Panasonic AG-UX90NTSC UX Series Tech Brief LEICA Dicomar Lens Explained - Page 3

ed into the camera body, and that these four groups operate under internal computer control, allow the lens to be incredibly compact for its given zoom range, as the independently-moving groups provide zoom and focus capabilities that, if implemented in strictly optical terms, would have required a huge, long, and heavy lens that would have been impractical to fit into a handheld camcorder. This lens is also an excellent performer, having passed the stringent quality standards of Leica in order to bear the Leica DICOMAR name. Low-dispersion glass and multicoating ensure crisp sharp images in 4K throughout the zoom range. And a nine-bladed iris provides soft, round bokeh. Stabilization Getting sharp, crisp images over a wide zoom range is important, of course, but hardly the only factor in delivering professional images in a wide variety of situations. Tripod-based work can provide clean, stable images, but tripods are not always available, nor is it always desirable to lug a heavy tripod everywhere. In recognition of these facts, Panasonic developed and expanded upon an excellent optical image stabilization system. For the UX cameras, Panasonic expanded the area that it evaluates for image stabilization to be approximately 9x larger than the area it used in previous cameras like the AG-AC160A. Additionally, they've mounted the focus unit using tiny ball bearings that provide smoother motion than before, which especially helps the optical image stabilizer to counter tiny movements. The result is high-quality, stable image stabilization that, in many instances, could even render a tripod unnecessary. Man-on-the-street interviews at reasonable distances can be shot with surprising steadiness in Full HD with the Hybrid Image Stabilizer enabled. And while you'll still prefer a tripod for extreme telephoto work, the new image stabilization makes it much easier to get usable handheld footage even at the longer end of the lens, than it was on previous camcorders. Not only is the image stabilization itself inherently improved, but it is also programmable. The camera operator has the ability to customize the stabilization for the type of shooting scenario she expects to encounter; you can fine-tune the image stabilization for high-frequency vibration or low-frequency motion, and you can fine-tune it for minor movements (like hand twitching) or for big sweeping movements (like when walking with the camera). Autofocus Effective autofocus has always been a challenge for the handheld camera operator, but the challenge grows several degrees more difficult when utilizing a large sensor, because the inherently shallower depth of field of the large sensor makes focus tolerances tighter than ever, and Ultra High Definition and 4K mean that focus errors are more noticeable than ever before. Panasonic has addressed this by creating a new Micro-Drive Focus Unit. They've made it far more sensitive and precise, able to move in tiny increments at speeds that greatly exceed the focus units in the older 1/3" camcorders. This gives the autofocus system the capability of coping with changes 4