Issue 3, March 2006

Transcript

® VARIViews Spring 2006 Vol. 2 / No. 1 Tamron USA, Inc., 10 Austin Blvd., Commack, NY 11725 • 1-800-827-8880 News for Security Professionals IN THIS ISSUE • • • • • • • Tech Corner Engineering Plastics Feature Product 20-100mm Vari-Focal Company News Sakamoto & Guzman On Site I Detroit Tigers Use 20-100mm in New System On Site II NAV Selects Tamron For Wynn Casino System Factory Focus Owani Injection Molding Plant www.tamron.com New Lens Calculator Posted TechCorner Engineering Plastics Engineering Plastics used in lenses are now used in aircraft and automobiles because of their outstanding reliability. Engineering Plastics offer many advantages over metallic materials in addition to being substantially lighter in weight. Plastics provide outstanding characteristics in workability, adiabatic efficiency, thermal resistance, chemical resistance such as anti-acid and/or alkali, etc. Lightweight is another important benefit of plastics. While the specific gravity of aluminum is about 2.8 against water, plastic is about 1.3-1.4, almost half of aluminum. While plastics render these ideal characteristics making them useful for so many applications, conventional plastic materials had one drawback— strength. Engineering Plastics have thus been developed to provide significant strength for industrial and commercial applications, thereby overcoming the prominent weakness of conventional plastics. Engineering Plastics are now widely used in sophisticated products ranging from driving mechanisms and gears in high-end audio equipment and VCR's to the chassis of almost all racing cars including those used in the Indy 500, deemed to be the most severe race requiring the highest level of endurance. Engineering Plastics provide the same and often times more durability than metallic materials, and they do not rust, nor make noise by friction. In addition, Engineering Plastics provide the benefit of "self lubrication" that makes their surfaces naturally smooth and slippery. This eliminates the need for lubricating oils, and brings a great advantage (cont. on pg. 7) FeatureProduct New Lens Ideal for Traffic Surveillance The new 1/3 20-100mm F/1.6 Aspherical VariFocal covers the telephoto range that is normally covered only by zooms, yet the zoom function that makes the zoom lens more costly is not utilized in many installations. The new Tamron VariFocal is an efficient alternative from the point of view of both cost and size. With a focal-length range that covers everything from moderate to super-long telephoto, a fast F/1.6 aperture that ensures bright imaging even in dimly illuminated areas, and aspherical optics that provide outstanding image quality in a compact, lightweight package, Tamron’s new 20-100mm F/1.6 for 1/3-inch CCD cameras is a significant new entry in the CCTV surveil(cont. on pg. 6) CompanyNews Edwin Guzman Named Midwest Sales Manager Tamron announced the promotion of Edwin Guzman to Midwest Region Sales Manager effective January 1. “The new Midwest managerial position ensures we can elevate the level of our customer service and reach our targets for growth in that territory,” explained Eugene Dyas, Senior Manager of the Industrial Optics Division. (cont. on pg. 8) FactoryFocus OWANI Injection Molding At the Owani Injection Molding Plant in Northern Japan, high quality mass production of precision plastic components takes place. OWANI Engineering plastics that comprise almost all of the precision parts that are crucial to optical products are made at this molding plant. Working in unison with the Die Division at the Head Office, this plant maintains the latest in high specification molding machines and measuring devices to produce extremely difficult ultra precision parts of superb quality under conditions of the strictest quality control and equipment control. The plant has acquired ISO14001 in November 2003 and ISO9001 in January 2004 by being integrated into the Hirosaki Plant. Head Office/R&D, Technology Center SAITAMA Management control functions such as finance, human resources management, general affairs, information systems and management planning, as well as control of production functions such as quality control, materials control, cost control and distribution control are centered at the Head Office. The Head Office is also the nucleus for product development and technology development involving optics, electronics, mechanisms, production technology and measurement technology. Additionally, the Head Office houses the ultra-precision die design and manufacturing divisions which are vital for product development. The Head Office divisions have the constant challenge of providing high quality development and service. With the design divisions using the latest CAD, all Tamron plants and offices linked by a LAN information network and Head Office Take the factory tour at www.tamron.com. advanced information technology used inside the company, and strengthening of quality control system by acquiring ISO9001 and ISO14001, we enhance Tamron management practices. X Y Z [ (1) Hirosaki Plant (2) Namioka Plant (3) Owani Plant (4) Tamron Optical (Foshan) Ltd. TAMRON VARIVIEWS / SPRING 2006 2 www.tamron.com OnSite I Detroit Tigers