Canon Patent: Foldable Screen For A Compact Mirrorless Camera

Canon Patent
View Post

Well, that’s an interesting Canon patent: a foldable screen on the back of your future mirrorless camera.

Canon patent application 20220269152 and 20220272266 (both USA) discuss technology and methods to bring a foldable screen on the back of a mirrorless camera. The abstracts:

Pretty cool, I think. we have foldable screens on smartphones, and we will have them on other devices too, cameras included. The camera in the patent drawings looks like a very compact mirrorless camera.

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these:

[via Northlight Images]

Canon Patent: 20mm f/1.8, 28mm f/1.8 And 24mm f/1.8 With Backlight Control

Canon Patent
View Post

A new Canon patent for RF mount lenses: 20mm f/1.8, 28mm f/1.8 and 24mm f/1.8.

Canon patent application 2022122047 (Japan) discusses optical formulas for three RF mount lenses with backlight control. From the patent literature:

An object of the present invention is to provide an optical system that is less affected by unnecessary light and has high optical performance.

Description of the Related Art

There is a demand for further improvement in performance and miniaturization of photographing optical systems. [0005]When trying to improve the performance of an optical system, the number of lenses constituting the optical system increases. On the other hand, if an attempt is made to reduce the size of the optical system by shortening its overall length, the distance between the lenses constituting the optical system and the distance between the optical system and the imaging surface will be shortened. As a result, unnecessary light (ghost) caused by reflection of light on each lens surface easily reaches the imaging surface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an optical system that is less affected by unnecessary light and has high optical performance.

Example 1

  • Focal length: 28.60
  • F-value: 1.85
  • Half angle of view: 37,1
  • Image height: 20.15
  • Total length: 81.00
  • Back focus: 13.20

Example 2

  • Focal length: 20.60
  • F-value: 1.85
  • Half angle of view: 46.4
  • Image height: 18.71
  • Overall length: 84.87
  • Back focus: 11.00

Example 3

  • Focal length: 24,72
  • F-value: 1.85
  • Half angle of view: 41.2
  • Image height: 19.34
  • Total length: 81.00
  • Back focus: 11.00

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these:

[via asobinet]

Canon Patent: Internal Liquid Cooling Device For Mirrorless Cameras

Canon Patent
View Post

Remember the Canon EOS R5 overheating soap opera? Maybe this Canon patent application comes from this hysteria.

Canon patent application 20220264767 (USA) discusses technology and methods for an active cooling system with magnetic fluid. The patent abstract:

This is pretty cool, me thinks: magnetic cooling fluid pumped by use of a magnetic field. The magnetic fluid is pumped through the camera body using magnets. Will we see it soon on a new Canon mirrorless camera?

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these:

[via NL]

Canon Patent: 30-90mm f/1.5, 18-45mm f/1.5, 70-210mm f/2.5 Cinema Lenses

Canon Patent
View Post

A new Canon patent and for once it doesn’t refer to RF mount lenses but for Cinema optics: 30-90mm f/1.5, 18-45mm f/1.5, 70-210mm f/2.5.

Canon patent application 2022119007 (Japan) discusses optical formulas for three lenses we think are Cinema or broadcasting lenses:

  • 30-90mm f/1.5
  • 18-45mm f/1.5
  • 70-210mm f/2.5

From the patent literature:

To provide a zoom lens that is advantageous in terms of, for example, a large aperture, small size and light weight, and high optical performance over the entire zoom range.

The lens diameter of the lens group closest to the object side in the first lens group is determined by the off-axis ray at the wide-angle end, and the lens diameter of the lens group closest to the image side in the first lens group is determined by the on-axis ray at the telephoto end. Therefore, if the first lens group is thickened, the size of the lens will increase if the aperture is to be further increased. In the zoom lens of Patent Literature 1, since the first lens group is thick, the zoom lens may become large if it is intended to accommodate a large-format sensor such as a Super 35 format or a full-frame format while maintaining the F-number.

Example 1

  • Focal length: 31.20-89.85
  • F-value: 1.51
  • Half angle of view: 25.38-9.35
  • Total length: 284.23
  • Back focus: 39.00

Example 2

  • Focal length: 21.00-80.57
  • F-value: 1.51
  • Half angle of view: 35.17-10.41
  • Total length: 288.03
  • Back focus: 39.00

Example 3

  • Focal length: 18.01-45.01
  • F-value: 1.51
  • Half angle of view: 39.422-18.20
  • Total length: 308.88
  • Back focus: 39.00

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these:

[via asobinet]

Canon Patent: Eye Control Autofocus For Mirrorless Cameras

Canon Patent
View Post

A new Canon patent application about eye controlled autofocus. Two patent applications, to be precise.

Cannon patent application 20220247904 (US) refers to a bigger sized mirrorless camera (like the EOS R3) and Canon patent application 20220247933 (US) to a smaller one. Here is the abstract for the former patent application:

And the abstract for the latter patent application:

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these:

[via NL]

Canon Patent: RF 16-28mm Lens That Might Be f/2.8 or f/2.8-4 or f/4

Canon Patent
View Post

Here is a Canon patent application for a lens that might hit the shelves, sooner or later: RF 16-28mm.

Canon patent application 2022112179 (Japan) discusses optical formulas for an RF 16-28mm lens. Three optical formulas are discussed in the patent literature:

  • RF 16-28mm f/2.8
  • RF 16-28mm f/2.8-4
  • RF 16-28mm f/4

From the patent literature:

A zoom lens that is compact and has a wide angle of view while achieving high optical performance with little variation in aberration during zooming, and an imaging device and an imaging system having the zoom lens.

A photographing lens with a half angle of view exceeding 35 degrees is called a wide-angle lens, and is suitable for photographing a vast landscape by taking advantage of the wide angle of view. A wide-angle lens needs to satisfactorily correct distortion and curvature of field, which worsen as the half angle of view increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a zoom lens which is compact and has a wide angle of view, and which can obtain high optical performance with little aberration fluctuation during zooming, and an image pickup apparatus having the zoom lens.

Example 1

  • Focal length: 16.45-27.50
  • F-value: 2.88
  • Half angle of view: 52.70-39.08
  • Image height: 19.00-21.64
  • Total length: 138.01-127.30
  • Back focus: 14.00

Example 2

  • Focal length: 16.45-27.50
  • F-value: 2.88-4.00
  • Half angle of view: 52.740-38.91
  • Image height: 19.00-21.64
  • Overall length: 121.56-117.50
  • Back focus: 14.21

Example 3

  • Focal length: 16.45-27.50
  • F-value: 4.10
  • Half angle of view: 52.69-39.09
  • Image height: 19.00-21.64
  • Overall length: 124.60-121.49
  • Back focus: 14.08

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these:

[via asobinet]