brandon Meier, executive director of video production for the OU Athletics Department. "We made an HD equipment investment that will have to last us 10 to 15 years, going as high-end as our budget will allow on all of our newest equipment. Now we can produce broadcast-quality HD productions for years to come."

“We made an HD equipment investment that will have to last us 10 to 15 years.” —Brandon Meier, Executive Director of Video Production, OU Athletics Department

Canon's DIGISUPER high-performance field lenses were a perfect fit for OU, providing dramatic up-close-and-personal imagery. They obtain steady images even at the farthest zoomed-in distances, and are used by producers for the top sports telecasts on air. They feature an advanced, computer-aided lightweight design and superb tactile control of zoom, iris, and focus. Meanwhile, two Canon wide-angle portable HD zoom lenses allow the widest-angle portable HD lens in the industry. The 14x zoom range of this lens reaches to 60mm (120mm with extender), providing crystal-clear, virtually distortion-free HD video images.

Adding to OU's new creative production capabilities is a HJ22ex7.6B Series lens, designed for long-distance shooting and wide-angle capture. Its Digital Drive unit enables camera operators to precisely pre-set zoom position, speed, focus and iris settings. Additionally, the Canon KJ20x8.5B portable HD zoom—part of Canon's cost-effective HDgc lens series—combines high picture quality and sophisticated operation. The KJ20 is used with the latest generation HD camcorders and features Canon's exclusive Shuttle Shot function, enabling camera operators to zoom back and forth between pre-set focal-length positions.

"When Sooner fans tune in to watch our games—and on the big screen live at game—they expect to see the same level of quality that they see on network TV," says Meier. "They want to see the same quality they see on the big screens in pro football stadiums. That's why we chose to invest in broadcast-quality equipment in all phases of our upgrade."