and Tamron Hit A Home Run With Innovative CCTV System! by Jason Schneider record the process as loads of cars are being Mike Scott, president of Security Marketing Services of dumped by the conveyor belt, so they can proBloomfield, Michigan (a Detroit suburb) certainly knows a thing or vide proof of two about designing and installing the fact that CCTV and access control sysdemo vehicles tems. His company has been in They’re super-reliable — I’ve never had a coming in business for 16 years and he’s from various done literally hundreds of installasingle Tamron lens go bad — and they automotive tions for leading local enterprises, use top quality glass that delivers manufacturers ranging from hospitals and conoutstanding sharpness. That’s why I use are actually venience stores to commercial being crushed buildings and heavy industrial ‘em — they flat out work, and they’re rather than sites. However, even Scott had to also priced competitively, which makes being repaired put his thinking cap on when he them an excellent value. and resold!” was approached by the Detroit Tigers baseball team and asked to —Mike Scott, Security Marketing Services “ Obviously, configure and install a live CCTV these industrivideo imaging system that would al and comallow batting coaches to precisely analyze a batter’s swing—in mercial installations are the mainstay of my detail, at 30 frames per second—from the drop of the hand to the business,” says Scott, “and you soon learn that turn of the shoulder! there is hardly ever any such thing as a routine job—they all present unique chal“What they needed was a video imaging system that would cover lenges. I’m happy to say that both the left- and right-hand sides of the batter’s box and deliver Tamron lenses really critically sharp images of the batter, the ball, and the catcher,” says help me solve Scott. “The only way of doing this was to place the camera in dead many of these center field, looking back over the pitcher’s mound, but what lens problems as would cover this extremely narrow viewing angle with the extremethey arise, and ly high performance required? I turned to Tamron, the company that I know I can supplies most of my CCTV lenses, and found the answer in their rely on their new 20-100mm F/1.6 Aspherical Vari-Focal lens, which covers the dependabili- Tamron 20-100mm F/1.6 field perfectly at 100mm with a 1/3-inch CCTV camera. It works ty and perlike a charm with the high-end JVC camera we’re using, and to say Aspherical Vari-Focal formance. that the Tigers are very pleased with the installation is an underinstalled in center field to The Detroit statement—they’re thrilled with the image quality it delivers.” help analyze batting swings Tigers batof the Detroit Tigers. “This was our first application for the Tamron 20-100mm,” notes ting camera Scott, “ but over the past three or four years we’ve installed well installation presented more challenges than over a hundred 3.0-8mm Tamron Vari-Focal auto iris lenses, all most projects I’ve dealt with over the years, but with technically excellent results and very satisfied customers. by using a Pelco housing and bracket along They’re super-reliable—-I’ve never had a single Tamron lens go with an extremely stable bracket system mountbad—and they use top quality glass that delivers outstanding sharped into a concrete wall, we were able to virtualness. That’s why I use ‘em—they flat out work, and they’re also ly eliminate shake and get the full performance priced competitively, which makes them an excellent value. I’ve out of the 20-100mm Tamron Vari-Focal lens at also used the 5-50mm Vari-Focal Tamron with auto iris in a number its longest focal length. I’m not sure whether of installations where specific areas have to be cleanly imaged from the Detroit Tigers will win the pennant this distances up to a couple of hundred feet away, with sufficient resoyear—I sure hope so—but I do know their batlution and clarity to enable people to be easily identified.” ting coaches now have a world-class CCTV “An interesting application we’ve found for the 5-50mm Tamron video system to help them do it!” lens is in scrap-yards, where cars are crushed to recycle steel that’s then re-used by the automotive industry, “ explains Scott. “The CCTV installations in these yards have to be able to watch and “ ” www.tamron.com 3 TAMRON VARIVIEWS / SPRING 2006 OnSite II North American Video Hits The Jackpot! A high-rolling systems integrator puts its chips on casino security—and stacks the deck with Tamron CCTV lenses. by Jason Schneider North American Video, Inc. (NAV), Security Distributing & Marketing (magazine's 2005 “Systems Integrator of the Year”), is a classic American success story—a stunning example of what an inspired entrepreneur can achieve in little over a decade with the right instincts, an astute business model, punctilious attention to detail, and lots of hard work. Based in Brick, New Jersey, NAV is the brainchild of its founder and president, Cynthia Freschi, a remarkable woman who saw the vast potential in the gaming industry while working for a security products distributor in the Northeast, and then carefully crafted a plan for capitalizing on her insight and foresight. person people knew