Canon Patent: Automatic Bracketing For Tilt-shift Lenses

This Canon patent appears to be related to a tilt-shift lens that supports automatic control and allows multiple shots to be taken while automatically setting values. Cool.

Canon patent application 2023179295 (Japan. published 19/12/2023) discusses methods and optical formulas for a what appears to be a fully automated tilt-shift lens.

From the patent literature:

• An object of the present invention is to easily obtain photographed images with various tilt amounts, shift amounts, and revolving amounts without a user having to make difficult manual adjustments.
• Background Art
  Focusing can be achieved by tilting the optical system of the optical system with respect to the normal to the imaging surface of the image sensor or by shifting the optical axis parallel to the imaging surface. Lens devices are used that allow photography to be performed by changing the distance range and perspective to suit the subject. Furthermore, there is also a lens device that allows the optical system to rotate (revolving) while being tilted or shifted.
• Patent Document 1 discloses a lens device that allows a user to tilt or shift an optical system by manually rotating an operation knob.
• However, in the lens device disclosed in Patent Document 1, the user needs to adjust the tilt amount and shift amount by operating the operation knob while looking through the finder or viewing the live view image displayed on the monitor. be. For users who are not familiar with this operation, it is difficult to adjust the amount of tilt and shift appropriately, and it is also difficult to obtain the desired image because it is difficult to visualize the effect of tilt and shift on the captured image. It is.
• The present invention provides an imaging device that allows a user to easily obtain captured images with various tilt amounts, shift amounts, and revolving amounts without having to make difficult manual adjustments.
• An imaging device as one aspect of the present invention performs imaging through an optical system that can be driven by an actuator for at least one movement among tilt, shift, and revolution. The imaging device includes a camera control means that controls an actuator to cause the imaging device to take multiple images while driving the at least one movement by a predetermined amount, and a setting device that allows a user to set a predetermined amount. It is characterized by having the following .
• A control method as another aspect of the present invention is applied to an imaging device that performs imaging through an optical system that can be driven by an actuator for at least one of tilting, shifting, and rotating movements. The control method includes the steps of: controlling an actuator to cause the imaging device to take multiple images while driving the at least one movement by a predetermined amount; and allowing a user to set the predetermined amount .
• Through the above processing, the camera microcomputer 206 determines that at least one of tilting, shifting, and rotating operations on the attached interchangeable lens 100 is possible, and allows the user to make settings regarding bracket photography. In bracket photography, photography is performed a predetermined number of times while changing the drive position of tilt, shift, or revolution by a predetermined amount.
• The overall width setting mode is a first mode in which the user can set the total driving amount (overall width) of tilting, shifting, or revolving from the start to the end of a series of bracket photography. The overall width is a drive amount that can be set within the entire tilt drive range, the entire shift drive range, and the entire revolving drive range. This overall width setting mode is suitable for finding a setting close to the user’s wishes by performing multiple shootings while roughly changing the drive position of tilt, shift, or revolving.
• The step width setting mode is a second mode in which the user can set the step width (predetermined amount) of tilt, shift, or revolving to be changed for each photograph. In this step width setting mode, the user has almost found the desired setting, and then takes multiple shots selected by the user while subtly changing the drive position near that setting to finally find the setting that meets the user’s wishes. This mode is suitable for selecting captured images.

More Canon patents are listed here.

[via asobinet]