Addressing the need for outstanding image quality in the motion picture industry, the first 4K movie camera reached the market in 2006. In 2009, Fujifilm released the world’s first zoom lens for use with 4K digital movie cameras. Then Fujifilm bet on its own ability to develop an entirely new type of 4K digital movie camera lens: compact and lightweight with high-magnification zoom capability. For added flexibility, the drive unit for the zoom and focus was detachable from the lens. The FUJINON ZK series was revolutionary—a kind of hybrid, combining the ultra-high-image quality of a movie camera lens with the maneuverability and ease of operation of TV camera lens.
Yet Fujifilm’s engineers were still not satisfied. They were determined to develop a movie camera lens that was even easier to use. The movie production environment was becoming even more competitive, and a more versatile lens could save costly hours on the set or on location while allowing operators to concentrate on capturing outstanding footage. Although confident they could produce a hit product, the engineers immediately ran into some significant design challenges.
The image sensor of a movie camera is much larger than that of a TV camera. For this reason, high-magnification zoom capability means a long and heavy lens—unless its design is truly innovative. To create a lens that was highly compact and lightweight, the engineers needed to design an intricate lens mechanism, develop lens elements of extreme thinness, and decrease the number of lens elements overall. Further, the engineers needed to design the drive unit to offer the functionality demanded by both the TV and movie industries. This 4K movie camera lens would require extremely advanced manufacturing technologies, and, of course, Fujifilm would not permit even the slightest compromise in image quality or stability.
As they embraced these challenges, Fujifilm’s engineers were inspired by the fact that no other company in the world was in a position to develop the lens they envisioned. Indeed, at the time, most other movie camera lens manufacturers did not have the technology to offer a 4K lens with high-magnification zoom with a drive unit of this level of performance.
The addition of a drive unit made the 4K lens a success in the broadcast environment.