they could call for solutions, and alternate solutions, and they were impressed.” Cynthia Freschi took the plunge and founded NAV back in 1995, working closely with her husband Ron Freschi, now Director of Large System Sales. NAV currently has offices in Las Vegas, New York, Washington state, and a small branch office in Venezuela to serve the emerging Caribbean gaming market as well as banking, commercial, and industrial markets in South America. It has grown into a leading contender in the field, with 2005 sales of over $40 million, and aiming for $50 million in 2006. “ ...when we install a system, we simply can't afford to have a weak link. Based on our extensive experience and expertise, we know we can implement Tamron lenses with the assurance that they will deliver high performance every —Ron Freschi, time. North American Video, Inc. North American Video president and founder Cynthia Freschi standing in front of Wynn Las Vegas casino, site of the company's huge installation with over 2000 cameras. Cynthia Freschi learned systems integration, surveillance, and security at the applications end, steadily building up her knowledge base by researching answers to customers' questions. “If tech support was needed,” says Freschi, “I'd pick up the phone with the customer in a three-way call, so the next time the question came up, I'd know the answer. In short order, I became a dedicated and proficient sales person with a deep personal commitment to this industry. I just got it-I had an itch for it, and I educated myself. Pretty soon I was the www.tamron.com 4 ” “Gaming is a niche that keeps us growing, and it accounts for about 45% or our current revenues,” she notes, “but we also have a lot of work in law enforcement, homeland security, transportation, medical, commercial, and industrial applications, and we've installed security and surveillance systems on a number of campuses, and in correctional facilities.” It should be pretty clear by now that North American Video is really big, and growing fast, but to get a clearer idea of just how big, we interviewed Ron Freschi, who is in charge purchasing as well as large system sales, and also handles vendor relations and acquisitions. What exactly is a large system sale? According to Freschi, a stellar example would be the one NAV installed in 2005 at Wynn Las Vegas. It's kind of the World's Series of security systems, TAMRON VARIVIEWS / SPRING 2006 “ We’ve never had any compliance or image quality issues when we’ve installed Tamron lenses, and remember these guys need to read the serial numbers on bills at cage payout windows, and distinguish the denominations of chips as well as spotting cheats and sleight of hand artists! —Ron Freschi, North American Video, Inc. with over 2000 cameras providing high-speed CCTV video, and cutting-edge software that allows highly integrated systems operation. “We selected Tamron CCTV lenses for the Wynn system, and many of the large systems we've installed because they consistently provide us with great image quality,” notes Freschi. “We also select Tamron optics for their reliability, dependability, and compatibility with virtually any camera system. Our customer base is extremely demanding, and of the thousands of Tamron lenses we've installed, we've never had a quality issue, and we've never had to return a single lens to correct a defect. It saves us from having to retrieve a lens for service, which is costly and time-consuming for us and annoying for customers. We've also found that Tamron lenses provide accurate f/stops and focal lengths.” “Another application where Tamron lenses have proved invaluable is police surveillance,” says Freschi. When we installed Tamron lenses in a police van used for DEA stakeouts, the officers were very impressed with the improved image quality. These guys often operate in dimly lit conditions and have to ID suspect's faces and other identifiers at considerable distances. In that particular installation we used a 6-90mm f/1.6 Tamron, a motorized zoom with presets that can be set instantly to different focal lengths. At the Georgia Correctional Institution, we needed a really long, fast, telephoto zoom so we used 20-100mm f/1.6 Tamron Vari-Focal lens with great results. Indoors in fixed applications, we generally employ the 2.8-12mm Tamron and we've also installed hundreds of 5-50mm Vari-Focal Tamron lenses with auto iris.” “The casino industry is essentially a captive customer base,” notes Freschi, “because not many people are able to do what we do at the success rate we've achieved. The gaming industry is also highly regulated, and we have to adhere to the strict standards of the Casino Control Commission of New Jersey, The Nevada Gaming Commission, and NIGA (Native American Indian Gaming Association). We've never had any compliance or image quality issues when we've installed Tamron lenses. As you can imagine, resolution and clarity are extremely important in gaming environments.” While casinos are among NAV's highest-profile customers, achieving consistently outstanding imaging performance is just as important for its government clients, which include the Division of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs, the Department of