Canon Patent Application for 18-55mm Lens With Variable Field Curvature

Japanese blog Hi Lows Note spotted another interesting patent (2018-159876).

The patent literature describes a 18-55mm lens with variable field curvature and spherical aberrations reduction.

This appears to be a lens with a design suited for an APS-C mirrorless camera. May this come to the EOS M system one day?

• Zoom ratio: 2.88
• Focal length: 18.58 – 53.49 mm
• F number: 3.56 – 5.87
• Angle of view: 36.32 – 14.32
• Image height: 13.66 mm
• Lens length: 126.24 mm
• Back focus: 11.55 mm

There is a lot of buzz around patents. Mostly for nothing. Patents are foremost a way companies have to secure their R&D efforts (research and development).

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

• Patent application describing how to improve burst rate by compressing raw files
• Patent application describing a new way to review photos from a sequential shot
• Patent application that describes technology to improve wireless communication while reducing power consumption
• Patent application to spot and reduce moire artefacts in image data
• Patent application for weather sealed lens adapter
• Patent application for AI powered predictive camera control system
• Patent application for 18-55mm kit lens with LCD display
• Patent application to reduce noise in image files