Justice, and the State Department. “All their situations are mission critical,” explains Freschi, “and when we install a system we simply can't afford to have a weak link. Based on our extensive experience and expertise, we know we can implement Tamron lenses with the assurance that they will deliver high performance every time.” TAMRON VARIVIEWS / SPRING 2006 5 ” Vari-Focal Lenses Mentioned in “On Site” 1/3 2.8-12mm F/1.4 Aspherical Vari-Focal 1/3 5-50mm F/1.4 Aspherical Vari-Focal 1/3 3.0-8mm F/1.0 Aspherical Vari-Focal 1/3 20-100mm F/1.6 Aspherical Vari-Focal www.tamron.com (feature product cont. from pg. 1) lance and security industry. Until now, security systems distributors, installers, and end users often use motorized zoom lenses just to get the reach they needed. Or they had to use shorter-focal-length lenses mounted on poles, a system that means greater installation costs for trenching and wiring, less convenient maintenance, and susceptibility to image-degrading vibration. The Tamron 20-100mm F/1.6 eliminates all these problems, and provides far greater flexibility in security and surveillance installations than any previous lens in its class. A typical example would be a camera aimed at a parking lot gate for license plate identification. By allowing the camera to be mounted on a distant building wall or roof, this high-resolution super telephoto lets you achieve greater steadiness and stability plus easier camera maintenance and adjustment, all while capturing images of unparalleled clarity and definition. Also, being free to place the camera at a greater distance minimizes the need to conceal it in sensitive applications, and allows the camera to be mounted on a wall opposite the target area, giving a clear, direct shot of faces and other essential details. This latter capability is especially important at locations ranging from airports to casinos, where excessive camera-to-subject angles may prevent the camera from capturing critical information. The 20-100mm Tamron F/1.6 Aspherical Vari-Focal covers an angle of 13.6° x 10.2° (horizontal x vertical) at the 20mm setting, and an amazing 2.8° x2.1° at the 100mm setting, the latter being roughly 20-1100mm 20mm 13.6° 100mm 2.8° equal to a 5-foot area at 100 feet on a 1/3-inch CCD. According to Tom Lehrer, president of Alarm Products Distributors Worldwide, Inc. of Winter Park, Florida, a leading supplier of CCTV and home security equipment, the Tamron 20-100mm F/1.6 will have wide range of applications among his clients. “The ability to get facial recognition at 50 yards or more is a great asset,” says Lehrer. “You can have a less conspicuous, more stable installation on a house, garage or out-building. Also, the cost is a lot less than we’ve been paying for motorized zoom lenses when we didn’t need the motorized feature.” Don Maxey, a CCTV specialist at Burtek Systems, Inc. of Toronto, Canada is equally impressed with the Tamron 20-100mm specs. “I believe this lens is an important new development for the security industry because it gives you the best possible reproduction and captures all the detail you need from a distance. The fact that the 20100mm lets you mount the camera on distant buildings so you don’t have to hide it in covert applications is a big plus. It also helps minimize camera shake as well as reducing labor costs for installation and maintenance. Most other long tele lenses for CCTV don’t even get out to 100mm and the few that do are F/1.8 or slower. This lens not only provides a longer reach, but also a brighter viewing image. I think this is the lens my installers and clients will grab first in any TAMRON VARIVIEWS / SPRING 2006 6 long-range surveillance applications.” Joe Balistreri is the CEO of Vision Surveillance of Riverside, California, a leading systems integrator for casinos. “This new lens is going to be a big help when it comes to configuring and installing top quality surveillance systems for our clients, many of which are major casinos,” says Balistreri. With this lens you can get a tight shot of the tables even with the camera mounted on the typical high ceiling found in most casinos. And being able to read the pips on the cards from directly above is a tremendous asset for these guys in policing their operation. The 20-100 is also great for parking lot applications because it lets you mount the camera securely on a building and I.D. license plates from a great distance. I’m really excited about this new lens because it allows me so much greater flexibility in my installations.” The designers have even considered environmental impact by making a lens that is environmentally friendly in design: glass with no lead content was selected and lead-free solder is used to manufacture the lens. The 20-100mm lens features locking mechanisms built into each ring (focus, iris and zoom) and provide a built-in Slip Mount mechanism for precision installations. The locking mechanisms (iris, focus and zoom on the VM version; focus and zoom on the VG version) secure the position set by the installer will not change even when wind and vibration occur. Both models are compact and lightweight at 4-1/3 inches long and approximately 5-1/2 ounces, which also enhance their installation versatility. SPECIFICATIONS TAMRON 20-100MM F/1.6 ASPHERICAL VARI-FOCAL (Models: 13VM20100AS / 13VG20100AS) Imager Size: Focal Length: Maximum Aperture: Minimum Aperture: Mount: Angle of View: 1/3-inch 1/4-inch 1/3 / 1/4 20-100mm F/1.6 F/360 CS Wide Tele Wide Tele 13.6° - 10.2° 2.8° - 2.1° 10.2° - 7.6° 2.1° - 1.6° Operation: Focus: Zoom: Iris: Iris Types: Manual w/lock Manual w/Lock Manual w/Lock (MI only) Manual DC Auto Iris www.tamron.com (tech corner cont. from pg. 1) in constructing optical products like lenses. Obviously, a problem such as oil scattering inside the lens barrel can be avoided. Unfortunately, no material can be perfect in every respect. Engineering Plastics are high-performance materials, developed because of technological needs to go beyond the boundaries of conventional plastics. In other words, Engineering Plastics were devel- efficiently and automatically. However, in the case of lens parts, because of very high accuracy, one piece can be made in one shot. Manufacturing, with accuracy, and without the need for finishing processes, becomes possible when Engineering Plastics and advanced Injection Molding technologies are combined. So, even if the cost of the raw material is high, the total manufacturing cost will ultimately be reduced by the use of Engineering Plastics. The engineering capability of injection molding and the degree of accuracy of molds used are key to the successful use of Engineering Plastics. We have our own factory which is specialized and exclusively engaged in the fabrication of metallic molds, thereby ensuring that complicated-shaped components in Tamron lenses are high quality and accurate. High specification molding machines at Owani Plant. oped as a result of huge R&D investments and use of highly advanced technologies by raw material manufacturers. Those expenditures are naturally reflected in the costs of Engineered Plastics. While the cost of conventional general-purpose plastic materials is about ¥200-300 ( about $1.70-$2.50 per pound) per kilogram, that of Engineering Plastics is many times more. However, a mere comparison of costs at raw material stage is not appropriate. It should be compared on a fair playing ground, i.e., a total cost of processing one component machined from metallic material versus one processed from Engineering Plastic material. Many of the Engineering Plastic components used in Tamron lenses are made of PolyCarbonate, an ideal raw material for making precision parts because of its ability to provide stabilized dimensions necessary for parts production. For a long time, its use in consumer products had been withheld due to the need for high temperatures in processing. However, this problem has been solved by mixing various chemicals to make the poly-carbonate at lower temperatures. Today, Engineering Plastics (Poly-carbonate-made components) are used in helmets, camera bodies, lens barrels, gears in watches, racing cars and spaceships to name just a few applications. Machining a sophisticated-shaped component from metallic material requires many more phases of processing and is much more time-consuming, especially when stringent adherence to given tolerances is required. Conversely, the components made from Engineering Plastics can be made automatically, one after another, in a method called "Injection Molding" as long as metallic toolings (molds) are made with sufficient accuracy. When the component is small enough, Metallic mold made in Tamron’s own factory ensures accuracy of small, complicated-shaped, injection-molded components. ten to twenty pieces can be made in one shot, several shots per minute, www.tamron.com 7 TAMRON VARIVIEWS / SPRING 2006 (company news cont. from pg. 1) Edwin has been with Tamron since July 2005 in the capacity of house sales representative. His effective management style led to his appointment as Regional Sales Manager of the Midwest territory. Additionally, the responsibilities of sales and management of the Latin American territory have been transferred to Guzman, who speaks fluent Spanish. “Spanish happens to be my first language and that should be a plus,” stated Guzman. “But more importantly, I see Latin America as a market in which Tamron could be a major vendor for many years to come. There are challenges in doing business in this part of the world, but I am up for it.” New to Tamron USA, Inc. is Ryuhei Sakamoto, who joins TUS from headquarters in Japan. Holding various positions in the industrial optics division since 2003, Sakamoto comes to the US with a wealth of knowledge about the industry from a worldwide perspective. His primary responsibility as Manager Business Development and Solutions is daily business operation support. Ryuhei Sakamoto www.tamron.com Lens Calculator Posted on Tamron’s Website Choose a lens 1,2,3 with Tamron’s easy-to-use lens calculator. Simply enter how far away your subject is, and what field of view you require. Then just select a product category such as Vari-Focal or Mono-Focal lenses and the program will bring up a list of Tamron lenses that meet your needs. It’s that easy and very useful! www.tamron.com/cctv/lenscalculator/ Tamron USA, Inc. 10 Austin Boulevard Commack, NY 11725 ® VARIViews News for Security Professionals